Kawaii Metal, Crushing Riffs, Choreography And Donington Losing Its Mind

There are festival sets that feel like gigs.

Then there are festival sets that feel like an event.

BABYMETAL on the Apex Stage at Download Festival 2026 was absolutely the latter.

This was not just three performers stepping out, smashing through a set and heading off. This was a full-scale metal spectacle. A precision-drilled, high-energy, genre-smashing, Fox God-powered explosion of riffs, movement, theatrical drama and pure festival joy.

And fair play, butt — Donington was absolutely ready for it.

After Saturday had already seen Thornhill bring dark, stylish heaviness, South Arcade light things up with pop-rock sparkle, LANDMVRKS flatten the field with French metalcore fury and Black Veil Brides rally the gothic-glam faithful, BABYMETAL arrived like something from another dimension entirely.

One minute the Apex Stage was a rock festival stage.

The next, it was a portal to the Metal Galaxy.

The BABYMETAL Curse Finally Gets Booted Into The Pit 🌦️➡️☀️

BABYMETAL and Download Festival have had history.

Not just normal history either. Proper dramatic, “what have the weather gods got against them?” history.

Over the years, their Donington appearances have often been linked with rain, storms, and that classic Download habit of turning the sky into soup at the worst possible moment. Their 2024 set was famously affected by heavy weather, adding to the running joke among fans that BABYMETAL seemed cursed whenever they came near Download.

But in 2026?

The curse got dropkicked straight into the mud.

This time, BABYMETAL got sunshine.

And there was something genuinely brilliant about that. The whole set felt like the band finally getting the Download moment they deserved — no weather chaos stealing the spotlight, no miserable conditions dragging things down, just BABYMETAL, the Apex Stage, a huge crowd and enough energy to power the campsites until midnight.

The atmosphere felt celebratory before they had even properly begun.

You could sense the crowd knew they were about to witness something special.

BABYMETAL DEATH: The Gates Open 🦊

Opening with “BABYMETAL DEATH” was exactly the kind of dramatic, theatrical entrance that makes BABYMETAL feel larger than life.

This is not a band that shuffles on stage and checks if everyone is having a nice afternoon.

No chance.

They arrive with ceremony.

The intro had that big, ritualistic feeling — like the crowd was being summoned rather than simply warmed up. Then, as Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal hit the stage, the Apex crowd erupted.

It was immediate.

Hands went up.
Voices went up.
The Fox signs appeared.
The energy snapped into place.

That is the power of BABYMETAL live. They do not just start a set. They create a moment of arrival.

And from the first blast, Donington was locked in.

The Setlist: Short, Sharp And Absolutely Stacked ⚡

For a festival slot just under an hour, BABYMETAL packed in a seriously strong run of songs.

The reported setlist was:

BABYMETAL DEATH
from me to u
Distortion
PA PA YA!!
Song 3
METALI!!
RATATATA
Gimme Chocolate!!
Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!
Road of Resistance

That is a tidy festival set, mun.

It had the ceremonial opener.
It had newer collaborations.
It had high-speed metal.
It had party chaos.
It had crowd participation.
It had the chocolate anthem.
It had the massive closing statement.

For fans, it was a proper feast. For casual watchers, it was basically a crash course in why BABYMETAL have gone from “what on earth is this?” curiosity to one of the most recognisable, loved and exciting live forces in modern metal.

This was not novelty.

This was domination with choreography.

Su-metal Leads Like A Queen 👑

Su-metal remains one of the most commanding frontwomen in heavy music.

There is a calm power to her presence that makes everything feel centred. While the stage around her is full of movement, precision, lights, riffs and chaos, she holds the whole thing together with that voice and that stare.

On the Apex Stage, she sounded fantastic.

Her vocals cut through the weight of the Kami Band’s instrumentation and carried across the field with clarity and strength. That is no small thing at a festival the size of Download, where open-air sound can sometimes swallow detail whole.

But Su-metal came through clearly.

Strong.
Sharp.
Controlled.
Huge when she needed to be.

She does not need to overplay it. She has that rare frontperson quality where a single gesture can feel massive. When she points, the crowd reacts. When she pauses, the field waits. When she sings, everyone listens.

That is proper star power.

Moametal And Momometal Bring The Movement, Spark And Attack 💃🔥

A BABYMETAL live show is not just about vocals and riffs.

It is movement.

Moametal and Momometal brought that nonstop energy across the whole set, turning the Apex Stage into a blur of synchronised choreography, sharp expressions, dramatic poses and huge crowd connection.

What makes it so impressive is how effortless it looks.

It is not effortless, obviously. The stamina involved is ridiculous. The timing has to be perfect. The movement has to match the music, the stage, the cameras, the lighting and the emotional tone of every song.

But from the crowd, it feels like magic.

They were constantly in motion. Dancing, bouncing, hitting marks, hyping the crowd, throwing Fox signs, creating shape and drama around the music. That is why BABYMETAL avoid the trap that some feature-heavy modern metal sets can fall into. Even when recorded guest parts are involved, the stage never feels empty or awkward.

There is always something happening.

Always movement.
Always theatre.
Always energy.

That is BABYMETAL’s superpower.

“from me to u” And “Distortion” Bring The Newer Edge 💥

After the opener, “from me to u” pushed the set into more modern territory.

It brought that sharp, heavy, collaborative-era BABYMETAL feel — the sound of a band expanding the universe without losing the core identity. The track added bite and contemporary heaviness, making it clear that BABYMETAL are not just here to play the familiar hits and bow out.

They are still moving forward.

Then “Distortion” hit with its high-speed metal energy and big dramatic punch. This one felt absolutely built for a field like Download. The guitars had that galloping intensity, the drums drove everything forward, and the trio gave it the kind of stage presence that made the whole thing feel enormous.

This early stretch worked brilliantly because it showed both sides of BABYMETAL’s current power: fresh material with teeth, and older-style metal theatrics sharpened for a massive stage.

The crowd did not just watch it.

They ate it up.

“PA PA YA!!” Turns The Field Into A Party Pit 🥭🔥

Then came “PA PA YA!!”

Come on now.

There are few songs better suited to turning a huge crowd into a bouncing festival party. It is bright, wild, ridiculous, heavy and completely irresistible. It is one of those BABYMETAL tracks that makes absolute sense live, even if explaining it to someone on paper makes you sound like you have been in the sun too long.

At Donington, it went off.

The crowd bounced, shouted, clapped and moved like the whole field had been given a caffeine injection. You could feel the mood lift instantly. The heaviness was still there, but now it had sunshine, colour and pure chaos wrapped around it.

That is where BABYMETAL really shine.

They can be properly heavy without getting miserable. They can be bright without being soft. They can be playful without becoming throwaway.

“PA PA YA!!” was pure festival joy.

The sort of song that makes strangers grin at each other like they have all just joined the same weird, wonderful cult.

The Fox God approves, butt.

“Song 3” Adds Deathcore Bite 🧨

“Song 3” brought a heavier, nastier edge to the middle of the set.

BABYMETAL’s collaborations have helped stretch their sound into new territories, and this one gave the Apex Stage a proper dose of brutality. The deathcore weight hit hard, giving the crowd something more savage to throw themselves into after the bright madness of “PA PA YA!!”

It is easy to forget, amid all the choreography and spectacle, just how heavy BABYMETAL can get.

Then a song like this lands and reminds everyone.

The riffs hit.
The breakdown energy landed.
The crowd reacted with proper pit movement.

And yet, because it is BABYMETAL, it still felt theatrical and precise rather than messy. That contrast is part of the genius. They can dip into heavier territory without losing the identity that makes them unique.

“Song 3” gave the set extra teeth.

Big, sharp, gnarly ones.

“METALI!!” Brings The Festival Chant Energy ⚔️

“METALI!!” was another huge moment.

Preceded by Kami Band solos, this section gave the musicians space to show off before the song itself crashed in with that big, chant-ready energy. It had the feel of a metal festival ritual — the kind of song where you can see thousands of hands going up and the whole field joining in, whether they know every word or not.

That is a massive strength in a festival environment.

Not every song needs to be familiar to hit. Sometimes it just needs a hook, a rhythm, a visual identity and a crowd willing to go with it.

“METALI!!” had all of that.

The Kami Band brought the fire, the trio brought the command, and the Apex crowd followed along beautifully. It was one of the moments that showed BABYMETAL’s blend of styles at its best: traditional metal power, Japanese cultural flavour, festival chant energy and full theatrical spectacle all crashing together.

It should not work as smoothly as it does.

But it absolutely does.

“RATATATA” Sparks Electric Callboy Chaos ⚡

Then came “RATATATA.”

And honestly, at Download 2026, that song felt like a full-circle festival moment.

Electric Callboy had already turned the Apex Stage into a neon party meltdown the day before, and now BABYMETAL brought their shared monster back into the field for another blast of rave-metal madness.

Even without Electric Callboy physically on stage, the song carried that same ridiculous bounce.

The crowd reaction was huge. You could feel the recognition ripple out. It has already become one of those modern crossover anthems that works instantly in a festival setting — part metal, part party, part chaos engine.

BABYMETAL performed it with total confidence. No standing around waiting for the feature to pass, no awkward dead space, no “watch the backing track do the work” feeling.

They filled every second.

That is what makes them so good live.

Even when the song is built around collaboration, BABYMETAL still own the stage.

“Gimme Chocolate!!” Still Smashes Donington 🍫

There are songs that define a band to the wider world.

For BABYMETAL, “Gimme Chocolate!!” is one of them.

This is the track that made so many people stop scrolling, stop laughing, stop questioning and start realising that BABYMETAL were not a gimmick — they were something completely new.

At Download 2026, it still hit like a sugar rush with blast beats.

The crowd went mad. Of course they did. This is one of those songs that crosses all boundaries. Kids know it. Older metalheads know it. Casual fans know it. People who once heard it by accident in 2014 know it.

And live, it remains an absolute weapon.

The riff punches.
The vocals pop.
The choreography is iconic.
The crowd response is ridiculous.

This was one of the biggest communal moments of the set. Thousands of people shouting along to a song that, years ago, some dismissed as too strange to last.

Well, look at it now, mun.

Still here.
Still massive.
Still making Donington lose the plot.

“Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!” Does Exactly What It Says 🤘

With “Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!,” BABYMETAL leaned fully into the metal side of their identity.

This song is made for a festival crowd. It has drama, speed, theatrics and a title that is basically an instruction manual. At Download, people followed the instructions beautifully.

Heads went.
Hair flew.
Hands rose.
The Apex Stage became a wave of motion.

This was one of those moments where the divide between performance and crowd blurred nicely. BABYMETAL were precise on stage, the band were hitting hard, and the crowd were giving back every ounce of energy they had left.

That is what a festival set should feel like.

A loop.

Band gives energy.
Crowd gives it back.
Band pushes harder.
Crowd goes louder.

By this point, BABYMETAL had the Apex Stage completely in their hands.

“Road Of Resistance” Closes Like A Victory March 🏴🔥

There was only one way to end this set properly.

“Road of Resistance.”

This is not just a closer. It is an anthem. A flag in the ground. A final boss song. A full-scale metal celebration with power-metal speed, heroic melody and the kind of chorus that makes a festival field feel bigger than itself.

At Download, it sounded enormous.

The crowd response was massive, the stage energy was sky-high, and the pyro-scorched feel of the finale gave the whole thing that extra sense of occasion. After fifty-five minutes of movement, riffs, hooks, chaos and choreography, “Road of Resistance” felt like BABYMETAL planting their flag firmly in Donington soil.

It was triumphant.

Not in a small way either.

This felt like the set reaching its natural peak — the band, the fans, the sunshine, the history, the lifted curse, all of it colliding in one final burst.

By the end, the Apex Stage crowd was roaring.

The Fox God had taken Donington.

Why BABYMETAL Belong At Download 🦊🤘

There was a time when BABYMETAL confused people.

Some did not know what to make of them.
Some thought they were too pop.
Some thought they were too polished.
Some thought the whole thing was too strange for the metal world.

Download 2026 made those arguments feel properly ancient.

BABYMETAL belong at Download because heavy music is at its best when it is bold, weird, exciting and unafraid of breaking the rules. Metal has always had room for theatre. It has always had room for spectacle. It has always had room for outsiders.

BABYMETAL are all of that.

They bring serious musicianship, huge songs, sharp choreography, metal riffs, pop hooks, power-metal drama, extreme-metal flashes and a visual identity nobody else can touch.

More importantly, they bring joy.

Not polite joy.
Not background joy.
Big, loud, communal, “what on earth is happening and why is it brilliant?” joy.

At Download, that matters.

Because after years of rain-hit bad luck and festival mythology, BABYMETAL finally got their proper sunlit Donington moment.

And they grabbed it with both Fox signs in the air.

The Crowd Reaction: A Massive Fox God Gathering 🙌

The crowd for BABYMETAL felt huge and wonderfully varied.

That is one of the most brilliant things about them. You do not get one type of fan. You get kids, teenagers, long-time metalheads, curious Downloaders, full-on Fox God devotees, casual passers-by, people in band shirts, people in costumes, people who know every move, and people seeing them for the first time with their jaws slowly dropping.

That mix gives BABYMETAL shows a special atmosphere.

At the Apex Stage, it felt like everyone was invited into the same strange, spectacular world. Fans were shouting, bouncing, headbanging, dancing, throwing Fox signs and reacting like this was one of the weekend’s proper must-see moments.

And it was.

This did not feel like a niche act playing to a niche crowd.

It felt like a major festival moment from a band who have fully crossed over from curiosity to institution.

BABYMETAL are not asking for acceptance anymore.

They have earned it.

Final Verdict: BABYMETAL Finally Claimed Their Donington Moment 🔥🦊

BABYMETAL on the Apex Stage at Download Festival 2026 was a triumph.

A bright, loud, weird, heavy, joyful, theatrical, beautifully choreographed triumph.

They brought the songs.
They brought the spectacle.
They brought the Fox God energy.
They brought the riffs.
They brought the choreography.
They brought the crowd together.
They finally got the sunshine.

From “BABYMETAL DEATH” to “Road of Resistance,” the set moved with pace, precision and pure festival magic. It had modern collaboration fire, classic crowd favourites, metal intensity, pop sparkle and enough theatrical force to make the Apex Stage feel like a world of its own.

Some bands make Download heavier.

BABYMETAL make it stranger, brighter and more exciting.

And that is exactly why they are so important.

They came to Donington, broke the weather curse, raised the Fox signs and delivered the kind of set people will still be talking about when the tents are packed, the boots are muddy and everyone is back home wondering why normal life does not come with pyro.

Proper job, mun.

The Riff Report Rating: 9/10

Fox God fire, flawless movement, huge riffs and a sunlit Donington victory. BABYMETAL finally got their Apex Stage moment — and they absolutely smashed it. 🦊🤘🔥