Around this time last year, I made myself a new pair of shorts for Download and made a post about it a few months later. And, at the end of that post, I put in the outfits that I wore to said festival. This year, I don’t have any new shorts to show off, but I thought I’d still show off the outfits that I have planned for this year.
Nb – Some of the elements in these outfits are permanent features. My ace ring (the black ring on my right middle finger) and my silver necklace will be present in all outfits, and the black bum bag will be present on outfits 1-5. I mention them here because I don’t see the point of mentioning each of these elements every time they pop up. You’d get bored of reading it, and I’d get bored of writing it.
Anyway, let’s get on with it, shall we?
Outfit 1: Wednesday:
Getting into the spirit of things.
The pose is good for this one!
…Anyway, pose aside, this outfit consists of a Rammstein shirt, my modified shorts, split black and red tights with some translucent crisscross tights on top, a leather cuff, and a 2022 Download hoodie around the hips.
As you can probably tell, this outfit has a bit of a black and red theme. You may also notice that I’m not wearing any kind of fishnets with this outfit. This is because we will be putting together the campsite after having been crammed tightly in a car for a few hours, and I don’t want to worry about snagging any fishnets when I’m sleep deprived and in charge of mallet.
It also makes for a pretty good outfit for just wandering around the village and seeing what’s about this year. And, who doesn’t love Rammstein? I would love to go and see them again…but, sadly, I am poor and their tickets are expensive.
Outfit 2: Thursday:
I am become crab.
The pose is not so great with this one…It was the first outfit that I put together for this year and I hadn’t quite gotten into the spirit of things yet.
This outfit has a crab shirt, my black and white shorts, some green gradient tights with tights with diamond gaps on top, a leather cuff, and a black and white shirt around the hips.
This is the outfit that, when I come to wearing it, is most likely to change. This is because I had to do something absolutely sacrilegious to the green tights…They were cheap and ended up being a bit too short and a bit too tight around the thighs, so I cut the arse open to make them fit better. They still aren’t a great fit, even with my arse cheeks flapping in the wind, but they do at least go up a bit further. Lucking the shorts are just about long enough to cover up my sins, and the shirt around the back gives me a bit more coverage if any sitting or bending is involved. I may end up changing my green tights to the pair of black tights that I’m bringing as a spare.
Overall, the outfits not too bad. I had hoped that the crab shirt would have been a bit bigger (I like my shirts oversized), but oh well. It will probably disintegrate after 3 washes anyway. And the tight combo looks pretty good, in spite of its sins.
Outfit 3: Friday:
For glory!
I not gonna lie, I got this absolute power stance of a pose in 1 take. I have no idea how, but I will absolutely take it!
This outfit is comprised of a Gloryhammer shirt, my modified shorts, purple tights with giant diamond fishnets on top, and a Download 2022 hoodie around the hips.
This Gloryhammer shirt (I have 2 of them) is one of my newer band shirts, and I absolutely love it! It’s big, it’s comfy, and it has a good mix of purple and cyan colours. It also give me the perfect opportunity to wear these purple tights again. Fun fact about the tights – they are about 11 years old and were the first pair colourful tights that I ever owned. I haven’t worn them in literal years (since I was a teenager, really) but the elastic is still good and they are a really nice fit.
This outfit is, overall, very comfortable and perfect for the first day in the arena.
Outfit 4: Saturday:
An oldie but goodie.
The pose isn’t bad, but it’s not as good as some of the others. Still solid, though.
This outfit has a Powerwolf shirt, my black and white shorts, some black and green gradient tights with a pair of chaotic cobweb fishnets on top, a double box chainmail bracelet (made by yours truely), and a 2022 Download hoodie around the hips.
This outfit was really just an excuse to wear these black and green tights. They are new and feel really nice to wear…the only trouble was trying to find a top that would go with them. When trying to find one, I realised that I have no band shirts with green on them. I ended up settling one of my Powerwolf shirts (again, I have 2) as I hadn’t worn it in ages and it seemed to go-ish with the tights.
Not the strongest of outfits, but a good excuse to wear an older shirt of mine. It was my second ever band shirt and I got it at my first Download back in 2022 (along with the hoodie). Maybe I’ll reveal my first band shirt to you all someday…the only hint that I’ll give you is that it’s from my first gig in 2016.
Outfit 5: Sunday:
The nothing jumper returns!
This is pretty much the same pose that I used last year for this jumper. It’s good pose and I’m lazy. So there.
This outfit has the nothing jumper with a black bralette underneath, some patterned velvet trousers, a full Persian ladder bracelet (again, made by yours truely), and a black and white shirt around the hips.
I think that this outfit is a bit messy, but I kinda love it all the same. I don’t get many chances to wear the nothing jumper, as I find that it’s one of my trickier things to style, but I couldn’t really think of anything else that I could wear with these trousers. These trousers were an impulse buy from Amazon that, surprisingly, ended up being a near perfect fit. They look so good! I just had to try and wear them to Download. I also think that this outfit has a slightly edgy, naughties tint that is perfect for seeing Bullet for my valentine.
Outfit 6: Monday:
For when I’m dead.
Not gonna lie, I probably should have censored the feet (I trust none of you). Pose is pretty lacklustre, but so is the ‘fit. It fits the vibe, you know?
This is just a Greggs-themed Alestorm shirt with a pair of comfy leggings. This is for packing up the campsite, going back to my friend’s house, getting some takeout, and watching a Scooby doo film while trying not to fall asleep on the sofa (as is tradition). That’s it. It does what it needs to.
Metal or not metal: a music quiz:
There is a total of 40 questions in this quiz, split into 5 categories. There are 2 types of rounds – the lyric rounds and the title rounds.
Lyric round: Each question in these rounds has a song lyrics, and you have to guess whether the lyric is from a metal song or not from a metal song. There is a bonus point for each of these questions if you can name the song or the artist.
Title round: Each question in these rounds has a song title, and you have to guess whether or not it is a real song title from the artist that the round is based on. Unfortunately, there are no bonus points available in this round.
There a total of 64 points available across the 5 rounds (40 question points + 24 bonus points). How many can you get? Good luck!
Round 1: People (existent or otherwise):
Lyric round
- “Hey Lucy, I remembered your birthday”
- “Alright Zargothrax! Your evil reign of terror ends today!”
- “Twice he fought Mohammed Ali”
- “Herschell was seized and dragged away, his remains were found the following day”
- “I would go tell Jong Il Kim, that they’re making fun of him”
- “Baby Yoda is so cute I might just die”
- “Sherlock Holmes, well…he’s just high”
- “England: innovators of Def Leppard…Shakespeare…Indian food…Gary Lineker…”
Round 2: Am I hungry, or is it Igorrr?:
Title round
- Houmous
- Very long chicken
- Onion sonata
- Spaghetti forever
- Tainted ham
- Spontaneous beef
- Blastbeat falafel
- Vegetable soup
Round 3: Odds and sods that I couldn’t fit anywhere else:
Lyric round
- “Would she hold me if she knew my shame?”
- “I’m worried ’bout my mental health”
- “His ribcage was a hornet’s nest”
- “Your baby is ugly as sin”
- “Would be cold, that’s why I got a heater for your thighs”
- “I’m celiac and dead”
- “TMZ tried to screw me”
- “Pepperoni and green peppers, mushrooms, olive, chives”
Round 4: Am I okay, or is it Crywank?:
Title round
- Family disappointment
- It’s okay, I wouldn’t remember me either
- Thinking about a potentially awkward interaction with an old friend
- If I were you I’d be throwing up
- Black sheep (ba ba)
- I am in great pain, please help me
- Goodbye self-esteem, didn’t need you anyway
- I am shit
Round 5: The obligatory ‘adult’ round:
Lyric round
- “Put your dick in a blender”
- “Consensual sex is alright with me”
- “Shocking like a finger in the anus”
- “Woke up this morning, wanted to die”
- “An all-purpose hunting blade straight up his colon”
- “Without a condom, the sex is better”
- “They wash my face and wash my balls”
- “I joke about sex because it’s funny when you’re frightened”
Answers:
To find out the answers, click on each of the rounds below to reveal them.
Round 1 (lyric round):
- Not metal (Lucy – Skillet)
- Metal (The fires of ancient cosmic destiny – Gloryhammer)
- Not metal (The Ballad of George Chuvalo – Friendly Rich and the lollipop people)
- Not metal (Herschell – Harley Poe)
- Not metal (Bomb New Jersey – Aurelio Voltaire)
- Metal (Baby Yoda – Little V)
- Not metal (House of cards – Frenchie and the Punk)
- Metal (England – Edguy)
Round 2 (title round):
- Real
- Real
- Fake
- Real
- Fake
- Fake
- Real
- Real
Round 3 (lyric round):
- Metal (Tears don’t fall – Bullet for my valentine)
- Metal (Don’t get bitten by the wrong ones – Dominum)
- Not metal (Black box warrant – Will Wood and the Tapeworms)
- Not metal (Please don’t hand me your baby – Roulston & Young)
- Metal (A little piece of heaven – Avenged sevenfold)
- Not metal (Bread – Anya Nami)
- Metal (Sham pain – Five finger death punch)
- Metal (Chic ‘N’ Stu – System of a down)
Round 4 (title round):
- Fake
- Real
- Real
- Real
- Fake
- Real
- Fake
- Real
Round 5 (lyric round):
- Metal (Cannonball – Alestorm)
- Metal (Because boobs – Psychostick)
- Not metal (Murderer – Ren)
- Metal (Going to die – Nekrogoblikon)
- Not metal (To catch a predator – Insane clown posse)
- Metal (Praise abort – Lindemann)
- Not metal (King of men – Reverend Glasseye)
- Not metal (Lonesome organist rapes a page turner – The Dresden dolls)
Well, this ended up being a surprisingly long post, didn’t it? Or, at least, I think so anyway. I will be doing this quiz with my friends before we go to download, so hopefully it isn’t a complete flop. Even if it is, at least one of them will end up winning a mini Colin the caterpillar (as that seems like an appropriate prize for first place).
As I finish writing this on the train, I find myself unsure of what music to leave at the end. So, I’m just going to put the song that I am currently listening to. Hope you like Russian power metal! – В дюйме от паденья by Эпидемия
Natalie's notebook 