Friday at Download Festival 2026 saw many a Fred Durst wandering the fields ahead of the Limp Bizkit headline, with the day as a whole being full of highly anticipated sets.
Scene Queen – Apex Stage – 1pm
It feels fitting that with Emily Armstrong closing the festival’s main stage on the final day, it’s another female artist opening it on day one. Here it was Scene Queen playing the UK’s biggest festival stage – and doing so in front of her family who had flown over from the US to watch her kick off Twerkle-pits and sing about flossing with her G-string while commanding a huge crowd. ‘Pink G-String’ and ‘MILF’ bring riffs, screams, growls and of course a load of cowboy dancing, female empowerment and gratitude at her legion of adoring fans. Ending on ’18+’ was a masterstroke that gave the crowd the chance to call out abusers within the scene and have a lovely little bop while doing it. (DH)
P.O.D. – Apex Stage – 2pm
We all know that one P.O.D. song, the one that makes you feel like you are a part of something bigger than yourself. And that was exactly how it felt when ‘Youth of a Nation’ was played. Hearing a whole stage worth of people singing that chorus is goosebump inducing. The earlier moshing and bombardment of crowd surfers also contributed towards that feeling of closeness and community, but it was the final song of the set that really pulled on the heart strings. With guitarist, Marcos Curiel, dedicating ‘Alive’ to his daughter who was born just the night before. What a way to announce a new arrival. (BO)
Hollywood Undead – Apex Stage – 3pm
As with many of the bands on this year’s line-up, Hollywood Undead’s set was long awaited. With the boys not performing in the UK since pre-covid times, the energy was high before the opening riff to ‘Undead’ kicked off their set. Although there was a slight wobble as the crowd were instructed to sing the wrong note for the “whoa-oh” in ‘Another Way Out’, they were quick to correct things. Playing all their classics including ‘Everywhere I Go’ and ‘Bullet’, it’s clear it’d been a few years since many in the crowd had attempted those raps, but the vibes were high nonetheless. Not to mention to giant inflatable penis bouncing around which only added to the chaos and prepared us for the next bands on the Apex Stage. (BO)
Creeper – Opus Stage – 3.50pm
Creeper brought their Sanguivore 2 tour to the Opus Stage on opening day in a set packed with gothic heavy metal vibes split across their most recent pair of vampire narrative albums. Where previously the band would burst out of the blocks with something bouncy, full of punk energy, ‘Mistress Of Death’ is a perfect representation of the era that Creeper are in right now. It’s a bit more brooding, a bit more ‘classic heavy metal’ and the crowd responded in kind with more of a respectful singalong than an outpouring of crowdsurfers. The band drew a sizeable crowd, but perhaps knowing that there was another opportunity to see the band on Sunday meant it wasn’t as rammed as it could have been. Not sure the script writers remembered though as frontman Will Gould was decapitated at the end of the set. Poor chap. (DH)
Lake Malice – Dogtooth Stage – 5pm
As much of a cliché as it is, Lake Malice are a band with the world at their feet. A debut album out in September and playing in a lovely gap between Pendulum and Electric Callboy to a Dogtooth stage they had bouncing within seconds. ‘Nobody Wants To Be Me’ was the highlight of a set that brought modern alt-metal together with backing dancers. Obviously. As usual, Blake’s seemingly endless energy (and obviously his massive jumps) were engaging while Alice’s screams and growls are as fearsome as anything to be heard at Donington this weekend. 2026 is going to proving to be huge for this pair. (DH)
Electric Callboy – Apex Stage – 5.30pm
It’s rumoured that in an urban dictionary somewhere, under the term “go hard or go home” you’ll find the name Electric Callboy. Manifesting a headline slot, they opened with a curtain drop. Lyric overlayed visuals filled the screens, insane lighting and pyro ignited the stage and the fields of Donington became a dance floor. Even the onscreen robot incited a circle pit ahead of ‘HYPA’. Of course, we were fortunate enough to experience ‘RATATATA’ more than once over the weekend however its first rendition seemed almost too much for the stage. With the screens becoming temperamental and our new robot friend not always visible to guide us, we were left with the constant barrage of bangers and never-ending costume changes, so all in all, the occasional missing visuals went otherwise unnoticed. (BO)
Cypress Hill – Apex Stage – 7pm
Cypress Hill stood out on this year’s lineup as the truly unique band on the bill but the question was….were they just going to be a nostalgia packed romp that serves as little more than a stop gap to the headliner? Hell no they weren’t. Sen Dog and B-Real supported by DJ Muggs and drummer Eric Bob gave us 70 mins of pure, adulterated fun. Opening with ‘How I Could Just Kill a Man’, a Cypress Hill original covered by RATM, was a genius move as it gave pretty much everyone the opportunity to join in up top. From here the legendary pair showed just why they’re approaching 40 years in the business. There’s a contagious swagger about them, one which seeps into the crowd by osmosis. The combination of seeing two stalwarts loving their lives one stage after all these years combined with lyrics that are easy to pick up on the fly. This created a relaxed atmosphere, one which got even more relaxed as the set went on…if you follow the green, hazy drift. Covers of RATM’s ‘Bombtrack’ and House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’ towards the back end of the set, combined with the monster that is ‘Insane in the Brain’ solidified this as one of the highlights of the weekend. (DH)
Limp Bizkit – Apex Stage – 8.50pm
It’s a crime for which someone at Live Nation should have to pay that we had to stand through so many Def Leppard headline sets when Limp Bizkit were right there, waiting to write their name even deeper into alt music lore. Save for a medical emergency that drew the set to a halt for a while towards the end, the first main stage headliners of the weekend did exactly what KoRn did 12 months prior and took their opportunity atop the bill with both hands. Admirably, instead of shooting the budget up the wall on pyro and the like, Limpy B were armed with nothing more than nostalgia and a PowerPoint deck with their lyrics on (interspersed with some pro-Limp Bizkit propaganda of course). This alone is proof enough that the music is all you need. Well, that and Wes Borland’s ever more intricate costumes.
It has been a testing year for the band with the death of bassist Sam Rivers in 2025 and the recent loss of one of their crew. The band are noting if not professional though and launched into ‘Break Stuff’ to launch the crowd into a bouncing frenzy. Putting the lyrics up for each song may have seemed ‘lazy’ but in truth it paid off. Everyone, even the most casual of fans, was given the opportunity to sing along and that plus a set packed with hits meant the atmosphere was off the charts. Sure, rumours are some people took their excitement a little too far on the ferris wheel, but most of the crowd spent 90 minutes dancing, singing, rapping and moshing their asses off.
Their 90 minutes on stage had a bit of everything. ‘My Generation’, ‘Hot Dog’ and Full Nelson’ saw the band travel back to the peak of their output, ‘Faith’ and ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ allowed them their karaoke sections that they love so much and finishing by reprising ‘Break Stuff’ will never be a bad idea. At the end of the set, everyone left happy, though slightly exhausted. Importantly, Download has added another headliner to their pool. One which will have crowds pouring in and bouncing for years to come. (DH)