June 8, 2007 - Donington, England - Donington Park

[ back to Concert Chronology 2007 ]

General Information

Date: June 8, 2007
Location: Donington, England
Venue: Donington Park; Castle Donington, Derby, England DE74 2RP [ Venue website ]
Additional Info: Download Festival 2007

Set List

• Let It Roll
• Do It For The Kids
• Sucker Train Blues
• She Mine
• Vasoline
• Fall To Pieces
• It's So Easy
• She Builds Quick Machines
• Sex Type Thing
• Set Me Free
• Psycho Killer
• Mr. Brownstone
• Slither

Reviews (8) [ send in your own review/pictures of the Donington show ]

Thanks to Just_Me: How fucking stupid is this: I'm jealous that I missed out on watching the webcast and discussing it here as it happened, even though I missed it because I was there!

Just got back today and the entire festival was fucking amazing but VR were a major, major highlight. I was right down the front in the pit (right hand side) got an amazing view and had a great time jumping around as well, and I think I even got some good photos although I haven't uploaded them yet.

I was amazed how much the audience was into it, there was even a circle pit during Vasoline which just doesn't make any sense to me, but it was fun anyway. And from where I was standing it seemed that people were actually as excited for Do It For The Kids as for Its So Easy, maybe even more so. I was also a little worried that the new songs wouldn't go down as well because most people wouldn't know them but they didn't seem to care, they were just there to have fun and were jumping around and getting into it whether they knew the song or not.

But perhaps the most impressive thing is that apparently the vast majority of that crowd was only there for VR. After they finished all but about 2-3 thousand people left to watch Korn on the second stage. I was a bit diffrent and went over to the third stage for Hayseed Dixie (also amazing) and then came back for MCR (who I like about as much as Korn) and in three years of going to Download I have never, ever seen such a small crowd at the main stage for anything but an opening act, for a headliner it was just unthinkable. The actual crowd barely even reached the sound stage and then there were just a few people dotted around behind them sat on the grass (or the space where the grass used to be). And a large chunk of them were only there to be absolute wankers and do stupid things like throw piss at other people in the audience. (I don't care what you think of a band, you don't do something that disgusting to another person, especially not over something as stupid as differing musical taste.)

One thing to bear in mind with the comments on the Download forum is that they were being posted while the festival was still going on, so the vast majority of people who were posting weren't actually there (the festival ended yesterday and most people came home today). At the festival the attitude towards VR was overwhelmingly positive. In 2005 it seemed to be pretty evenly split between people who thought VR were a must-see band, people who hated them and people who didn't care or didn't know who they were, but this year the majority of people seemed excited about them (I couldn't even count the number of VR and GNR shirts I saw and there were even 5 STP shirts which are very rare in England) and very, very few people were being negative.

But most importantly the actual performance was fantastic, looked and sounded incredible and was one of the most fun gigs I've ever been to. I'm already looking forward to my next chance to see them.

Thanks to Babydolls: Got back last night from Donnington - fk me. Glad the amazing sound and atmos was captured and you saw how fkn incredble they were! Seriously the best perf I've seen them do since their first London gig in 04. The sound was spot on, the crowd were SO up for it and every single band member went for it fkn 1000000%.

Had the honour and great fortune of meeting Slash (and his kids) before and after and Matt (fkn nice guy) and duff. Still in a bit of a haze tbh...
Can't wait to watch this again - someone mentioned it would be on Channel 4 - any idea when? I think last year's was shown a week after??

God, they were so fkn good...

Thanks to James Mc: Fuckin awesome, MCR came on after and were bottled to shit! VR rocked! Scott was a million times better than when I saw him last year! They were fuckin brilliant just wished they'd played The Last Fight it's a hell of song!

Thanks to Ed: Having seen VR at the CIA during their Contraband tour, I knew we were in for something special. My expectations were equalled and them some! The podcast really didn't do the show justice. When Slash is spinning on his one foot and twirling from one side of the stage to another, you know they're in the zone! I was more than impressed by the quality of the new material, roll on Libertads' release date.

VR didn't rely on cheap gimmicks to keep the crowd like other bands did that weekend, they shined like the rock gods they are!

Thanks to Tommii Trash: What an amazing show that were! Right at the front all the way through, the live show just seems to get better and the new songs are brilliant!

Thanks to Lynn: After watching VR on the web cast I can't wait for Monday 11th when I see them live in the Manchester Apollo. They played (as you may expect) a brilliant set with a mix of old and new songs. The new material is awesome, (roll on July so I can get Libertad) and it was nice to see their families at the side of the stage. The Donnington crowd seemed to relish their performance and shouted for Slash in between songs. Overall it was a great performance from a great band. Roll on Monday.........I'll send a review and pics of the gig.

Thanks to Lesley: I've just watched VR play Download via the webcam and they were amazing! They played a 13 song set including Do it for the kids, She mine, Vasoline, Mr Brownstone, Slither, Psycho Killer, Sucker Train blues, Set me free, She builds quick machines, It's so easy and fall to pieces, and there were a couple of new ones I didn't get the name of.

The webcam sometimes jammed and made the guys look like a silent movie as they caught up with the sound, but it was well worth seeing. The crowd lapped up the GnR and early VR tracks and just generally went wild. They shouted for Slash every time there was a pause and Scott announced that he would be doing some solo's. It seemed everyone at Download watched them.

I'm going to the much smaller and cosier Apollo in Manchester on Monday 11th and am more excited than ever, can't wait!!! Will send pics and review.

Thanks to Mark: Just watched the show via webcast live, totally awsome basically same set list as previous shows, new songs sound great overall performance outstanding. Can't wait 'till Glasgow.