Download Festival Shows Its Metal With Twentieth Anniversary Celebration

The Download Festival at Castle Donington celebrated its 20th anniversary this year with a spectacular line-up of metal rock bands old and new. Only beaten in size by Glastonbury, the festival has played host to all the big names in rock music, from Iron Maiden to Guns ‘n’ Roses, over the years.

Unfortunately, the Festival hardly receives any mainstream press, which seems strange considering Download welcomes over 100,000 rock fans to the event every year.

The is also one of the friendliest; where else can you enter a field of strangers where everyone soon becomes part of one big family?

Within Temptation delivered a tight set and a large crowd, with Stand My Ground and Supernova being highlights of their performance. Lead singer Sharon den Adel dedicated their set to Ukraine, even bringing on the Ukrainian flag in support of the country.



Evanescence made an all-too-rare appearance in the UK, which probably explained why they drew one of the biggest audiences of the day. Amy Lee led the band through some of the biggest rock tracks of the genre, such as Going Under.

"Are you ready for some northern rock?" asked Bring Me The Horizon’s lead singer Oli Sykes. The Sheffield band were worthy headliners on the Friday evening of the festival, proving that they are now a world-class rock act. Their aural assault on MANTRA was spectacular, while Amy Lee surprised everyone as she sang with the band on Nihilist Blues.

Saturday brought record breaking temperatures with hot acts to match the summer heat. Kid Kapachi is destined for the bigger stages if their storming set on the Avalanche stage is anything to go by. Rob The Supermarket had the mosh pit in full circle as the band moved into a higher gear.

Canadian band Simple Plan made a refreshing appearance proving that rock music can be fun and also have a message at the same time. From throwing huge beach balls into the audience to an appearance by Scooby Doo on What’s New Scooby Doo, the band were entertaining, enthralling, and enthusiastic, providing one of the best sets of the day.

Disturbed have a distinctive sound best exemplified on tracks such as Down With The Sickness, with Simon and Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence even getting the Disturbed treatment, which worked better than you might have thought.

Metallica is probably the biggest metal rock act in the world. The thrash metal pioneers gave a master class in how to put on an intense and energetic show, with For Whom The Bell Tolls and Enter Sandman standing out as rock classics.

Swedish metal band Avatar know the advantage of having a good image - if you mix the theatrics of Alice Copper with the rock of Black Veil Brides, you will get the picture. Smells Like A Freak show rocked, while Hail The Apocalypse proved that the band are still a force to be reckoned with.

Dinosaur Pile-Up may have had to contend with technical issues, though the sound out front did not deter the fans from enjoying an all too short set, with Back Foot being a standout from their set.

Over five years have passed since Parkway Drive graced a Download stage, and the fans and the band were in high spirits with their highly anticipated performance. When lead singer Winston McCall said that he wanted to join the audience, he was not joking; within a blink of an eye, McCall was singing tall and proud, possessed like a demon, and punching the air like a winning athlete. Aptly, the band closed with Wild Eyes, ending one of the strongest performances of the day.

Ghost really should have been playing on the main stage; the Swedish band drew a crowd that was larger than could have been predicted. Lead singer Tobias Forse had a graceful yet dominant manner. From their earlier gothic tones, newer tracks such as Spillways showed a more commercial edge, though the inclusion of Genesis’ Jesus, He Knows Me came unexpectedly.

Slipknot provided a chaotic end to the festival with their brand of aggressive rock. The mosh pits were in full force during tracks such as Liberate and Purity, as the dust from the ground created a smoke screen over the stage.

A great end to celebrate Download's twentieth anniversary.