What was the first major festival you ever went to?

[ryan0583]

V99 in Staffordshire for me. Just went for the Sunday, and chose the Manic Street Preachers over James Brown!

[boom boom]

[center]
[b][font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"][size="+3"]AC/DC
Van Halen
Ozzy Osbourne
Gary Moore
Y&T
Accept
Mötley Crüe
[size="+2"]Tommy Vance (DJ)[/size][/size][/font][/b] [/center]
[b][font="Arial,Helvetica"][size="+4"][color="#4CC4FF"]Castle Donington Raceway.[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[b][font="Arial,Helvetica"][size="+4"][color="#4CC4FF"]Derbyshire .UK.[/color][/size][/font][/b]
[b][font="Arial,Helvetica"][size="+3"][color="#FF7AC4"]August 18th 1984.[/color][/size][/font][/b]
The crowd seemed to delight in throwing bottles, cow pats and basically anything to hand at each other and the acts if I remember correctly - still good line up and the weather was good.

[drake]

July 1986, Farm Aid, near Austin Texas

[Paul S]

Not a festival but an all day thing at the Ally Pally. 5th August 1973 (just looked it up!). Uriah Heep, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Manfred Mann, Gary Moore Band, Heavy Metal Kids, Fumble. Missed the last train home and slept outside Fenchurch St station, which was quite an adventure for the 16yr old naive me.

[KiOgon]

The FREE concerts, Rock Festivals in Hyde Park 1968 & 69, could't go in 1970 'cos I was in hospital from May 20th 'til August 12th after smashing my Norton, but as soon as I got out I managed to persuade my mum/best nurse ever! to let me go to IOW, my mate had a Ford Zodiac & a 23' caravan, we did it it style never could remember much

Hendrix died a few weeks after that, I cried.

Edited June 26, 2017 by KiOgon

[grandad]

1970 Isle of Wight - Hendrix, The Who, Free, Groundhogs, Joni Mitchell, The Doors, and many more I can't remember. Entrance free, camped on the hill overlooking the arena.

Edited June 26, 2017 by grandad

[Dad3353]

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1498501985' post='3325078']
The FREE concerts, Rock Festivals in Hyde Park 1968 & 69...
[/quote]

Ah yes, I remember you from there. Can I have my bandana back, please..?

...

[KiOgon]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1498505906' post='3325122']
Ah yes, I remember you from there. Can I have my bandana back, please..?

...


[/quote]NO! But I#ll see if my mate has still got the folding chairs we er borrowed from there

[Dad3353]

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1498506711' post='3325139']
NO!...
[/quote]



...

[super al]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1498478253' post='3324835']
I was 16 and it was amazing

[Img]http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/gg580/christopher_brown14/rackbags/1990%201_zpskbiafnto.jpg" class="ipsImage" />
[/quote]

Reading 90 was my first festival, this is the 1st time I've seen the line up since then. F@#k me! I missed Nick Cave! I'm now giving the teenage me a clip round the ear. What a tw@t.
Damn good year though

[davepb24]

Donington 1982 - my one and only...six bands, a tenner for the ticket and £4.50 for Midlad Red coach virtually to myself there and back...those were the days
As I recall: Anvil, Uriah Heep, Hawkwind, Saxon, Gillan, the Quo... best memory Janick Gers climbing up the speaker stacks without a safety harness lol

[Freddy Le Cragg]

Sziget 2009 in Budapest.
Line up-
[url="http://www.songkick.com/festivals/608-sziget/id/2239451-sziget-festival-2009"]http://www.songkick.com/festivals/608-sziget/id/2239451-sziget-festival-2009[/url]

It was awesome. Every second of it.

[Stan Haldane]

I played at the very first Glastonbury with The Alan Bown Set. Also on that day were, as I remember, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Marc Bolan and Jeff Beck. The festival was on for a few days much as it is now.

[blue]

Woodstock Bethel New York, 1969.

Blue

Edited June 26, 2017 by blue

[The-Ox]

missed the boat when I was in my teens due to being abroad, but my first major festival was Isle of Wight this year where I played, good fun!

[skb558]

Knebworth 1975

Pink Floyd; Steve Miller Band; Captain Beefheart; Roy Harper and Trigger; Linda Lewis; Graham Chapman (Monty Python);

Brainless 17 year olds. Hitching from Yorkshire, got asked which route we'd like to take A1 or M1. Chose M1 not realising that Knebworth is just off the A1.

Got dropped off at Luton and spent the night in a squat just off the roundabout. Great record collection. Waked a fair way the next morning before getting a bus to Stevenage.

Fell asleep during Captain Beefheart's set which 40+ years later, I kind of regret. Roy Harper was excellent and watched the Floyd from the roof of some Bootlegger's bus, Spitfire et al. Grand day out!

[chris_b]

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1498497025' post='3325033']
I actually remember watching Andy Bown at Reading, in fact, I bought one of his albums on the strength of seeing them/you at Reading, unfortunately I probably sold it along with all my other vinyl when the dreaded CD's came along.

Dare I ask, is there any old footage of your performance?
[/quote]

I don't think they filmed it and I haven't seen anything since. They recorded the whole weekend to put out on an album. We all got 1 song and it's a long story, but our number was taken from the album, with crowd noises added to make it sound like it was recorded at the festival.

[dudewheresmybass]

Donington 1988

Iron maiden
Kiss
Guns n roses
Dave lee Roth
Megadeth
Helloween

[NancyJohnson]

Monsters of Rock at Donington. Motley opening, Van Halen, AC/DC headlining.

We were guests of Warner Brothers, all access...it was amazing being waved through security, under the track and parking behind the stage. Watched Motley Crue from the mixer tower, went round to the hospitality area right after and had a wee next to Mick Mars and chatted about the Roy Thomas Baker remix of Too Fast For Love. Got bitten on the arm by Tommy Lee, saw the OGWT filming. We watched Van Halen from the side if the stage.

Beyond this is was a bit of a blur really. I do remember it all got a bit Wayne's World for a while.

[thebigyin]

Knebworth 79.....Led Zeppelin i was very disappointed to be honest....the highlight was Chaz n Dave who opened the event they were great

[casapete]

Blackbushe Aerodrome, near Camberley in Surrey, summer of 1978.
Not my first festival, but one which made me think they weren't really for me...

Billed as 'The Picnic', there was a massive crowd, with various estimates saying 200,000+
Five of us went in my brother's Ford Anglia, and I remember the traffic jams being horrendous,
especially after the event. Think it was NCP handling the car parking, and they buggered off
after the gig leaving a free for all for all the cars to exit the airfield. We were stuck there for hours.
Good lineup though - Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton ( who guested with Dylan for a few songs too),
Graham Parker and the Rumour, Joan Armatrading and others. I remember helicopters flying
over the crowd , dropping badges that floated down in paper wrappers - still got mine somewhere.

Did anyone go,to any of the Jazz Festivals at Alexandra Palace in the late 70's? I went to a couple,
and managed to see amongst others Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and Johnny Winter. Think after a fire
there it moved to Knebworth in the early 80's? Great lineups, and worth sitting through some jazzers
I'd never heard of at the time ( Lionel Hampton, Sara Vaughan etc) to see some great blues artists.

Edit - just remembered they were run by Capital Radio, called 'Capital Jazz' I think.

Edited June 27, 2017 by casapete

[chris_b]

In the late 60's for a month or so there were a series of Saturday afternoon gigs in Hyde Park (no the big ones, Grand Funk Railroad etc), but a much smaller event. We saw the likes of John Mayall and many of his off-shoot bands, like Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation etc, the Jeff Beck Group, Fleetwood Mac.

A few pints in the Tabard at Turnham Green then jump on the 88 bus up to the gig. Great times.

[BigRedX]

The only thing approaching a major festival that I have been to as a member of the audience was the Rock Against Racism concert at Victoria Park in 1978. The relatively long march from Trafalgar Square plus the fact that we were nowhere near the front meant that I arrived in time to see the last half of the The Clash's set. Then because my parents wanted me home at a reasonably sensible time I had to catch the early coach back to Loughborough which meant leaving just as Steel Pulse were starting to play.

Other than that the only other festival I've been to where I haven't been playing was the Nottingham Rock And Reggae Festival which being held on the Goose Fair sit meant it was less than 10 minutes walk from where I lived so I was able to nip back to my flat if (when) the weather or the music was crap.

As a punter, I'm not at all a fan of festivals (at least in this country). The idea of spending a lot of money to see a handful of bands from a distance, all of whom would (for me) be far better enjoyed up close and personal in a small sweaty, dark club, just doesn't make sense. At least as a performer at the better organised events there is somewhere back stage to escape away from the inclement British weather and great (literally) unwashed.

Edited June 27, 2017 by BigRedX

[ROConnell]

First festival was Isle of Wight 2014. Came out of exams at school and then rushed down to the festival to play a 7pm slot!

[The59Sound]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1498547057' post='3325327']
Monsters of Rock at Donington. Motley opening, Van Halen, AC/DC headlining.

We were guests of Warner Brothers, all access...it was amazing being waved through security, under the track and parking behind the stage. Watched Motley Crue from the mixer tower, went round to the hospitality area right after and had a wee next to Mick Mars and chatted about the Roy Thomas Baker remix of Too Fast For Love. Got bitten on the arm by Tommy Lee, saw the OGWT filming. We watched Van Halen from the side if the stage.

Beyond this is was a bit of a blur really. I do remember it all got a bit Wayne's World for a while.
[/quote]

Nice!