Music Festivals

Cosmic Riffs, Heavy Grief, Monster Grooves And Donington Getting Swallowed Whole Some bands play riffs. Some bands build riffs. Some bands politely hand you a riff, let you admire it, then move on to the chorus. Mastodon do not do…

Theatrical Carnage, Killer Hooks And Donington Screaming For The Silver Scream Some bands bring riffs. Some bands bring breakdowns. Some bands bring pyro, pits, crowd chants and enough smoke to make the Apex Stage look like it has failed an…

Guitar Wizardry, Rage Anthems, Protest Power And Donington Losing Its Mind Some guitarists play solos. Some guitarists shred. Some guitarists turn up, plug in, throw a few shapes, take the applause and disappear back into the festival mist. Then there…

The Unofficial House Band of Download Festival If there is one band that feels as much a part of Download Festival as the mud, the planes flying overhead and the legendary walk into the arena, it’s Skindred. At this point,…

There are festival sets. There are great festival sets. And then there are Skindred festival sets. The Welsh legends stormed the Dogtooth Stage at Download Festival 2026 and delivered exactly what thousands of Downloaders had been hoping for — absolute…

Taylor Momsen, Big Riffs, Bluesy Swagger And Donington Singing It Back Some bands hit Download Festival like a wrecking ball. Some come in with pyro, masks, breakdowns, blast beats, dhol drums, giant choruses, circle pits and enough production to make…

Mike Ness, Outlaw Attitude, Vintage Grit And Donington Getting A Proper Punk ’N’ Roll Lesson Some bands arrive at Download Festival with fire. Some arrive with breakdowns. Some arrive with corpse paint, stage smoke, emotional chaos, crowd surfers and riffs…

Landon Tewers, Huge Choruses, Nasty Drops And Donington Feeling Every Word Some bands hit Download Festival like a brick through a window. Some arrive with big choruses, shiny hooks and a few festival-friendly breakdowns to keep the crowd moving. Then…

Breakdowns, Rage, No Mercy And Donington Getting Properly Flattened Some bands stroll onto a festival stage. Some bands wave, smile, chat for a bit, ease into the vibe and gently ask the crowd how they are doing. thrown do not…

Indian Folk-Metal Fury, Nu-Metal Bounce And Donington Going Absolutely Wild Some bands turn up at Download Festival and play a set. Bloodywood turn up and start a movement. When the New Delhi metal powerhouse hit the Apex Stage at Download…

Keanu Reeves, Laid-Back Grooves, Sunday Curiosity And Donington Getting A Proper Curveball Some bands arrive at Download Festival with fire. Some arrive with breakdowns. Some arrive with corpse paint, emotional trauma, walls of death, crowd surfers, Welsh dragons, mammoth mascots…

Nu-Metal Chaos, Red Cap Madness And Donington Breaking Stuff Together There are Download Festival sets that feel big. Then there are Download Festival sets that feel like a cultural reset for every person in the field who ever owned a…

Every year, Download Festival gives us moments that remind us why this event is so much more than just a music festival. This weekend at Donington, during Limp Bizkit’s massive headline set, festival-goers witnessed something absolutely incredible — a wheelchair…

Wolfgang Van Halen, Huge Hooks, Big Riffs And Donington Giving The Lad His Flowers Some bands arrive at Download with chaos. Some arrive with fire. Some arrive with corpse paint, crowd surfers, breakdowns, confetti, emotional damage, Welsh dragons, security headaches…

The People Behind The Stories As the dust settles on another unforgettable weekend at Download Festival 2026, the team here at The Riff Report wanted to take a moment to raise a pint, throw up the horns and say a…

Two-Stepping, Breakdown Brutality And Donington Getting Properly Flattened Before Lunch There are Sunday morning festival sets. And then there are Sunday morning festival sets that feel like someone has dragged a concrete slab onto the Apex Stage and started swinging…

Sunday Morning Groove, Big Riffs And Donington Getting A Proper Wake-Up Call Sunday morning at Download Festival is a funny old beast. By this point, the body is held together with wristbands, caffeine, questionable food choices and blind faith. The…

Saturday at Download Festival 2026 felt like someone had taken everything great about rock and metal festivals, turned the volume up to eleven, and launched it directly at Donington Park. After a muddy start to the week and a Thursday…

The Crowd Doesn’t Lie, Downloaders… Download Festival is a place where legends are made, riffs shake the ground, and occasionally a band completely blows expectations out of the water. This weekend, one of the biggest talking points around Donington wasn’t…

Secret Set Incoming or Master-Level Trolling? 🤔 Download Festival is already delivering chaos, massive crowds, unbelievable performances and enough rumours to keep the internet busy until next year’s festival. But a fresh mystery has emerged from Donington, and it’s got…

Sam Carter, Security Stoppages, Huge Riffs And Donington Going Absolutely Mental Some festival sets are clean, smooth and perfectly behaved. Some roll out exactly as planned, with tidy pacing, easy crowd flow, lovely little transitions and everyone leaving saying, “Well,…

Rock Royalty, Marathon Madness And Donington Living On A Prayer, A Solo And A Pint There are headline sets… and then there are Guns N’ Roses headline sets. Big. Long. Messy. Legendary. Frustrating. Brilliant in flashes. Absolutely ridiculous in others.…

Nergal, Ritual Chaos, Blast Beats And Donington Getting Dragged Into The Abyss Some bands play a festival set. Some bands deliver a performance. Some bands arrive with smoke, riffs, crowd interaction and enough attitude to make the field feel like…

Precision Riffs, Circle-Pit Chaos And A Donington Legacy Written In Fire Some bands play Download Festival. Some bands survive Download Festival. And then there are bands like Trivium — bands whose story feels stitched directly into Donington’s muddy, sweaty, glorious…