Today is the first day of the legendary Download Festival now in its 12^th year with a huge variety of Rock and Metal acts playing throughout 3 days on up to 5 stages all bringing individual sounds. Though the sales were a lot lower this year than the previous it did not bring anyone down and the tributes to charity fundraiser Stephen Sutton were flowing through the weekend with thumbs up all round. AVENGED SEVENFOLD were the main headliner of the night and though they had mixed reactions they certainly pulled out a must see show.
 

Japanese rave Metallers CROSSFAITH certainly got everyone jumping during their short set with their super energetic stage presence and hard hitting beats which won over new fans and made the dedicated ones even happier. The 30 minute set was enough to play their best songs including fan favourite cover of THE PRODIGY's ''Omen'' which had a heavier Japanese edge added to it, vocalist Kenta Koie dominates the main stage and struts down the catwalk whilst screaming into his microphone with maximum effort. CROSSFAITH were the perfect start to the next few bands on the lineup that had the same style energy and electronic vibes.
 

The Welsh rap metal group SKINDRED played to fans who had extremely high expectations due to their impressive live videos, Benji Webbe had the huge crowd bouncing as soon as they appeared on stage and had their infamous ''Newport Helicopter'' going by the end of it, every track played in their set was adored by the fans especially songs ''Nobody'', ''Ratrace'' and newest track ''Kill The Power'' from their newest album. SKINDRED are the ultimate band to get your jumping off the ground even in scorching heat!
 

Putting on a stage show to make all of the other bands envious of, WITHIN TEMPTATION appeared with pyrotechnics and Sharon Den Adel's impressive vocal talents, the hour long set consisted of fan favourites and new songs from their recent album ''Hydra'' which fans have started to love, the songs which were duets such as ''Paradise'', ''And We Run'' and ''Dangerous'' had the other vocalists parts played in the background but it certainly didn't let the band down. All members of the band were prancing along the stage and cat walk with lead guitarist Ruud Jolie pulling out all the stops.
 

Download Festival dubbed Friday the 13^th as Zombie Day due to the infamous ROB ZOMBIE sub headlining the main stage, it was daylight when the band played but they did have an eerie vibe. Playing hit throughout hit during their hour long set such as ''Dragula'', ''Living Dead Girl'' and ''Superbeast'' which got the super fans jumping on the grass, the set would have been better if it was later at night but it did well for Goth Rock in the sun. Guitarist John 5 got crowd chants going whilst Rob Zombie ran throughout the crowd greeting fans at the barriers, making it truly epic for those who waited hours to see them.
 

Headlining the main stage and kicking off with an almighty bang is AVENGED SEVENFOLD, though most of the festival fans had doubts about the risk of the band headlining they certainly proved them wrong with an old school set and lots of special effects. Vocalist M.Shadow was belting his vocals to tracks such as ''Afterlife'', ''Nightmare'', ''Beast And The Harlot'' and loads more, guitarists Synster Gates, Johnny Christ and Zacky Vengance all strutted down the catwalk with pyrotechnics blasting around them, their new drummer Arin Llejay was able to pull off all the drum skills to keep up with the headlining band. AVENGED SEVENFOLD had two encores but finished on theatrical classic ''A Little Piece Of Heaven'' with the video being screened behind them and the entire audience singing every word in time with them, it was something very exciting for any fan.

The day went down a hit and everyone got to see bands they loved, the only disappointments would be the set times and how they should be longer but overall DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL showed why they keep getting fans back every year.