First question - did I have a good time? Yes I did - it was a brilliant day out and worth every penny of the Christ alone knows how much I spent there. Second question - any problems? Yes, where would you like me to start?

I had been looking forward to this day for a couple of months, it seemed as though Deconstruction would be some sort of huge punk party in the park and it was to an extent lthough with all these big outdoor events I came away 1) very drunk and 2) asking myself some questions about the day as a whole. Primarily was the £13 for this day anywhere near as good value as the £5 for the Easter alldayer in Brighton? I don't think so but I knew it wouldn't be before I went but didn't quite expect what I found at Stratford, I really wish it was the one upon Avon instead of the repugnent East End shit pit, the site of 12,000 pissed punks cracking on in Shakespeare country seems appealing to me in a warped way.

Upon arriving I had to get rid of a spare ticket and couldn't get face value for it from anyone because the gig just wasn't sold out as far as I could tell. Once rid of the ticket I joined a queue that to be frank took the piss and had my first run in of the day with some upstarts from Oxford about 15 years old the lot of them and they thought they knew it all, would they listen to the advice of a wiser head "you will not get a crate of beer past the gate" offered, they didn't and had to sell it at 50p a can despite all and sundry offering them £1 ten minutes before along with some friendly advice. Did meet a couple of top lads from Leeds, although one of them did have a worrying Suicidal Tendencies fetish.

Finally at the front of the queue I managed to pass through with no problems as I didn't have to take part in the ludicrous bag search or exchange a Ticketmaster ticket for a 'proper one' - this is perhaps the most ridiculous display of sheer self indulgence on the part of security I have ever come accross at a gig or anywhere else for that matter.

Anyway you come to expect these things at big events. I know it pissed a lot of people off. Once inside the arena itself was fine, plenty of space so everyone could see it was just a shame that everyone couldn't hear!

Terrorgruppe were just wrapping up when I arrived and I don't think I missed an awful lot to be honest, they could do with wrapping up wholesale if you ask me.

Unfortunately I did happen to catch Guttermouth. Why are so many of the young kids at these shows so obsessed with these generic skate punk bands from America? Well, obsessed they are and the woodchips flew all the way through the set.The woodchips became a marker for a good crowd reaction as the afternoon progressed. The singer stuck a finger up his backside - how amusing.

I just got pissed along with several thousand others. Although how some people managed to get pissed I don't know, the queue for the bar was pure lunacy and I'm not embarrased to say I pushed in at every oppurtunity and even got the security to let me in at the front of the queue as my imaginary mate was at the bar! I know it is a bit of an arsehole thing to do but the worst story I heard was of an hour and a quarter in the queue for beer and hey come on we were thirsty.

My big gripe of the day was the price of beer £2.50 for a pint of piss water in a paper cup and the price of food but what are you to do?

The Mad Caddies kind of passed me by but I may have been busy watching someone who looked like they were going to hurt themselves on the skateramp, or I could have been taking the piss out of someone in a Slipknot or Wank 182 shirt.

Snapcase I did catch and their crunchy hardcore caught my attention for ten minutes before spiralling downward into the monotony that seems to come with the hardcore genre. Those who were there for them seemed to love it though. Snapcase merchandise seemed to shift at the stalls at a fair rate too.

Ah ha - the merchandise stalls. What a freaking piss take. Whoever was responsible for the pricing on these needs hooting - £13 for a t-shirt! I really hope this wasn't down to NOFX because the "..are for kids" shirts were two years old, I bought one at their Glasgow gig May 98 and was shocked to see them on sale at all. If they were a fiver I could have understood but £13. I suppose it may just be a sign of what big events like Deconstruction are all about - fleecing the kids.The Fat Wreck stall was selling CDs at very reasonable prices though.

Good Riddance played a good set of uptempo punk and the woodchip kids liked them - a lot. Again though I was more concerned with getting spannered and soaking up the atmosphere than the music, at your usual all dayers you can do both in the close surrounds of a small venue but in an East London field with a sound system the size of your average stereo this was never going to be likely.

Thankfully for all our souls the threat of an appearance from Less Than Great never materialised. Snuff did and for them came my first excursion into the pit. Opening with Theme From the Likely Lads the boys go down a storm, Snuff never play a bad set but sometimes their gigs are populated by annoying little tossers and if I ever come accross the little runt who threw the glass bottle that hit my head there will be 'trouble' shall we say. I was on a high but that incident sent me on a very negative downer and I left the pit snarling and looking like I might kill someone, in hindsight I was drunk and upset.

I calmed down a bit after falling over and covering myself in mud attempting to kick a football! Funny sides can always be seen after happenings like this. Even before this I witnessed punches being thrown, a girl being kicked when she fell over, people being spat on and trampled on when they were on the floor. I always thought it was simple - if someone goes down then pick them up, not jump on there head to get a better view.

Shortly after at the bar I end up with a 18 pint round which pisses the bar staff and the people behind me in the queue right off as more and more people I knew turned up from out of nowhere, it started out as one for myself.

So then came the Bosstones. By this point I think everyone had managed to get so drunk that the Bosstones provided an excellent party soundtrack for us all to indulge in lunacy to and some very silly dancing in some very silly wigs that appeared from somewhere over the course of the afternoon commenced. Seeing all the MTV kids charging headlong towards the crowd when The Impression That I Get was played was a moment of great humour that seemed to sum up a lot of what I thought was wrong with today. It really is hard to remember a time when MTV weren't in charge of picking the next big thing. Oh well I suppose we all did it once in one way or the other and you have to get into the scene one way or the other blah, blah, blah.... Is it better than my heavy metal schooling? I doubt it very much - God bless Bolt Thrower!!!

As the sunlight faded away NOFX took to the stage and as you will know if you have ever seen them play they proceeded to waste a lot of time chatting shit instead of playing some of their fine punk rock that we all know they are capable of. I loved every minute of what I can remember of NOFX, deciding to stay out of the pit and drink some more and engage in yet more lunatic dancing in a silly wig pestering any female on site for a dance.

So the bottom line with the whole day was - I went to festival with some mates, cracked on, got pissed and had a great day. My main problems lie with the promoter.

The sound was appalling, someone commented that you could have had a stereo on in your back garden and put a barbeque on with similar results to this day.

One final grumble was the special guests. Ok it was Snuff I love them and was happy to see them play again but by announcing very special guests it implies that you are pushing the boat out a bit rumours were flying around it was Green Day, Rancid, Descendents and a few others. Maybe the promoter was a bit worried that Snuff had played just a week before hand, in a show announced before the NOFX gig and that he wouldn't be able to fleece everyone twice if people knew about both shows. Greedy capitalist swine.

This does also pose the question were the bands in on it? Am I paranoid? No there was corporate rock whoring going on somewhere by men in braces and pony tails I'm positive.

I really hope this event happens again next year. Perhaps there is room for expansion though perhaps make it two stage affair, when I was sat in the sunshine drinking beer and chilling out I found myself thinking "wouldn't it be great to hear The Tone now". A tent with some British bands on would have been good. It could be a whole lot better but who in there right mind would grant a licence to a gig of this magnitude put on DIY, you need all the infastructures and unfortunetly there is no middle ground between DIY and large promoters. Maybe the whole Donnington scenario would be a thought, imagine what a crack it would have been on a campsite the night before, pure lunacy. Same time next year at Long Marston Air Field, tratford-Upon-Avon.

Jono