The third and final day of Download Festival XXII is here, and whilst we’re sad it’s almost over, we’ll save the mourning for tomorrow and dive headfirst into everything it’s got.
Malevolence @ Download Festival XXII - Sunday
Dogtooth Stage
President
One of the biggest talking points of the weekend is the debut show — or Inaugural Address, as they called it — by the mysterious President. A heavy promotional campaign and just enough clues left for us to figure out who is hiding behind the mask on vocals meant the Dogtooth Stage is more than bursting to capacity — there are thousands outside it. I made sure I was early enough to get a good spot inside the tent and as they finally make their way onto the stage, but those of us hoping for an unmasking were disappointed. However, there’s no hiding that voice — that is, as suspected, Busted and Fightstar’s Charlie Simpson. Their only two releases so far — Fearless and The Name Of The Father — suggested a full metalcore album would be on the way, but softer moments in the unreleased songs suggest something much more varied. It will be interesting to see how they continue to build on this hype.
Avalanche Stage
Dead Poets Society
LA quartet Dead Poets Society hit us hard from the off with guitar riffs and big hooks — the comparisons I had heard to Royal Blood were not wrong. They have an infectious energy about them and tracks like .CoDa., Running In Circles and Hurt sound massive — massive enough for them to climb the bill in future years.
Malevolence
“Welcome to the not-so-secret set” jokes Alex Taylor, frontman of the Sheffield heavy-metallers. The crowd is spilling way out of the tent, and it must contain more crowd surfers per head than any other set this weekend. A brutal display of old favourites (If It’s All The Same To You, Keep Your Distance) — with Alex taking aim at those in the industry that rejected them when they were trying to make it — and tracks from new release Where Only The Truth Is Spoken, a brutal six song set goes by all too quickly but it’s a real treat to catch them in a smaller setting than usual.
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Korn @ Download Festival XXII - Sunday (Carolina Faruolo)
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes
Download is quite intense, so sometimes it’s nice to mix it up a bit. Me First And The Gimme Gimmes offer a break from brutality, and bring us humour and punk-rock covers of pop songs that allow us all to have a little dance. With the weekend nearing a close, it was nice to stop the crowd surfing and moshing and have a little singalong to legendary tracks like Jolene, Dancing Queen and Rocket Man — songs I certainly didn’t expect to be rocking out to this weekend!
Kids In Glass Houses
Closing the Avalanche Stage for the weekend is Kids In Glass Houses. One of the most hyped bands of the late 2000’s, the Welsh rockers are back promoting their first new material in over ten years with last year’s release Pink Flamingo. It’s more new-wave and synthy than their old material but retains enough of their original identity that means this set flows rather well, ending on a trip of old school favourites Easy Tiger, Saturday and Matters To All. A triumphant return.
Opus Stage
Seven Hours After Violet
System Of A Down’s Shavo Odadjian is used to playing Download’s Main Stage, but today he’s on its smallest stage with side project Seven Hours After Violet. Taylor Barber — also away from his main job as vocalist from deathcore outfit Left To Suffer — hypes the crowd throughout this in-your-face display of power.
Alien Ant Farm
No disrespect intended to them at all, but I didn’t expect a crowd of this size for Alien Ant Farm. I’ll confess that I was actually trying to make my way between the other stages as they were on, but ended up seeing their whole set due to being unable to move. Movies and their famous cover of Michael Jackson classic Smooth Criminal were a staple of the music video channels I flicked between as a teenager so I thoroughly enjoyed this slice of nostalgia.
Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Cantrell was always going to draw a big crowd. One of the founding members of the legendary Alice In Chains, here’s here promoting his fourth solo release, I Want Blood. He and his backing band do delve into the legendary grunge bands back catalogue though, and deliver spectacular renditions of Them Bones, Would? and Rooster.
Municipal Waste
From the moment vocalist Tony Foresta bounces on stage and announces, “We are Municipal Waste from Richmond, Virginia” and indicates he wants the circle pits to open immediately, we knew we would be in for a chaotic set. From opener Sadistic Magician, it’s clear that even on a Sunday afternoon the crowd is ready to oblige every command, including one that sees us all give a passing plane a middle finger salute!
Airborne
Australia’s Airborne’s schtick is pretty simple — straight up rock and roll. The kind you would see in your local bar. This isn’t a criticism. They make this vast stage more intimate with their crowd engagement — during Girls In Black, frontman Joel O’Keeffe is carried aloft into the crowd, smashing cans of beer over his head — this set has us throwing our rock horns to the sky throughout. Rock and roll!
Lorna Shore
Perhaps the biggest deathcore band in the world today, Lorna Shore’s sub headline slot on the Opus Stage is packed full of pyro and the trademark vocals of Will Ramos. I would say these are an acquired taste — certainly too heavy for me, I must admit — but the size of the crowd means it will only be Main Stage appearances from now on.
Steel Panther
Oh, come on…it’s 2025 — has Steel Panther not been cancelled yet? Are songs like Asian Hooker and Gloryhole really acceptable? This set is an absolute…riot! Literally. After encouraging as many girls to get on stage for 17 Girls In A Row, the set has to be halted as the hundred or so ladies trying to swarm the stage end up blocking a security exit. Michael Starr and co meet their match in a girl who did manage to make it on stage, as they find it difficult to embarrass and out gross the more than game for it Libby whilst serenading her to Girl From Olklahmoa. A fun hour or so and a big middle finger to the bores who turn their nose up at the novelty act who refuse to die.
People and Atmosphere - Download Festival XXII - Sunday
Apex Stage
Jinger
Tatiana Shmayluk’s vocal range is absolutely insane and something you have to see in person to really believe. Whilst melodic verses into guttural growls is something you will see many bands do over the weekend, most will be done by two separate vocalists — this is an astonishing range coming from one person. “This is a new one” she says, before their biggest release Pisces. You tease!
Spiritbox
Spiritbox’s rapid rise in popularity shows no signs of slowing down. They are only two albums into their career and will spend the summer touring stadiums with Linkin Park. It’s easy to see why they were booked for that — Courtney LaPlante’s vocal style will appeal massively to fans of Emily Armstrong. She describes their last appearance here in 2022 as one of the best and most important memories of their lives — but this one is surely even bigger, and one that puts them in the conversation to be the first female fronted band to headline the festival in future years.
Korn
Questions surrounded all three headliners this weekend. One that couldn’t be levelled at Korn is “are they a Download band?” This is their tenth appearance at Donington. But one question did remain. Are they big enough to headline? Previous appearances have been lower down on the Main Stage or headlining the second stage.
The size of the crowd that has gathered is an early indication that they absolutely are. They’ve inspired many bands on this bill — and many in the audience, who sport a mixture of Adidas tracksuits, dreadlocks and baggy jeans much like their heroes. I didn’t spot many kilts though!
The introduction to Blind is the perfect set opener. The haunting build-up with the cymbals opens up a number of pits. The distorted guitars kick in and even though we know what’s coming, the build up of anticipation is huge. Johnathan Davies finally screams the iconic “Are you ready?” and the tension is ready to be released. Chaos. Bodies collide everywhere. A defining track of the Nu-Metal era from arguably it’s defining band. What a way to start.
The final band of the weekend and the crowd are giving every last bit of energy they have. Here To Stay could be a metaphor for Nu-Metal, which has come full circle. The purists and critics have always derided it but a whole new generation has embraced its music, fashion and culture. Fans young and old are fully engrossed, headbanging as one as a tidal wave of crowd surfers make their way over the barrier. Got The Life keeps the euphoric momentum going.
A bagpipe solo precedes Shoots And Ladders before it transitions into Metallica’s One, a thunderous rendition that they have frequently included in their show for years.
Festival headline sets are always the best when a band comes out and plays the greatest hits. No new stuff to promote, just a simple this is what you know us for, enjoy! Korn certainly delivers on that front. Twisted Transistor, A.D.I.D.A.S and Y’All Want A Single are all fan favourites that stop anyone that was thinking of heading home early.
It’s fitting that perhaps the most alternative anthem of all time — Freak On A Leash — is the last song of Download 2025. You don’t get more Download than that. A FU to the naysayers, Korn cemented their legacy on a weekend that will go down in history for many reasons.
Download Festival XXII didn’t just answer all its questions in emphatic style, it raised the bar on what to expect from the UK’s premier alternative festival. Roll on next year!
Korn @ Download Festival XXII - Sunday
Review of Sunday at Download Festival XXII by Will Maxwell. Photography by Simon Reed, Sarah Louise Bennett, James Bridle, Carolina Faruolo & Andrew Whitton.
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