Download 2018 was a year that we’ll never forget as Donington Park was all about the good time summer vibes and partying hard to over 100 bands on the line up. It’s time to relive that legendary weekend all over again as we count down the Top 13 Awesome Moments of Download 2018.

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1. All of Guns N’ Roses Guns N’ Roses headline set on the Saturday was packed tighter than Axl’s 90s cycling shorts with unforgettable moments: ‘Shadow Of Your Love’ being played for the first time in 31 years, the massive cover of Velvet Revolver’s ‘Slither’, the band covering ‘Black Hole Sun’ in tribute to Chris Cornell, Slash’s face melting solos, the mass singalong to ‘November Rain’ – it was an unrivaled headline show.

Slither LIVE from Download Festival UK #DL2018 https://t.co/U028Y31QU5 — Guns N' Roses (@gunsnroses) June 9, 2018

2. Parkway Drive’s Pyro You think you’ve seen pyro? You haven’t seen pyro until you’ve witnessed Parkway Drive’s Zippo Encore Stage headline show pyro. The towering flames were so immense that at one point we thought Winston McCall had been flambeed. The Australian metallers didn’t just stop there as drummer Ben Gordon did a 360 in a revolving drum kit. Most importantly the band unleashed a set that was so legendary it’ll go down in Download history.

3. The Fever 333’s immense secret set Comprising of members of Letlive, The Chariot and Night Verses, we knew when the screen fell to reveal the band that The Fever 333’s debut UK show was going to be an seriously charged set. Each member played with every bit of their soul as they ripped through ‘Made An America’, ‘Trigger’ and ‘Walking In My Shoes’ with the standout moment coming when frontman Jason Aaron Butler scaled the rigging.

4. Shinedown bringing the DL Family together Shinedown is a band that don’t just ask for your attention and participation, they demand it. Donington Park was packed out for their Sunday Main Stage performance, and when frontman Brent Smith asked us to all put our hands in the air for life affirming words of ‘Unity’, the DL Family was at one.

5. The Sun! The Download Family was rocking out so hard at #DL2018 that even the sun got in on the action. For three blissful days the sun shone down on Donington Park: factor 50 was slathered on in the campsite, goths ran for cover under the Ferris wheel and the Drownload tag was well and truly banished to history.

6. Black Stone Cherry’s all conquering performance Black Stone Cherry have described their set on the Main Stage as an “out of body experience” and we couldn’t agree more as their show was godly. Kentucky’s sons played their set like true rock stars and had us singing along to ‘White Trash Millionaire’ like it was the unofficial Download anthem.

7. Adam Cole retaining the NXT North American Championship WWE NXT Live! at Download 2018 had fistfuls of awesome moments with stars including Aleistar Black, Nikki Cross, Pete Dunne and more taking to the ring. The biggest bout of the weekend came when The Undisputed Era’s Adam Cole took on Marcel Barthel in an electric match with the crowd lapping up every second. Of course, Adam Cole was crowned the winner, bay-bay.

8. Babymetal’s dark return Babymetal’s return to Donington Park on the Zippo Encore Stage was close to a religious experience as we all bowed down to worship the Fox God. The Kawaii queens danced and high kicked their way through Babymetal classics ‘Gimme Chocolate’, ‘Megitsune’ and ‘KARATE’. The mosh was so fierce someone lost their false teeth!

9. Avatar’s hydraulic throne Most bands take their stage shows to the next level by getting a bit of pyro, but most bands aren’t Avatar. The Swedish metallers opened their set on the Main Stage with guitarist Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby towering high above the crowd, as the King Of Avatar country, on his very own hydraulic throne. It was a set rammed full of thrilling circus theatrics and the best unison circle headbanging of the weekend.

10. Bullet For My Valentine’s rejoining the dl family It was five years since Bullet For My Valentine played Download and with their new album ‘Gravity’ in the bag, it was great to have the Welsh metallers back in the DL Family. The horns in the air moment had to be when BFMV unleashed the mighty metal anthem we’d all been waiting for, ‘Tears Don’t Fall’.

11. Marilyn Manson braving the rays The sun was beating down on #DL2018 when the God Of F*ck to took to the Main Stage on Sunday. A little bit of sunshine wasn’t going to stop the Antichrist Superstar as he took charge of Donington Park and had the huge crowd singing along to his every word. The best moment came when Danny from Cradle Of Filth joined him for a deafening version of ‘The Beautiful People’. Marilyn Manson – 1. Sun – 0.

12. Demolition Download’s Deadly Battles SINDROME’s first year at Download was full of jaw-dropping moments: the Lords Of Lightning exchanging volts, gravity defying motorcycle stunts in the Infernal Varanne Globe of Death and sick moves of contestants in the UK Air Guitar Championships. But, the best still had to be watching the barbaric battles of Demolition Download, where for the first time Downloaders fought alongside Battle Heritage fighters in this full contact sport.

13. Ozzy Osbourne closing #DL2018 with ‘Paranoid’ and ‘changes’ There was only one way that the Prince Of Darkness could bring his Sunday night headliner show to a close and that was with the legendary riotous riffage of Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’. Following it up with a tear-jerking rendition of ‘Changes’ it was a fitting end to an epic weekend.

What will the most awesome moments be of #DL2019? There’s only one way to find out, grab your tickets for Download Festival 2019 when it returns to Donington Park on 14th-16th June 2019. \m/