Hello from my Portacabin at Donington - someone get me a coffee...
posted on June 6th 2009 at 14:08 by UncleJohn
Its 1.30pm on the Saturday before Download and I am sat in my Portacabin office on site at Donington Park. Its raining outside and a little chilly so the heater is on and Fiona my PA has kept me stocked up all morning on coffee. In the background, I can hear various conversations on the radio between site management, site crew and contractors and the pitter patter of rain falling on the roof. As far as temporary offices go, this is a good one with desk, fridge, sofa, coffee table, plants and an uplighter for effect and on the walls there are pictures of my family and big plans of the site and I have spent the morning looking at the Forums in depth and this has given me a general feeling of how you are all feeling as the big day gets closer and closer. So, having summed up where I am and what I have been doing, I hear you asking yourself 'how do you feel John'? I can honestly say that in the many years I have been doing this wonderful job I have never, ever experienced the excitement I feel about this years DOWNLOAD!
I arrived on site yesterday for the first time and Hannah drove me round the campsite and arena and even though there is still a lot to be done by next Friday, the arena can only be described using two words - big and brilliant! Its not just the size or the fantastic layout, its the surrounding countryside in the distance as you look down on to the main stage and the entire site sits amongst trees and lots of greenery. I hope that when you walk through the entrance on Friday you will agree that this is the best site we have ever had with lots to see and do! Anyway, enough of all that arty bollix, how excited are you lot then!!!! The forums are buzzing with some great subjects and its great to see so many of you sharing your pre-download thoughts and experiences. Yes, there are still a few dick weeds who pop up now and again with stupid statements or questions but many of you have made me incredibly proud by putting them in their place before I even got the chance to. Your support on this and almost everything else we have done has been overwhelming and I am so glad I took the challenge on all those months ago to come on here and prove to you that we did want to listen and would make changes based on what you wanted.
As well as feedback you have given us hours of enjoyment with some of the funnier threads that have been started. My favorites have included 'LN HQ on fire and evacuated' that started last week. There was a false alarm in the building but the alarm had gone off and we all had to evacuate in to the street, one of our guys put the message on Twitter and seconds later the thread started on the forums! I had a quick look when we got back and some of the posts were very funny, especially 'Quick, save John' - very moving. But the one that has had us all laughing, both back in the office and here on site has been the entire 'Ralph' saga!! This has proven two very important facts 1. This forum is as good as it is due to the imagination and commitment of its members, and 2. You are all barking mad!! Ralph has been slightly overwhelmed by the commotion he has caused but we have all loved reading your various thought and theories about who he is and what he does.
Im not sure if Im going to find time to get another blog in until after the festival but someone has introduced me to Twitter and as I've got this on my phone now I should be able to give regular updates if you follow me. Dont ask me how you do that though, haven't got a scooby doo!
This festival has the potential to make history so lets make it the kind of history we would all want. We build the site and book the bands and employ a small army to look after you, but this weekend will be as good as you make it - its your festival. Have fun, be safe, look after each other and if you see me come and say high. It would be nice to put faces to some of the people I have rumbled with over the past 6 months!!
Have fun!!
Catch up in the busy time!
posted on May 15th 2009 at 12:07:52 PM by UncleJohn
First of all, I'm sorry that the blogs have become short and I have not had chance to do them as regular as I would have liked to, but the last 4-6 weeks have been incredibly busy and at times, slightly chaotic! So, in no particular order I will try and update you on as much as I can.
Police & Security
All the major police, security and festival organisers from around the country got together to look at links between touts, counterfeit merchandise and organised crime and the ever unpopular car crime and tent thefts. There has been a great deal of evidence gathered about these crimes and the people who commit them and the good thing is that all festival will be better prepared this year to deal with them all. It’s sometimes hard to get the police to focus on what we know is important to you the customer, but I have to admit, Leicestershire Police have pulled out all the stops this year in relation to evidence gathering, on the ground policing and removing ****ers from our site who just come to commit crime!! However, we still need your help so don’t leave valuables in your tent or car, use a locker and if you see anyone acting suspiciously or even committing a crime, report it so we can take action. One of our big concerns this year is fake tickets and wrist bands and people buying tickets from bogus web sites and then turning up to find they have no ticket. Any of the above will not get you in to the festival due to new security measure put in place this year so if anyone tries to sell you a ticket or wrist band in the car park or outside the festival, don’t buy it as its worthless. As for those of you that might have purchased tickets on a bogus web site, the guy you are supposed to meet on site who will hand over your ticket will not turn up, sorry.
Site Layout & Detailed Map
I know, I’m sorry, I did promise this ages ago but you would not believe the amount of time and effort that has gone in to the layout this year to not only make sure there is enough room, but that there is enough bars, food, markets and other activities/attraction to keep you all entertained. It difficult when it’s a new site and to be honest, we rushed it last year and the result wasn’t clever so I want to make sure its been checked and double checked before we release it to the public. But overall its big enough, its got a beer garden, there are 4 stages and, it’s a shorter walk to the campsite!!
Donington Park
There have been all sorts of speculation about the race circuit and its future in relation to Formula 1, as well as the future of Download at the race circuit. We have a very good relationship with the operators of the circuit, who I know are battling hard in a very unstable economic market to complete the works that need to be done for the 2010 F1GP. At the end of the day, Donington Park is a race circuit first and their priority will always be the F1. However, the working relationship I have with the directors at Donington is good and they have given me no reason to think that Download cannot continue at Donington in future years.
Will it wont it sell out!?
As you know, the standard and family camping, all RIP camping packages and the caravan and camper van park have sold out. You can still buy weekend arena only tickets and individual day tickets that will get you in to the festival, but not the campsite as that’s going to be full of 65,000 happy little campers! There are lots of B&B’s and hotels in the area because of the airport and the local tourist board are always a good source for this kind of information. Will it sell out all together? Looks that way!
The Download Team
I thought you might like a bit of an insight in to who are the main players involved in Download these days. You all know Andy and I bit we are just the people who do the deals, there is a small army of people about to take up residency at Donington to build the site and they are headed by the following industry experts..
Hannah – Festival manager
Hannah started working for me on a work placement from University in 2000 and has worked her way through the ranks to become Live Nations Festival Manager. As well as Download, she works with me on our other festivals including Hard Rock Calling, Wireless and The Serpentine Sessions as well as managing the site and production logistics for major touring shows such as U2 and Madonna.
Cookie – Health, safety and security Manager
If Hannah is my right arm then Cookie is my left. His responsibility is immense and he takes it all in his stride and has set incredibly high standards that many in our industry aspire to achieve. Responsible for overseeing all health and safety management during build and break, as well as the show, he also manages all licensing issues with the local authority, medical, fire and police cover and security management across the site
Neil – Production Manager
When a band turns up at a festival they think they are the most important people in the world and someone has to deal with all their questions, demands, last minute changes and plugs that don’t fit! Neil is one of the most organised people on this planet and gets most of this sorted before a band even gets on the bus and that means that most of the time things run like clockwork!
Lud – Site Manager
Lud is the most experienced site manager in the country and I have worked with him on many events over the years from Creamfields to T in the Park. His ability to manage a site with its various contractors, deliveries, build schedules and venue related restrictions, is only out done by his ability to drink copious amounts of red wine – in fact, any wine!
Andrew – Environmental Compliance Manager
Andrew joined us a couple of years ago to look at ways to make our festivals more environmentally friendly. As well as the cup deposit scheme that dramatically reduced our land fill, he has this year pioneered a scheme that takes all monies raised from our carbon offset scheme, as well as monies donated by the festival and created environmental projects in local schools in Derbyshire. Working closely with the rest of the team and many of our contractors, he has quietly continued to introduce our policy to become as environmentally friendly as possible where many other festivals have either used it for publicity, or just given up due to the cost.
Emma – Artist Liaison Manager
This job needs someone with exceptional qualities and the ability to listen to people constantly moan and bitch about their dressing room or rider! I don’t often venture in to the dressing room area but when I do, I know Emma will have them all under control – even if she will be 6 months pregnant this year and will be shouting at them from a chair!!
Fiona (my assistant), Jess (Hannah’s Assistant), Zach (accreditation) and Anthony (runs the budget) complete the full time team and a small army of freelance staff and contractors supports us all and that’s Team Download.
I will try and keep up with the blogs as much as I can, especially when we are on site.
JP
Good news about Download sales...
posted on May 12th 2009 at 09:51 by UncleJohn
Not going to say much this week as I want to concentrate on one area. When we went on sale, we were confident that we had a great site and a great line up and over the past few months we have made both better and better to try and give you the most amazing experience possible. There was much speculation in the early weeks of on sale as to the chances of the festival selling out this year and I promised you I would let you know if this ever became reality, so this is where we stand at the moment....
Campsite - we are running out of camping space and this WILL SELL OUT.
Camper/Caravans - after increasing the size of this 5 times to accommodate demand, we have 6 places left.
RIP - This is now SOLD OUT
Hotel Packages - just a few left and these WILL SELL OUT.
Weekend Lockers - You listened to me, thank you. We have sold 3 times more than ever before but they might SELL OUT
As for the arena weekend and day tickets ........... I can only push the walls out so far!!!!!
This is not spin, or bull **** to sell more tickets; it’s the facts I promised I would deliver to you. I have a team of people here bursting to get on site next week to start building because they know that this year is going to rock like never before!!!!
JP
2009 - officially bigger than last year
posted on April 29th 2009 at 09:51 by UncleJohn
Oh my god it’s busy, busy, busy!! I know it’s been a long time since my last blog and I’m sorry, but when I came back from holiday I hit the ground running and haven’t stopped. First of all, whilst I was away we outsold Download 2008 on weekend tickets, camping, lockers and campervans!! In fact, the only numbers down on last year is car parking and that’s a good thing as it means more of you are opting for public transport or lift share and that helps us no end with our environmental plan. Will Download 2009 sell out? Probably not as the great thing about the new arena location is that I could go up to 120,000 if I wanted to, but I don’t have that luxury on the campsites, so whilst we will sell out of camping at some stage, I think its fair to say we will keep selling weekend arena and day tickets up to the day. Will we out sell 2006 & 2007? Have a look on You Tube for the fake orgasm scene from When Harry Met Sally!!
Then there was the Live Fan Forum where we sat 30 forum members in a room with a free bar and let them ask all sorts of questions about Download and Live Nation. The night started real good with some well thought out and delivered questions and ended with a bunch of piss heads slurring their words and dribbling on tables! But somewhere in the middle, Hannah and her team managed to get some good ideas and highlighted a couple of things we need to sort out so overall it was worth the mess! Interesting to see the reception that Andy Copping got when he walked in the room, a lot different to the one he got this time last year bless him. Andy took a lot of stick last year for something he could do nothing about and like me, he is very proud of Download and found it difficult at times to deal with constant onslaught of criticism from people who think booking bands is a piece of piss. Its not, its one of the toughest jobs in the world and I am proud of the fella for bouncing back this year and saying ‘how’s that for a f***ing line up’!!
Then all hell broke loose when Donington Race Circuit was all over the news last week about a fall out with the landowners and our switchboard went in to meltdown over the safety of the concert. I’m met with the circuit operators and we have talked to the landowners and fear not, all is in hand and our festival is safe and secure. Will the F1GP be held at Donington in 2010? I wouldn’t bet against it as the people behind Donington seem to be able to pull rabbits out the hat just when they need them. I also think it would be a goof thing for the circuit the local community and the future of Download – as long as they don’t build the bloody track any bigger!
Finally, Hannah and I had a meeting with the local residents who live close to Donington and are affected by the festival. It seems some of you have no respect for people’s property or privacy and pissing in someone’s garden, parking your car in their drive or pitching your tent in their garden, or even worse, walking past their house at 2am singing ‘smoke on the water” (badly!) is not very funny. Its really simple, if we piss off the neighbours they complain to the local authority and if they get enough complaints they wont grant our license so do me a favour, have a little respect for our neighbours and don’t abuse the fact that they put up with a lot over the weekend.
That’s all for this week and I promise I will be back next week with more in depth details of how it’s all going to plan!
JP
Hello silence my old friend...
posted on March 29th 2009 at 13:15 by UncleJohn
Well you have gone quiet all of a sudden haven't you!? I think I prefer it when you are all kicking off, at least it gives me a an opportunity to have a go back! Seriously, I know some of you think we have gone off the boil a bit but you may have noticed that there are one or two other festivals around the country launching around this time and we have a kind of gentlemen's agreement that we will all play ball with each other and avoid going head to head for column inches. Of course, if you have a first class line up like Download 09 then certain publications cant help but talk about you so we are still getting lots of coverage and that all good for the ticket sales!
Spent time this week with the team looking at what land we have available outside of the arena and how we can make best use of it for car parks and campsite. The other added factor we have this year is the development work the circuit are doing for the F1GP so lots to think about before putting it down on a plan and sharing it with you all, but it will be ready for the Fan Forum on Friday 17th April and I m sure those who are lucky enough to attend, will share the information with you as soon as the get to a PC! Its a tough one this year on the campsite as I dont want to cram everyone in and end up with complaints about lack of space so Hannah and the team have been working on different ideas to ensure we make the most of what we have.
Lots of questions about the Village and will Monster and Duracell be back? Well, the answer to that is no I am afraid but we are working on all sorts of ideas to make sure you have plenty to do when the arena closes at night. Its a sad fact though that the only reason many of you wanted Monster to come back was for the strippers!! We do have a number of other sponsor lined up who want to do similar activity and more will be revealed soon. Hey, at least we have some sponsors and thats more than can be said for others!
We have also started the process of talking to the headline bands to see what they want to do in relation to sound and lights and thats been all sorts of fun! Download is not only the biggest and best in your eyes, its a big deal for the bands that play the festival so they all want to make the effort to ensure its a memorable experience. The one thing that comes across in the video on the Download web site that we put together, is just how big this festival is and how important it is to the bands that play (and even those who are not playing this year!!) so now we have lots and lots of ideas that we have to try and make work for everyone on each stage! Back stage at any festival is like a big jigsaw puzzle and the people that have to make it all work is our stage managers and their crew. Not a bunch of people you tend to hear a lot about but they are the guys that push everything on and off stage during the change overs and more than often have to dodge the debris and abuse thrown at them by some of the audience. On the main stage the bloke with the grey hair is the world famous Chalky White and is one the the best stage managers in the business and he is the one that has to make sure that the jigsaw all fits. If he gets one piece of kit in the wrong place back stage it causes all sort of problems and the circumstances they work in are not ideal - dark, loud, crowded and full of people who think their kit is the only thing thats important!
Apart from that it has been a quiet week this week in relation to Download as I have been trying to sort out some of our other festivals like Hard Rock Calling that we are taking from a 2 day event to a 3 day event in Hyde Park London. I know a lot of you come to that as well and this year is going to be big so maybe we should start a Hard Rock Calling Fan Forum - or maybe I have enough to deal with on here!! No Blog for a couple of weeks as I am off on holiday with the family to somewhere very hot with a nice cool pool and a great waiter called Pino who brings me a long cold beer every time I raise my right arm - cant wait. I get back the day before the Fan Forum so any questions will have to wait until then but in the meantime, I would like to think that there are many of you on the forum now, and not just the mods, who have listened to me and understand enough about the running of this festival now to deal with any gob ****e who gobs off about something they clearly know nothing about!! Have fun, because I will be!!