Slipknot are manic, chaotic, aggressive, ridiculous, and utterly brilliant

More sun, more booze and more heavy freakin' metal are the order of the Saturday, with Tim Owens on hand to provide a fresh dose of the latter – and what a dose it is. Having had stints with Judas Priest, Iced Earth and Yngwie Malmsteem over the past 15 years, The Ripper has little to prove to the eager Download crowd, but does so anyway with a riproaring set that blows the cobwebs so far away they've probably done a few laps around the racetrack by the time he takes his leave. Not long after, Grand Magus-humping rifflords Black Spiders are giving the Tuborg tent a good seeing to. eGigs caught these boys very nearly blowing Danko Jones off the stage back in April, and they certainly prove a hard act to follow this time around.


Luckily for the increasingly rouge Downloaders, there's bands blowing each other off stages all over the park this weekend, and Down are, as ever, no exception. Tighter than a nun's bumhole and heavier than Tony Hadley's expanding waistline, the New Orleans legends absolutely slay the main stage to a raucous response. Phil Anselmo has come to be regarded as a man reborn in recent times, and as he roars, screeches and croons his way through doomy classics like 'Stone The Crow' and 'Bury Me In Smoke', few could argue that Donington is witnessing a man in his element.

The Answer's Cormac Neeson might not have quite the same stage presence as Uncle Phil, but he has swagger in spades, and the Northern Irish gang produce a masterclass in putting on a good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll show. 'Under The Sky' inevitably garners the biggest cheer of the set, but newer numbers such as 'Walkin' Mat' certainly hold their own. And speaking of which, Pendulum make a welcome return to the festival after last year's much-lauded second stage set. This year is more of the same as metalheads, ravers, punks and emo kids all group together in the name of dancing like twats, and it's one hell of a sight to behold.


Sadly, Marilyn Manson creates a similar level of unity – the unity, that is, of the hundreds upon hundreds of bored and disappointed fans who wander off barely a few songs into his car crash of a set. Choosing to start with two slow and ill-received tracks from new album 'The High End Of Low' before butchering his own classics in 'Disposable Teens' and 'Irresponsible Hate Anthem', Manson seems hell-bent on erasing any memories of the immense spectacle he once was. Pausing between songs to be pampered like a diva only adds to the embarrassment of the whole situation, and if there was ever a final nail to be driven into the coffin of the man's credibility, this was it. Brian old chum, grab your coat, get the fuck out of Donington, and for the love of God please don't come back.

On the other hand, The Prodigy can't come back soon enough. Ripping the second stage a new one with a set that is heavy on new material but still as thrilling as any they've produced, Messrs Howlett, Flint and Reality whip their audience into a dancing, moshing, crowd-surfing frenzy of sweaty bodies and euphoric squeals.

It leaves Slipknot with plenty to do, but they're not ones to back down from a challenge, and the result is the strongest main stage headliner set of the weekend. The singalong provided by the crowd during 'Duality' is deafening, while the sight of nearly 70,000 people all sitting down prior to jumping up in unison during 'Spit It Out' is truly mind-blowing. Manic, chaotic, aggressive, ridiculous and utterly, utterly brilliant.

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