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SONgS ThaT SCrEam ‘SummEr’ pagE - 18

first ‘girls holiday’ to Napa with my best friends, my first time clubbing, collecting my A-Level results where I secured my place at Cardiff Uni etc. This song is definitely the backing track when I reminisce on Summer 2019. Summer 2019 was the period I truly started to grow up, and realise I was not a kid anymore. I was going to be starting my first year of university, and officially be making my own decisions on how I will be living my life. So, the reason I revisit this song every summer, and will be in the futures to come, is because it reminds of the summer that got me where I am today.

festival firsts

By: Rowan Davies Design by: Eszter Gurbicz

In 2015, my father and I took a trip to Download Festival for our first ever festival experience. The tickets were bought last minute after much deliberation with my mother, who was not exactly jumping at the thought of her small, thirteen-year-old daughter spending a day in a sea of headbanging metalheads. Nevertheless, we somehow managed to convince her and were finally off to see our favourite bands at the legendary Donnington Park. Upon arrival, our excitement was temporarily halted as rain began to pour, and our car lodged itself in a field of mud. Not the greatest way to begin the day but once the car fiasco was sorted, we made our way to the main grounds. It was like entering rock n’ roll heaven. Everything blew me away – from the electrifying sound of guitars blaring through the speakers, to the thousands of long-haired, tattooed rockers. The artists were equally as incredible – We danced along to Billy Idol’s classic tunes, and we watched in awe as Mötley Crüe lit up the stage with pillars of fire and flame-throwing bass guitars. But the highlight of my day was sitting on my dad’s shoulders, far above the crowd, listening to the epic guitar solos of my hero, Slash. In that moment, not even the rain could’ve dampened my exhilaration. The unfortunate fact that I had school the following day put an early end to our festival experience, but not before watching headliners KISS take the stage in a flurry of dazzling explosions. The thrill of the music and the fantastic memories created with my dad made for a first festival experience I will cherish forever.

Words by: Francesca Manenti

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