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"I don't know why they booked us to play to all these metalheads... It makes no sense."

And so began Die Antwoord's main stage set at Download Festival on Saturday evening.

The sun came out briefly for the South African rap-rave crew's performance - which as rapper Ninja acknowledged early on, was a slightly unconventional booking by organisers.

Particularly when you consider that heavy metal legends Slipknot were headlining the stage after them.

So some of the more old-school rockers in the crowd were bemused as the group burst onto the stage to the techno beats of Pitbull Terrier.

(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)

But the audience soon got into their unique brand of electronic dance, which mixes English lyrics with Afrikaans and Xhosa.

Ninja swaggered his way through some of the crew's best-known tracks like Ugly Boy, while Yolandi Visser lent her signature high-pitched vocals.

Fatty Boom Boom and Baby's On Fire from 2012 album Tension also featured on the setlist - but it was the trap beats of single I Fink U Freeky that really got the crowd going.

By the time Happy Go began, it was clear that Die Antwoord's non-conformist attitude struck a chord with the audience.

Middle fingers flying to the hook of '**** your rules', frontman Ninja stagedived and crowdsurfed while back-up dancers accompanied Yolandi up on stage.

They even managed to inspire a mosh pit at the front of the crowd (not that there was any shortage of those at the festival).

(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)

After leaving the stage briefly, the crew returned to the stage for an electrifying performance of Enter The Ninja, the song that propelled them to viral fame a decade ago.

Die Antwoord return to London's Brixton Academy for another sold out show on Monday - and based on the surprisingly positive reception from the Download crowd, they might be back at Donington once again in the future.

Follow our coverage from the rest of Download on our live blog here.