We booked our tickets a few months ago via National Express, which included our coach travel. However, what they didn't tell us was that our actual festival tickets wouldn't arrive - so by the time it got to mid August I was in full on panic mode. I checked the FAQs and found out that when you book your coach and festival tickets at the same time, you pick your tickets up when you arrive. So once this had been settled, it was all sorted and off we went. Our coach journey was uneventful and we picked the tickets up without any drama, so I was relieved to say the least!
The coach dropped us off right next to Yellow Campsite, so rather than walk we decided just to camp there. This ended up being a brilliant decision because it was right next to the arena, but away from the other campsites. We still couldn't sleep at night due to the booming noise, but you don't expect to sleep at a festival so who cares?!
It rained the entire day on Thursday (well it rained for the entire weekend actually...), so we moped around for a bit until the evening when we went into the arena to see a surprise set by The Midnight Beast. The tent was absolutely packed and their set was amazing as always.
Friday was drizzly and we headed to the main stage to watch The Story So Far and Tonight Alive; who were good considering I'd not really heard much of their music before. After that we wandered over to the Lock Up Stage where we caught Baby Godzilla's set, which was energetic and full of life. After them was mine and my boyfriend's favourite band, Neck Deep, who were 10000x better than I ever expected them to be. We were at the front barrier and I had an amazing time. We watched a bit of the Neighbourhood before heading back to the Main Stage to watch A Day To Remember (amazing) and YouMeAtSix (good).
We decided to try our luck at the Signing Tent because A Day To Remember were doing a half an hour slot, and we got quite close to the front of the queue. However, due to a misunderstanding with the staff and security personnel, we lost our chance to meet them. We were upset but it meant we managed to catch some of The Kooks' set, who were great. After that we went back to our tent to change into some warmer clothes, before coming back to the arena where we saw the amazing Mayday Parade followed by headliners Blink 182, who I personally think are a bit old and naff now, although they put on a good performance as always!
It rained again on Saturday, and there weren't many bands on that we wanted to see. We tried to make the most of it anyway, and saw sets from Mallory Knox, Twin Atlantic, Deaf Havana and Jimmy Eat World, amongst some other less famous bands. We then watched Enter Shikari who were fantastic as always, followed by Vampire Weekend who put on an absolutely amazing set - Ezra Koenig is so talented!
Sunday was the day we had been waiting for; a little band called Gnarwolves who we saw in a pub a few months ago were playing on Main Stage at 12. The sun was shining and we watched their set from the barrier, which was an amazing experience. After that we got some lunch and then watched Dry The River, who I'd never heard of before but who were enjoyable all the same. We headed over to the NME stage to watch Lower Than Atlantis, Cage The Elephant and Don Broco, all of whom were brilliant and I love anyway. We also got to meet Bombay Bicycle Club who were such a lovely, down to earth group of lads.
After that we headed back over to the Main Stage, were we caught Imagine Dragons' set - again they were amazing, like most of the bands we saw over the weekend. The sun was setting and everyone was dancing excitedly; it was one of those life affirming moments were everyone seems happy and it feels like there's no problems in the world. After that was Jake Bugg's set which I have to say was thoroughly boring; while there's no denying his talent, I just didn't enjoy the set whatsoever. He barely said a word on stage and it was just BORING.
The gap between Jake Bugg's set and the Arctic Monkeys was really long, so we went for a wander round the stalls and managed to catch part of the Pendulum DJ set which was insanely good. I had such a fun time bouncing around the tent. Then it was time for the main event: back to the Main Stage for the Arctic Monkeys. I love AM, and I was worried they wouldn't be as good as everyone says they are... Oh how wrong I was. They were absolutely spot on incredible!
So that's my round up of the weekend; I had such an amazing time, even though it rained and food was expensive and the toilets were gross. I'd definitely go back again.
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