DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2025 - FRIDAY // DONINGTON PARK, LEICESTERSHIRE
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL RETURNS FOR ANOTHER YEAR WITH GREEN DAY HEADLINING DAY ONE AT DONINGTON PARK
★★★★★ (5/5)
FRIDAY NIGHT AT DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2025
PHOTOCREDIT: CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI
Download Festival is an event that a lot of people – including me – look forward too. It is a sanctuary for rockers, people of all ages, genders and origins, a holy ground for festival goers and of course, one of the largest rock festivals in the UK. Hosting about 80,000 people, Download Festival has become a staple of British culture. Even if you are not a fan, you have to admit that it is iconic and despite the controversy it has had in the lead-up to the festival, the sun was shining, the people were ready, the outfits were insane and Donington Park opened its gates.
The statistics showed that 44% of the festival ticket holders were first-timers. This means that almost half of the audience were people experiencing the magic of Download for the first time. Sporting about 200 different places for food, 7-8 different camping sites and 4 stages, Download Festival day 1 was very promising. Catching a lot of bands in a day is a workout, because the distance between stages is large. Here are some of the hottest acts I caught this year on day 1:
There are not a lot of reviews for how great Boston Manor’s performance was. Delivering a performance on the festival’s huge main stage, the band rocked people to their core early on in the afternoon. Crowdsurfers apparently really loved the set because the dust did not stop people moshing, singing along, jumping and surfing on the crowd. There was strong crowd reaction, indicating that the band was a great choice for the scale of the stage. Definitely needed to catch them again – which I did, as they had a ‘secret’ acoustic midnight set later on, which was a massive treat to end the night.
This year’s Avalanche Stage had some of the best bands I have seen in Download. McFly filled up the tent very quickly, and so did the photopit. Starting off flying on stage, they delivered a short but riff-filled performance, opting for a lot of rock-leaning hits, as well as a lot of covers by Bon Jovi, Queen and Metallica. Some people did not enjoy the fact that so many covers were played, but McFly definitely had the crowd moving along to every single song.
The return of the band to UK festivals was very welcomed. Delivering crowd-pleasing rock fan favourites, they got a lot of praises and the crowd singing along, and despite the sun blazing through their set, a lot of people stopped on the tracks to watch the full performance.
The band themselves claimed to be the ‘odd’ one out of festival this year, yet the Swedish prog-metal legends gathered a lot of people for their set. Despite the technical difficulties and delays, the set was one of the fan favourites this year. Their stage presence was commanding, as they got covered in the smoke, whilst the technical prowess of the band is evident in every gig they play. They had to cut their set short but the performance was definitely one of the best ones for the first day, even if they were not in full alignment with the rest of the lineup.
One of the most active bands in the scene right now, Northlane delivered an incredible opening set for the second stage. Mixing djent, progressive and vocal harmonies, the band was commanding on stage and had a lot of great moments. People were hardcore during the performance, singing along, doing circle pits and reacting to every riff and breakdown of the music. There was definitely a lot of excitement from both the band and the crowd, and delivered a great standout performance with great musicianship.
The stage manager asked, how much fire do you want for your set and the answer of the band was ‘YES’. Full of fire and smoke, the punk-rock band delivered a very politically charged and energetic set that literally lit up the festival. Mosh pits, crowdsurfers and an unrelenting performance from the band made them one of the most anticipated performances of the day – and one that went down incredibly well given the crowd’s reaction after the set.
RISE AGAINST PERFORMING ON DAY ONE OF DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2025
PHOTOCREDIT: CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI
Can we talk about how this band is just one step from blowing up? Ahead of their performance at Reading and Leeds, the band took the stage in Download by a storm, delivering one of the greatest sets of the day. They have already created a dedicated fanbase, the tent was packed with people even though they were one of the first acts of the day, and the guitar-playing/crowd-surfing moment was iconic. They are definitely a band that will be playing big stages very very soon – so if you haven’t caught them live, act with haste.
One of the most atmospheric performances of the day were Vola, who really impressed with their set. Bringing in progressive metal energy, the Danish band blends electronic music with complex riffs, making for a very unique sound. Even though they slightly clashed with Opeth, making fans of the genre have to choose between the sets, they were definitely one of the bands to watch during the day – solely because their set was simply incredible. I didn’t hear a single person say a bad word about their set, so they will definitely advance to larger stages in the coming years.
Do we even need to talk about this? It was the most iconic performance of Download across all three days, not only because the band played hit-after-hit and had incredible energy on stage, but also because there was not a single person who blinked while the performance was on. Catching all eyes (and ears), Green Day are not just headliner material, they are a musical powerhouse and a band that simply knows how to deliver. Playing songs from their ‘American Idiot’ album, having every single word sang back to them through the set, delivering the lyrics with unmatched energy and engaging even people who are not fans of this type of music, Green Day shut up all critics. The momentum on stage was incredible, but there was a moment that marked Download History.
As Billie sang ‘Here comes the rain again’, a lyric from the extremely famous song ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’, the heavens opened. The hot and sunny day had a rain interlude timed exactly at that lyric – and even if someone had tried to plan this, it would not happen so spot on. It brought tears to many people’s eyes, as the set picked up with anthems such as ‘Jesus of Suburbia’. The performance had it all – confetti, fireworks, rain and a massive stage production. It was a headliner masterclass and a performance that topped Download’s greatest bookings of all time.
It's a shame we couldn’t get a second round of this because it was one of the most incredible sets I had seen in my life.
GREEN DAY HEADLINING FRIDAY AT DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2025
PHOTOCREDIT: CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI