We hope you’ve been enjoying the mega playlist we put together for Download Festival this year containing each and every band set to take to the stage. We’ve already had some brilliant feedback and we’re glad to hear you’ve discovered new bands to check out! If you missed it, head over to this link and smack play whilst reading Part Two: http://roomthirteen.com/features/1168/Download_Festival_2016_Preview.html

Now then, Part Two. Before we delve in to the line up and give you in depth previews of all four stages for 2016, we recently threw out the question to all of you asking what was your TOP moment from Download Festival over the years? Which performance blew your mind so much you still haven’t stopped talking about it? Well after a few serious, and some not so serious, responses we’ve been able to accumulate the top ten results based on your feedback. So, in no particular order, let’s take a trip down memory lane!


Metallica - Download Festival 2004

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Metallica have graced Download Festival with their presence more than most bands and with a history of shows which include the band playing Master Of Puppets in full in 2006 and bringing back the snake pit to smash through the Black Album in full in 2012, it’s the 2004 show which proves to be the most popular memory. We’re sure it’s down to the fact that without a doubt this was the most unique Metallica show they’ll probably ever play at Donington. Lars Ulrich fell ill on the plane over to the UK and subsequently couldn’t perform, so step up Slayer’s Dave Lombardo, drum tech Flemming Larsen and the overall star of the show Joey Jordison. Jordison sat behind the kit for the majority of the reduced set, blasting through everything from Creeping Death to Last Caress to Nothing Else Matters. Even looking back now, it’s impressive that so many stuck around for a show which faced massive delays in order to allow time for the three super-subs to practice. This wasn’t just a big show for the crowd, but for those on stage as well, Jordison commenting at the time ”I could not imagine getting into the seat of one of my heroes. It was one of the best experiences of my life.”

Slipknot - Download Festival 2009

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Continuing on with the Joey Jordison theme, in 2009 Slipknot headlined a UK festival for the first time, and to say they smacked it out of the park would be a nuclear sized understatement. It’s incredible to look back now and think that at the time the level of doubt, scepticism and general moaning surrounding Slipknot headlining Download Festival was quite high. The internet was in full blown “BLAHH” mode after the announcement. Mouths that got forced firmly shut after Slipknot delivered one of the most impressive and historic headline performances in Download Festival history. They didn’t just take the opportunity and run with it, this was a career defining, legacy leading show. Sadly enough, but perhaps fittingly at the same time, this show ended up being the last ever gig Slipknot performed as The Nine in the UK, with Paul Gray passing away almost a year later in 2010. The show has now been documented in CD/DVD packages, so it is out there if you want to relive the chaos.

Rammstein - Download Festival 2013

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Whether it is true or not, it’s been widely speculated that for some time Andy Copping had been chasing Rammstein to headline Download Festival, so when the band headlined the direct competitor on their comeback, it started to feel like they may never hit Download. Well, with that particular competition no longer a concern, in 2013 Copping finally booked a band he’s never been shy to say he hugely admires, and in turn they delivered one of the most awe-inspiring live shows the entire UK festival scene has ever seen. The festival had to actually expand the size of the Main Stage and backstage area in order to accommodate all of the stage elements for Rammstein’s show - the band and the festival organisers wanted to bring the full Rammstein experience and that they did. The band enjoyed headlining the festival so much, when Till Lindemann was approached to bring his side project over for 2016, the response was “no” because they wanted to bring the Industrial Metal Machine back instead. Well we can’t wait to see how they’re going to try and top this performance.

Machine Head - Download Festival 2007

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Triumphant. Triumphant is the perfect word to describe Machine Head’s performance in 2007. This was a band who were in the early stages of their touring cycle behind The Blackening and as a live force they were frankly unstoppable at the time. They were no spring chickens in 2007, let’s not forget that this was a band who’d been going for over ten years, but it was exactly this kind of performance which really felt like they were spearheading the way for a new generation of bands to pick up the mantle and dominate the scene. There was once a time when if you were going on before Slayer, you were going to be outperformed, it could almost have been laid down as fact - at Download Festival in 2007, Slayer didn’t even come close following Machine Head. Even Bruce Dickinson himself touted this as the performance of the festival. It really felt like this was going to be the stepping stone towards Machine Head finally taking that last leap up in to a headlining slot - unfortunately this hasn’t yet come to fruition but there is no doubt that this was one of their finest moments.

Korn - Download Festival 2007

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From the same year, Korn headlined the Second Stage at the same time My Chemical Romance were on headlining duty over on the Main. If you thought there was a furore when Slipknot were announced as headliners in 2009, nothing will ever compare to the hoopla generated around My Chemical Romance’s placing on the bill. When you read reports about My Chemical Romance’s show in 2007, you’ll often read that it was a pretty thin crowd, well that’s because everyone was scrambling in to the tent to see Korn at the same time. In 2007 the second stage wasn’t as big as it is now, and we’re almost certain that Korn in 2007 became one of the core reasons behind the subsequent expansion. The band were a bit of a touring circus at the time, with Joey Jordison (yep, him again!) joining them on drums alongside a host of extra percussionists, but the Slipknot/Korn hybrid alone was enough to create a buzz and atmosphere which has frankly gone unrivalled in the tents ever since.

Trivium - Download 2005

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Ah Trivium at Download 2005. Is there a more fawned over opening Main Stage slot in festival history? We certainly can’t think of one, but to be honest the performance absolutely stamped it’s mark in to Download Festival history. When we threw the question out about highlights over the years, admittedly we only got a handful saying Trivium in 2005, but it’s what they said which is more important. ”At the time I truly felt like this was the beginning of a revolution in Metal” with someone even stating “In 30 minutes Trivium looked like they’d be the next Metallica, band of the weekend”. The band were initially scheduled for one of the smaller stages, but they created such a buzz they were bumped up to open the Main Stage. Matt Heafy has often cited that when they started the hill down resembled a scene from Braveheart with the amount of people piling in to the arena. People weren’t fucking about, Trivium really were billed as the band to change it all. Not to go in to detail on Trivium’s career, but we all know that the excitement and overwhelming sense that the tide was changing at Download 2005 hasn’t come to fruition (and we’re eleven years down the line now) but there’s no doubting that at such a young age (Heafy was only 19 at the time!!) the band created one of the most popular memories in Download Festival history.

Avenged Sevenfold - Download 2014

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Being one of the most popular responses, Avenged Sevenfold’s rise to headliner status in 2014 certainly moulds a justified spot in our list. It’s a sad reality, but if you look across the headlining slots across the UK festival scene in the last decade, the number of new headliners are slim pickings. Slipknot rose through the Download Festival ranks over the years and were rewarded in 2009 with the path followed by Avenged Sevenfold not all that dissimilar. Even those who offered up this performance as their highlight would probably agree that Avenged Sevenfold have played better shows, but it was the whole feel that the band’s time had finally arrived which makes it so popular. You can see footage of the show online and throughout the band simply cannot stop smiling - they’d done it. Slipknot made the biggest impact in stepping up and breaking the status quo of headliners, Avenged Sevenfold have followed that and opened up a whole new world of possibilities for younger bands. Don’t underestimate the potential impact this show may have in the near future.

Muse - Download Festival 2015

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A fair few of the above so far have been bands who were announced surrounding a certain level of furore, and Muse in 2015 was no different. The “oh, but they’re not even Metal” brigade were out in full strength when they were announced to headline last year’s event, and ultimately, never have we seen a performance so effective in sewing those mouths shut than this. Muse are no mugs, they know exactly what Download Festival is all about, and they tweaked their setlist in response - we’re certain their setlist at Glastonbury in a few weeks will be totally different for example. You’d be an absolute moron if you stood there watching that performance and still retained the view they don’t belong at Download Festival as they delivered one of the best sounding shows the festival has ever seen. They headlined the Saturday night, sandwiched between two of your more traditional Download type headliners in Slipknot on Friday and Kiss on Sunday - they blew both completely out of the park. An absolute masterpiece.

Rage Against The Machine - Download Festival 2011

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We’re certain when you clicked this link you were expecting us to have included the AC/DC performance from 2011 in our list. Well no, the far more popular response was actually Rage Against The Machine headlining the Saturday night (and justifiably so in our opinion). A week before the festival, RATM played their victory show at Finsbury Park after overcoming Simon Cowell’s yearly sack of shit in the race to Christmas Number One so for Download Festival to have snagged them to also headline was a major coup. This was the first time Rage Against The Machine had ever appeared at Donington and being the fact that they are one of the best live bands of all time, they obviously didn’t disappoint. The word “intensity” is often thrown around when describing live shows, but as far as sheer aggression, power and anger goes this was probably the most intense live headlining performance in Download history.

Letlive - Download Festival 2014

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Last but not least are one of the most exciting bands in the heavy scene at the moment. You probably thought that if Letlive were going to be on the list it would have been the now infamous 2011 performance with Jason’s brawls with the security after a large amount of confusion. This performance though came off the back of the release of the absolutely sensational Blackest Beautiful album which sky rocketed this band even higher than they already were. The hype around this show was absolutely electric and despite Jason coming out on crutches due to a broken leg he threw himself around with more energy and passion than absolutely everyone on the line up. A particularly touching recording of Pheromone Cvlt surfaced online not too long after the festival and it perfectly encapsulates the fervour shared between band and audience at a Letlive show. An absolutely incredible band who will no doubt continue to make history at Download Festival in the coming years.

Stay tuned for our next two big Download Festival 2016 previews. Part Three will give an in depth preview of both the 3rd and 4th stage at this year’s event, with our final part delving in to both the Lemmy and Zippo Encore stages.