If anticipation levels for Linkin Park's first Download show in over a decade weren't already at fever pitch, the introduction of a countdown 10 full minutes before their set begins does the job nicely. Unlike the relatively sparse crowd that gathered for Guns N' Roses last night, there's an army forming around the Apex stage, Gen Z moshers rubbing shoulders with OG nu metal kids - many of whom have brought their own nu metal kids-in-waiting along for the occasion.
It feels like there's a lot riding on tonight. It's not just LP's first appearance at Donington in twelve years, but their first festival show on these shores since the shocking loss of Chester Bennington in 2017. Throw in the surprising fact that his replacement Emily Armstrong is about to become the first frontwoman to ever headline this festival and you have all the makings of an historic occasion.
As the countdown finally ticks down to zero and nu metal's biggest ever graduates kick into a rollocking Emptiness Machine, any memories of the divided response Emily's appointment received online are banished in an instant. Not only is she greeted with widespread cheers as she saunters up to the mic stand, but her debut LP chorus is sung back at her with all the passion and fullheartedness of any of the band's classics. Put plainly: people are here to party, and the looks on Linkin Park's faces suggest they're happy to follow suite.
An early run of that comeback banger, Lying From You and a colossal Crawling is a blinder of a way to kick things off, and while pacey newer cut Up From The Bottom doesn't quite hit the same heights, Meteora standout Somewhere I Belong kicks the singalongs right back up to ten.
The next phase of the set is a little bit of a mixed bag. The Catalyst is one of Linkin Park's most powerful mid-career anthems, but its confetti-powered climax feels like an emotional grenade thrown out just a little too early. We then get an enjoyably bouncy Burn It Down, before Mike Shinoda continues his inexplicable habit of dropping a cover from his Fort Minor project. Where'd You Go isn't a bad track, but when you're a band with one of the greatest catalogues of hits in the history of rock music, it feels like an unnecessary distraction.
@metalhammeruk ♬ original sound - Metal Hammer
Plodding 2010 alt-pop cut Waiting For The End doesn't do much to get things back on track, its lacklustre energy making a mockery of Emily asking if we've "got any pits happening here?" soon after. Luckily, From Zero rager Two Faced is on hand to spark everything back to life, Shinoda using Emily's history-making appearance as a platform to get some women-only mosh pits going.
We then get two more propulsive nu metal bops in the form of A Place For My Head and IGYEIH, Armstrong going full scorched Earth for her furious "From now on, I don't need ya!" refrain, and for a while it feels like we are very much back. One Step Closer then lands with all the force of a dropkick from a kaiju, but its climactic final drop is curtailed when Armstrong stops the set for a few minutes to make sure a fan is OK.
That pause is, of course, necessary and totally out of the band's hands, but it makes another pause immediately following the conclusion of One Step Closer feel a little dragged out, even if the shots of beaming front row fans projected onto Download's giant screens is a lovely touch.
Eventually, Armstrong and Shinoda return to the stage for an emotive piano redux of excellent Meteora b-side Lost, a boisterous Breaking The Habit and an atmospheric Overflow, but it's what follows that firmly and definitively raises this gig to greatness.
The band rattle through a flawless run of classics, the celebratory atmosphere that's been bubbling across the field all night overflowing as the skyscraper choruses of What I've Done and Numb are followed by a triumphant Heavy Is The Crown (featuring another blinder of a vocal showing from Armstrong) and a full-throttle Bleed It Out.
By the time a jaw-dropping triumvirate of Papercut, In The End and Faint takes us home, Download is a sea of waving arms, pumping fists, crowdsurfers, people on shoulders and inflatables flying about all over the place. It's a beautiful sight, testament to the enduring legacy Linkin Park have wielded across generations of rock fans, and a guarantee that the most significant Download set of 2026 will linger long in the memory for all the right reasons.
