Ok so this one should have been ticked off a long time ago. I love live music!! Whether its supporting local bands at a tiny club or going to a massive megaconcert I love the atmosphere and the passion that goes into the music. Over the years I've been to several massive concerts from Foo Fighters to Bon Jovi to Biffy Clyro to Backstreet Boys to Chambao to David Bisbal as well as a few dance and electronic music festivals - my music tastes are quite diverse to say the least! I've also been to small one day festivals with great lineups but running from 2pm til midnight or similar. However I always wanted to go to a massive 3 day festival on the lines of Glastonbury or Download.
This year when the Optimus Alive lineup in Portugal was announced and featured Stereophonics, Greenday, Kings of Leon and Biffy Clyro I jumped at the chance as I actually had enough annual leave to take time off work (a rare commodity these days!) and it had the added bonus of being driving distance from Gibraltar and likely to be decent weather.
I bought my tickets and then almost couldn't go as my friend had to pull out cos of work commitments but thankfully at almost the last minute we got together a group of 8 people, some of whom I didn't know very well, and we took the 7 hour road trip to Lisbon. (Lisbon is a good city to visit btw - its a bit dirty and unkept but still beautiful).
Optimus Alive was one of the best organised music events I've ever been to. Everything was seamless and hassle free from wristband exchanges, to shuttles to the venue, to decent toilets and no beer/wine queues .... and even more surprisingly all the bands started on time. I definitely recommend attending it and will be going again!!
One of the best things about festivals with such a massive lineup (running from 5pm til 5am across 3 stages) is that you get the occasional surprise act that you love. My favourite live act were Two Door Cinema Club, who I was familiar with but didn't think I'd love so much, though by the same token I was suprised that GreenDay were disappointing live considering how much I loved them as a teenager. Kings of Leon and Biffy Clyro were awesome, Of Monsters and Men and Vampire Weekend were brilliant and should have had a spot on the main stage and I had the most fun dancing to Jurassic 5's set with my 'team wine' dance buddy Jo. There was also an amazing Mozambique band which we discovered in a tiny stage covered in gold tinsel on the way to the portaloos. It was an exhausting three days but so much fun and was great to party with new friends til the early hours of the morning to the sounds of some amazing bands. There's also the awesome conversations you have with random people from around the world whilst waiting for Two Many DJs to start their set, or queuing in the food court for some Bifanas and Pasteis (love Portuguese food!) which add to the festival experience. Met Kiwis, Germans, Portuguese, Spaniards, Aussies, South Africans, Brits and more. The fact that the festival was in a city that I'd never been to was also an added bonus as we got to do some sightseeing during the day.
The only negative thing about the weekend was going to work the next day after getting home from Portugal at midnight with no voice and a body abused by excess wine, cider and festival food. The rest was amazing and I can't wait til the next one!! Beats any concert/festival I've been to hands down. In the meantime some great memories were made, as well as some great friends too.
This year when the Optimus Alive lineup in Portugal was announced and featured Stereophonics, Greenday, Kings of Leon and Biffy Clyro I jumped at the chance as I actually had enough annual leave to take time off work (a rare commodity these days!) and it had the added bonus of being driving distance from Gibraltar and likely to be decent weather.
I bought my tickets and then almost couldn't go as my friend had to pull out cos of work commitments but thankfully at almost the last minute we got together a group of 8 people, some of whom I didn't know very well, and we took the 7 hour road trip to Lisbon. (Lisbon is a good city to visit btw - its a bit dirty and unkept but still beautiful).
Optimus Alive was one of the best organised music events I've ever been to. Everything was seamless and hassle free from wristband exchanges, to shuttles to the venue, to decent toilets and no beer/wine queues .... and even more surprisingly all the bands started on time. I definitely recommend attending it and will be going again!!
One of the best things about festivals with such a massive lineup (running from 5pm til 5am across 3 stages) is that you get the occasional surprise act that you love. My favourite live act were Two Door Cinema Club, who I was familiar with but didn't think I'd love so much, though by the same token I was suprised that GreenDay were disappointing live considering how much I loved them as a teenager. Kings of Leon and Biffy Clyro were awesome, Of Monsters and Men and Vampire Weekend were brilliant and should have had a spot on the main stage and I had the most fun dancing to Jurassic 5's set with my 'team wine' dance buddy Jo. There was also an amazing Mozambique band which we discovered in a tiny stage covered in gold tinsel on the way to the portaloos. It was an exhausting three days but so much fun and was great to party with new friends til the early hours of the morning to the sounds of some amazing bands. There's also the awesome conversations you have with random people from around the world whilst waiting for Two Many DJs to start their set, or queuing in the food court for some Bifanas and Pasteis (love Portuguese food!) which add to the festival experience. Met Kiwis, Germans, Portuguese, Spaniards, Aussies, South Africans, Brits and more. The fact that the festival was in a city that I'd never been to was also an added bonus as we got to do some sightseeing during the day.
The only negative thing about the weekend was going to work the next day after getting home from Portugal at midnight with no voice and a body abused by excess wine, cider and festival food. The rest was amazing and I can't wait til the next one!! Beats any concert/festival I've been to hands down. In the meantime some great memories were made, as well as some great friends too.
#66 - ACHIEVED
- Difficulty: 2/10 (Nothing difficult other than requiring a bit of stamina)
- Thrill factor: 7/10 (Great feelng when your favourite band plays your fave hit)
- Sense of acheivement/fulfilment: 7/10 (music is so much better live)
- Recommend to a friend: 10/10 (if you haven't been to a festival yet - Go!!!)
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