Anti-Flag
After Young Guns had some sound issues on the Second Stage, punk quartet Anti-Flag didn't suffer the same problem.
Launching into a great performance of 'The Press Corpse', the band proved themselves to be a worthy addition to the festival.
They handled the Second Stage well, never seeming intimidated or out of place as the decent sized crowd shouted back every word.
The usual political sloganeering wasn't as repetitive as it could've been, limited to just a few instances (besides the songs themselves).
However, the pleas to look after each other in the pits (whilst pleasant to hear) were encouraged a few too many times.
Whilst Anti-Flag could clearly handle a stage this size, songs like 'Die For Your Government' and the amazing 'Turncoat' would have been more suited to the smaller, more intimate Pepsi Max Stage.
As always, 'The Smartest Bomb' produced a couple of nice circle pits, although not as big as you'd expect from an Anti-Flag show.
A definite highlight of the set came after the band named The Clash as possibly their biggest influence.
They then launched into an excellent cover of 'Should I Stay or Should I Go', which was met with a rousing singalong from the Donington crowd.
The set was brought to an end with 'Cities Burn', concluding Anti-Flag's set in a fine way.
It showed that Download Festival punters have no problem accepting real, gritty U.S. punk, especially when it's done this well.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge
Tagged in Download Festival