LeftLion at Download 2026

It was with great intrigue that I rocked up (sorry) to Download Festival for the first time. Something of a lapsed rock fan, I never quite found my way fully back to the heavier side of music after those formative years. Luckily, the line up for this year’s edition of the hallowed festival is stacked with bands and figures who were there during that high tide of my rock listening. Bands I loved, songs I knew by heart. The questions then, are whether time has dulled their sharpness, whether nostalgia could be a powerful enough tool to draw me back, or – as one sage fan put it in the queue – whether a “memory should just stay a memory”...

FRIDAY

First up, on the freshly relocated Avalanche Stage, Native James brings melodic, grime-infused metal charged with fury. GTFU is a savage jolt to the system, while a one-two of guest appearances from Boy Better Know alumni Frisko for Never Been Scared and Professor Green for Block, show the seriousness with which James is taking his first Download appearance. It won’t be his last.

Silly Goose follow with more rap-rock and nu-metal energy, pinwheeling across the stage with a smirk and tongue firmly lodged in cheek. They land well, provoking an absolute torrent of crowd surfers amid the noise.

Over on what is “officially the biggest stage in the UK”, the Apex Stage, Hollywood Undead draw an enormous crowd eager to experience and revel in their own brand of chaotic irreverence, their well-received set bookended by Undead and Everywhere I Go, both from 2008’s mega Swan Songs.

Staying on Apex, Aussie veterans Pendulum denote a shift from nu-metal, earning full-throated appreciation from drum and bass heads as they loose their salvo of songs that smartly mix genres. Propane Nightmares proves a predictably wild opener, with that game-changing riff still razor sharp two decades later. Their set is heavy on songs from most recent album Inertia, which more than hold their own, though it’s a well-judged cover of Enter Shikari’s Sorry, You’re Not a Winner, complete with appearance by Enter Shikari frontman Rue Reynolds, that stokes pandemonium. Afterward, the antics of Electric Callboy bring levity and loudness to one of the biggest crowds of the weekend, eager to witness their genre-hopping madness and techno-flecked silliness.

A standout on the line-up poster in more ways than one, Cypress Hill reach through the years and across the hip hop culture they so brilliantly represent and the nu-metal acts they inspired, to bring a rapturously received set. Download is a family-centric place, and there is such joy in seeing toddlers dancing blissfully unaware to such child-unfriendly songs as Hits from the Bong and I Wanna Get High. They end with Insane in the Brain and Jump Around, fomenting a rush of dizzy, gleeful bouncing from the crowd, who will spend the rest of the weekend referring to this set as a highlight.

Poignant is probably not a word associated often with tonight’s headliner, but the passing en-route to the festival of driver and friend Dougie Miller, see Limp Bizkit’s inimitable frontman Fred Durst in a ruminative mood as the band arrive. It’s to his and the band’s credit that they wield that loss as fuel for celebration, and deliver an epic set to a crowd thick with red baseball cap wearing disciples. Bookended by renditions of the colossal Break Stuff, they luxuriate in their performance, interstitial pop songs allowing the audience to breathe before the next then-silly-now-classic hit. Rollin’ is a devastatingly fun highlight in what proves to be a wildly successful turn at the top of the bill.

SATURDAY

We start Saturday with Tampa, Florida’s Nevertel, who keep the early 00s energy from the night before – ahem – rollin’, albeit with a hooky, pop-punk twist. Following them are an unfortunate rarity for the weekend: an all-female outfit. Die Spitz, ascending under the charge of Third Man Records, arrive amid the buzz of sold out shows across their tour. They are astonishing here, brandishing fuzzy, classic rock gilded with an edge of righteous feminine rage. So clearly having an absolute blast, they rip and tear through their set, dousing the crowd with sonic petrol until Throw Yourself to the Sword sets a match to the whole tent. Rock at its finest.

On the main stage, and entering their third decade as a band, Black Veil Brides show no sign of letting up, pulverising their devoted and adoring fanbase with slickly-presented metal. Their crowd respond by spiritedly launching themselves into pit after pit.

After freak June hail curtailed their set in 2024, Babymetal returned this year to set things right. A weighty counter-point to a heavy transatlantic focus – even Downloads merch promo was shot in the deserts of Nevada – they relish the chance at justice. Across a storming hour, they deliver perfectly precise and characterful vocals and choreography, set to a punishing and no-less precise instrumentation. The crowd surfers are once again out in force for the entirety, giving those below an upper-arm workout to go with the neck exercises through headbanging. Gimme Chocolate!! is as brutally catchy as ever, and RATATATA provokes appropriate pandemonium that marks a high point in the weekend.

Representing the old guard this year, Guns N Roses risk finding themselves somewhat outpaced by the world around them, but their modest crowd is a fervent one and as Saturday’s headliners kick off with Welcome to the Jungle, their power is still evident. An energised Axl Rose leads the band through a set that promised three hours, but delivers a marginally more modest two hours forty-five, albeit one still stuffed with songs. Amid a career-spanning set Civil War is a highlight, coming as the sun dips low over the audience.

This is a band who can lay claim to some of the greatest rock songs ever written, and also some other songs. Were they to excise a few of the latter, they could have an electric and likely classic two hour set. As it is, there are a few too many diversions in the middle, such as a well-meaning Sabbath Bloody Sabbath cover that fails to ignite and a mildly baffling Wichita Lineman.

While Axl and co. rattle through their set, Architects draw a ridiculous crowd to the Opus Stage. Furious and sharp-edged, their starkly modern brutality provides a tempting contrast to the main stage, though safety concerns mean a stop-start feel that robs the event of some of its sense of occasion. Over in the Dogtooth tent, Blood Incantations thrill an altogether different crowd with their heady, low-and-slow psyche tied to guttural savagery.

Back to the headliners, and an ending barrage consisting of Sweet Child O’ Mine, Nightrain and a glorious Paradise City edge Guns N Roses toward reclaiming the night, but it never quite coalesces. Still, there aren't many better sights nor sounds than Slash in full flow, bathed in golden hour light as he solos.

SUNDAY

The final day starts back on Dogtooth, with a sun-kissed, scuzzy and very 90s sound provided by Melbourne, Australia’s Wayside. Using an effective wall of noise to wake up the late-weekend troops, and in possession of a clear sense of style and vision, they prove themselves a tight and intriguing live act, who go down a storm.

Dogstar have built themselves into global festival regulars, the band to which Keanu Reeves contributes bass debuting here at Download to a considerable crowd on the second stage. This is rock music made for Mustangs and the open road, brimming with momentum. They make a lot of noise for three band members, even if one of those members is The One.

Another band for whom the organisers spun their globe eastward rather than westward, Bloodywood perhaps steal the entire weekend. Enriched with light-touch yet affirming comments on willpower, self-belief and rising from the ashes of colonialism and genocide, their set thrills the audience with ferocious metal, played incredibly proficiently. It’s relentless and sweaty and there is not one soul without a smile on their face by the end.

A tough act to follow, it’s a kindness that the next band are completely different sonically. The Pretty Reckless, led by doyenne of cool Taylor Momsen, guide a rapturous crowd through a swampy, stompy set of songs that beat with a quintessentially American heart. She’s in fine voice, soulful and powerful, obviously enjoying the occasion with a grin on her face as she snarls of witches, Hell and the Devil.

A legend of Download, Tom Morello again highlights the injustice that is Rage Against the Machine’s continuing absence from the rock scene. He also highlights the insane talent latent in his genealogy, as his son Roman Morello threatens to upstage his pops with virtuoso, behind-the-head guitar playing.

While his own songs thrill, the Soldier in the Army of Love stokes the single wildest reaction of the weekend with first a medley of Rage riffs, and then, gloriously, the anthem of the angry: Killing in the Name. Throats are torn, fists are pumped, moshers throw themselves around with abandon. It’s electric, life-affirming and possibly the peak of the weekend. Metal veterans and insatiable pyromaniacs Mastodon keep that energy rolling, with their winding, melodic metal finding approval from the sun-soaked audience.

Performing unopposed on the schedule, Linkin Park have the close of the festival to themselves and they rise to the calling. With a stage design that’s a step up from their peers, they present an artistically engaging and professional show clearly crafted with more than a little forethought and care. From opener The Emptiness Machine, the band assault the senses with clean and colourful visuals that make full use of the Apex Stage’s abundance of screen space, along with confetti and lasers galore.

It’s an unfortunate blot on this great festival that tonight represents the first time in its 23 year history a woman is headlining. Download needs to do more to address an unbalance that seems so heinously anachronistic for a festival in 2026, when others are aiming for 50/50 representation. Still, despite the overdue nature, it is still with great enthusiasm and pride that Linkin Park celebrate frontwoman Emily Armstrong’s entry into the history books, inviting female-only pits during Two Faced to mark the occasion.

At ease in, but clearly in awe of their status, Armstrong and Mike Shinoda share conversation between songs, drinking in the goodwill from the seemingly endless audience. Spread across a loose four act structure, the band are clever when it comes to pace, and know when to drop a classic from their early successes Meteora and Hybrid Theory. Appearing early, Crawling soars, and Somewhere I Belong closes the first act with a febrile intensity.

IGYEIH and One Step Closer are the emotional fulcrum, the screens blaring an overwhelming red as the atmosphere tips into something primal. That is, until there is an apparent safety (or merely shoe) incident at the front that cuts the latter song in half. The band start back up after a short delay, but it's unfortunate timing that this came at the close of act three, just prior to a break anyway, robbing the until then perfectly judged set of some momentum.

That the band so easily reclaims any lost energy is a testament to their skills and justification for their selection as bill toppers. The final set of songs seethe, with Papercut and In The End stunning. As they close the weekend with Faint, Linkin Park stake a claim as one of Download’s greats in a long list of them.

So, that’s Download 2026. A weekend of communion for all and a welcome personal reconnection with my louder teenage years for me. It’s also led to an epiphany of sorts, when it comes to nostalgia as a whole and to this festival, which from the outside is oft-maligned for repetitive line ups.

Yes, you can look at a line up poster for Download 2026 and see a similar roster to other years, but the repetition is part of it. Every other person this weekend proudly wore a battle jacket stitched with patches of bands past and present. The collection of the moments is what’s important. Each gig is a milestone in someone’s life and anchor point until the next one comes along. The people follow the bands and the band’s music stays with the people.

What I hadn’t quite clocked at the start of the weekend is that this place thrives on something beyond mere nostalgia. It is mass catharsis through the coming together of a community so defined by their joint love, through the comfort and familiarity offering a space for self-expression and freedom that goes beyond the performances onstage.

Judged by those performances, by the organisation of the place and by the staff, who so often were utterly lovely and joyful, Download Festival has been an unequivocal success. Judged on its wider merits, it remains a vital part of the calendar for many who love their pilgrimage to this sacred space of rock. Long may those people be able to call it home.

Download Festival took place at Donington Park from 10-14 June 2026