Download Festival 2025 Sunday

Sunday morning started similarly to Saturday. An early shower, followed by a bit of sitting and talking with Ali while the other got to their various stages of readiness. This time, Ash was also up early as she and Ali were off to get tattoos. Due to the fridge issues, we once again didn’t bother with breakfast.

I always leave on a Sunday night to get back, in case I have to work on Monday, so I had started to pack all the stuff away in my car except for my tent and chair. It was a good job because it started raining not long after they had gone to get their tattoos, so I retreated to my tent for an hour or so. This is one of the huge bonuses of stopping in RIP.

Had I been in general camping, I would have had to pack all the gear together to take back to the car, which would have been at least a 30-minute walk, if not longer. This was about four steps from the tent to my car door. It makes Sunday mornings as easy as it gets.

Once it had stopped raining, Carla, Chris, and I sat out chatting for a bit and tried to decide if we could be bothered to move for Bleed from Within (6) or not. We didn’t, but I wanted to get in there for another band, so I decided to move before they did. I hadn’t checked the timings on the app, but for some reason, they had gone on late.

As I walked into the arena area, they were only halfway through their set, so I caught the last few songs. The dust clouds they were producing from the mosh pits in the crowd were huge! They are very good at what they do. I just haven’t quite reached the point where I want to listen to them outside of a festival setting, and this didn’t change my mind on that. I am 100% sure their fans loved it, though, and hopefully they gained a lot more from the big crowd that had gathered.

The reason I wanted to be in early was that I wanted to see Amira Elfeky (7). I knew very little about the background, but I had heard some songs from the run-through of all the people and bands playing over the weekend, and this voice in particular caught my interest.

Honestly, she is probably even better live than on recording. The band were all in sync, and the aesthetics are fantastic. The dress she wore was stunning and evoked the usual Amy Lee comparisons, but I don’t think they are lazy in this situation because the combination of her voice and dress does send you in that direction. Well worth a listen for those unfamiliar with her work.

It was a busy day, and so I had to trek from 3rd stage to 4th stage, which, if you’ve been to Download before, you know is an absolute mission! Sadly, when I got there, I was a little disappointed with Vower (5). I’d heard good things, and didn’t mind the couple of songs that I’d heard in my preview, but it just felt a little jumbled up. Some bands can pull off the ‘everybody playing different songs but sounding great together’ approach well, with Coheed and Cambria being the obvious example, but this just felt a bit off.

But I was there because I wanted to see the next band on. I’m a big fan of when Japanese bands come over, Crossfaith and Coldrain in particular, and so I didn’t want to miss the UK debut of Survive Said the Prophet (8). And just like the previous two bands mentioned, these guys nailed their first performance that I have seen.

Most of their songs come from various series of anime, and so anyone who has watched some of that instantly knows the words to all the songs that are on offer today. I haven’t been a watcher of anime, but I must be honest, I feel like I should with all the soundtracks that I keep hearing!

They are very much like Coldrain, with their heavy, screaming verses and delightful choruses. They gained at least one new fan in me, and I hope they come back over and tour with some good bands soon.

I left the tent and stayed at the top of the hill to see some of Jinjer (6). Led singer Tatiana Shmayluk is so, so talented. The vocal range may be the best of anyone over the whole weekend. She can go from heavy to clean vocals instantly without losing anything in the translation, but it’s another band where I don’t like the songs, and so I can’t give them a higher rating.

The reason I have stayed up at the top of the hill is so that it’s easier to get to 2nd stage. This is where we are about to find one of the biggest crowds the stage has all weekend for Alien Ant Farm (7). This rating would have been higher had it not been for the woeful sound for the first couple of songs. The bass player has probably never had so much of a spotlight because for the first two songs, we can barely hear any guitar at all.

Luckily, this is sorted quickly, and Movies is heard perfectly well as the bumper crowd starts to enjoy itself. A rousing edition of These Days is sung loudly before the closer Smooth Criminal gets the loudest sing-along of the set, as expected. A shame the sound hindered what could have been an even better set.

All eyes are now firmly locked on 4th stage as I somehow manage to get inside the tent for the very first President (8) show. We wait with anticipation for the leading man to hit the stage as we hear a helicopter arriving in the distance. Maybe it came from the Year 3000, perhaps it's come from crashing a wedding, maybe it's just The English Way, but I am sure that one day we will figure out who the lead singer might be.

I haven’t been overly enamoured with the first two singles for one very good reason. This guy’s voice is one of the best in music over the last 25 years. Why on earth would you try to disguise it with horrendous electronics? Just sing the songs! And what we get with the live show is a little more of that, but there are still slight effects on the mic. The choruses are great, and the screams…oh the screams!!! I went to Wembley to watch his proper rock band in 2024, and I just want them back properly.

The rest of the band are excellent, and it’s a pleasant surprise that the live show is much better than the manufactured singles. But that shouldn’t come as a surprise because he wouldn’t let anything happen that wasn’t worth it. I’m still intrigued as to where they go from here, but he really shouldn’t be masked up. It adds nothing to it.

At this point in the day, I was starting to feel peckish, so I grabbed some fish and chips (not the good ones, sadly, but at least I found them this year) and went to sit in the one place in the arena where there was a signal. A much-needed text chat with a "friend in need of help" made me feel a little better about neglecting some responsibilities for the week and got me back in the mood to carry on for the rest of the day.

While I was sitting there, Spiritbox (5) continued the run of bands I had had this year, and in particular on Sunday, that were perfectly fine at what they do, but I’m just not a massive fan of the songs. Courtney has an exceptional voice, though.

This then left me with the big run-in to the end of my festival. First up, playing their breakthrough album The Poison in full, as they have been doing all year, was Bullet For My Valentine (9). I genuinely think they are better than they have ever been on this tour. I saw them in January and was so shocked at how good they were, after a few weakish years for me.

Because of this, and whether you like it or not he doesn’t give a f*ck, Matt Tuck has his ego back at top level. He can be a divisive character (ask Trivium), but there’s no doubt that when he's feeling like he’s the main man, he is just exceptional. And for this, while all the other bandmates are back on the main stage, Tuck is out on the runway with everything set up for him to be the centre of attention.

As they run through the album, with 4 Words and Tears Don’t Fall coming earlier in the set than they usually would, Tuck is engaging with the crowd and looking as comfortable on stage as he has in years. But for me, it's when he hands the reins over to bassist Jamie Mathias for the start of All These Things I Hate that I get goosebumps. It’s an incredible album that doesn’t have any fillers.

As the last few notes of The End play out, half the crowd leaves because sub-headliners aren’t going to be bold enough to do an encore. But they were forgetting who this was. Of course, Tuck is doing an encore.

But it's not just one song. He goads the crowd into baying for another song and says, “This will get us a big fine, but my motto is I don’t give a f*ck”. And so, he launches into what is supposedly an unplanned added extra of Waking the Demon…resplendent with full pyro and fireworks like all unplanned songs should be! They are very much back on top of British Metal, and the new album may finally push them one place higher on the stage in a couple of years.

I have a choice to make after this, but following the earlier text discussion, I opt for "Kids in Glass Houses" (8). And what an excellent decision it was. Aled is on top form from the start, although he managed to break his mic stand early on. Early set pleasers, "Theme From Pink Flamingo" and "Give Me What I Want," are met with excitement at what lies ahead. The set continues through several newer songs before hitting the terrific trio of Undercover Lover, Diamond Days and my favourite Youngblood (Let It Out).

At this point, I make the executive decision to run up the hill to catch Steel Panther (8) for a few songs. And I couldn’t have timed it better as I reached the stage while they were playing Death to All but Metal. I stayed to watch them play a slightly held back 17 Girls in a Row, Girl from Oklahoma, and Community Property, before running back down the hill for the end of the KIGH set. They play Saturday and finish with Matters at All to round off what was an excellent set that justified their top billing on 3rd stage this year.

But all eyes are now on the main stage for the final band of the weekend. Korn (10) have been trying to headline at Donington for 30 years, and finally they got their chance. My word, did they take it?! Having seen their set in 2022 and feeling it may have been the loudest music gig I have ever heard, I was seriously excited to hear how loud they had turned it up for this.

The answer came straight away as they launched into Blind with Jonathan shouting, “Are you READDDDDYYYYY?”. And off we went. Limbs everywhere, people losing their voices as well as their minds, and just like Green Day on Friday, everyone has a massive smile on their face. This is the gig everyone has been waiting for, and it got louder three songs in. Here To Stay has been my favourite Korn song for a long time, and the sound coming from the stage from beginning to end is only matched by the ferocity of the crowd when shouting “…f*cked up feelings again” when leading into every chorus.

They work their way through a classic set that includes Got the Life, A.D.I.D.A.S, and main set closer Y’all Want a Single. The encore starts with 4U before exploding into Falling Away from Me. Closing with Freak on a Leash gives the crowd one last chance to sing during the festival and is the perfect way to end what was a magical three days of music.

Having packed everything away in the morning and said goodbye to my four conspirators, I jump in the car and start the hour-long trip home. My 16th Download Festival was in the bag; the only thing left to do was to re-book for next year the following morning. But what do we have to come? Let’s investigate it in the next entry. Bring on number 17!!!