Logan's Download Diary: the Final Episode

Cameron Pirie tells the backstage story of Logan's first - and hopefully not last - appearance at Download

The dust has settled after an incredible experience.

To pick up from our last diary entry – the hangovers cleared and we spent some time over at the Jagermeister Truck with Tom Carson and his team, before returning to get access to our dressing room at the allotted time. Matt, our artist liaison guy, was a diamond and let us in a bit early.

At this point things got a bit surreal. Sevendust were in the unit next to ours and Shinedown, Buckcherry, God Forbid and Volbeat were all in our quadrant – the guys took to it like a duck to water and were soon hanging out!

I had a call from Eric Cook of Demolition Records who was stuck in traffic heading to see us, and I had to rapidly organise some passes for him at the main gates – typically it was about the furthest point away from our dressing room. Meanwhile the boys, Rab, Raggy and Garry jumped into the shuttle bus and headed for the stage at 2.45.

The nervous tension was immense. I arrived hot and bothered at the backstage area to see only Rab and Raggy there.

Rab said: “Cam, have you seen the boys? They forgot something and headed down to the dressing room to meet you.”

I can’t type my response but as I fished out my mobile the bastards stepped out from behind a production office, killing themselves laughing. Sometimes I wonder…

The Journey’s set on the main stage was wrapping up and a steady flow of bodies were streaming into the Red Bull Tent as Raggy and Garry did a line check. It’s hellish when there’s no soundcheck - you never know if the mix is going to be right at front of house and, importantly, on stage through the monitors. We just had to trust that the engineers and stage manager were up to the job.

Five minute warning….we did what we always do before a show and stood facing each other in a circle with one hand each on a pile in the middle. Kenny said a few words and the Logan shout went up!

The tent was absolutely rammed – about 2000 people, rose as the guys hit the stage, chanting: “Lo-gan, Lo-gan!” as the band burst into Something Else then straight into Rock’n’Roll Way (one of the new songs demoed for the next record) Scottish flags were fluttering and the crowd went with them. A few words from Kenny then another new song, Brother, which thundered through the excellent sound system.

Kenny leapt off the stage during and leant over the security barriers wearing a Scottish Saltire someone had draped round his shoulders. A scorching rendition of Hallowed Ground led into our standard finale When I Get Down. I swear the whole crowd sang the words – awesome!

Thirty minutes is a short time to nail a set, but they pulled it off. They were magnificent. It’s been reported on forums and our Myspace comments that there was an emotional end to our show backstage – there was. Two of our guys burst into tears.
They were absolutely drained and the feeling of elation is so different for everyone.

Guitarist Al gave us possibly the most telling comment of the day as I was consoling a sobbing Logan member. “Cammy!” he said, pointing, “That’s called 100% commitment.”


Well done to everybody involved in making our debut at Download such a wonderful experience. Our crew, Rock Radio, Jagermeister, Live Nation, all the other bands who made us feel such a part of it - Salute! More hangovers and happy faces.

See you all next year!