Photo: WENN.com
"There are 90,000 fucking people here," barks Slipknot's Corey Taylor as he and his seven masked madmen brothers stare down the sea of metalheads that have made pilgrimage to Donington for a weekend of mud and mayhem. "This place always feels like home to us."
And so it should. For decades, these hallowed fields have welcomed the likes of everyone from Black Sabbath and Guns & Roses to AC/DC and Metallica. Slipknot were last here in 2009 for one of the most monumental shows of their career. Since then, it's been a pretty tumultuous time for them since bassist Paul Gray accidentally took his life. Not only is Donington the spiritual home of heavy metal, but you can forgive the band and their thousands of dedicated fans for being more than a little sentimental about what tonight must mean.
Joining them to kick off day one of the loudest day of the summer are a cross-generational smattering of rock of all ages. Papa Roach prove that nu-metal met with pseudo-emo may not have sonically stood the test of time very well but metalheads really don't care, before crusty heroes Europe show that few people can see past irony and most just want to hear 'The Final Countdown'.
The sun bathes the main stage in a glorious glow for a pretty furious set from Down when the weather really starts to effect the good people of Donington. If you can get over the distraction of the dazzling amount of boob flashes they receive on the big screens, you might be surprised that KoRn were probably the day's highlight. "Are you rrrrreeeeeeeeadyyyyyy," growls frontman Jonathan Davies, opening with the brutally brilliant 'Blind'. What follows is a pretty hit-packed onslaught - if you class the likes of 'Falling Away From Me' and 'Here To Stay' as 'hits'. Renowned for their genre-bending dynamics, KoRn are the first and only act of the day to send Donington into a bizarre frenzy where moshing meets dancing. The only damp point is the daft, dub-step tinged 'Narcissistic Cannibal', but by the time they've powered through the awesome rap-rock bounce of 'Got The Life' and the furious rush of 'Freak On A Leash', you can't help but feel that these metal veterans should be higher up the bill - especially in light of the horror that follows.
KoRn were the surprise highlight of day one at Download 2013
Bullet For My Valentine bring along a whole lot of pyro to disguise the fact that their whole speile is just a flashy but flat string of embarassing clichés. It's a pretty cringeworthy spectacle of fist-pumping and textbook riffery. Fortunately, the groans from the thousands of fans waiting to get a good spot for Slipknot drowns that out. Generic doesn't even begin to cover it. It was really terrible. The less said about the whole affair, the better.
Now, for the main event. "We were last on this stage four years ago," states a humbled Corey Taylor. You can see the intent in his eyes behind his mask, with the memory of Paul Gray heavy on his shoulders. "This band has been through a lot in those four years. Because of the respect for each other, we've kept going, we've kept going for us, we’ve kept going for you and we’ve kept going for him."
And so it was, Slipknot lived up to their promise and pulled off an almighty 110 minute set that not will not only go down in Download history, but that Gray would have certainly been proud of.
We lose count of the amount of the times the band have to ask the crowd to take a step back from the crush on the barrier, not to mention the wild eruption of circle pits. Stood in their trademark boiler suits before their burning emblem, Slipknot tear a hole in Donington with a dazzling demonstration of the magic in their madess.
"Don't be surprised if you see us again real soon," teases Taylor. "Look forward to special fucking things in the future." We bloody will.
Below - Download day one in photos
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