The 2025 Download Festival is in the books and with it came a lot of memorable performances and standout moments. Join us as we take a closer look at the big things that happened at Download 2025.
1. Sleep Token Own The Headlining Spot
It seemed a bit controversial at the time, but Sleep Token’s elevation to headline status at the 2025 Download Festival appeared to be well earned. The band’s rapid ascent since the initial Download Festival lineup reveal didn’t hurt things, but this was a group embracing the moment over their 15-song set this year.
The show started in dramatic fashion with a curtain drop as the band launched into their Even in Arcadia song “Look to Windward.” The band definitely appeared to up their production value complete with a stone castle-esque set which they performed around. Add in a dazzling light show and an engaged crowd and Sleep Token pulled off their headlining set with aplomb. They even skipped doing an encore, finishing out the night strong with “Take Me to Eden.”
Fan-shot footage along with some reactions can be viewed below.
Sleep Token, “Caramel” at Download 2025
Sleep Token, “The Summoning” at Download 2025
2. Korn’s First-Ever Download Headlining Set
It might come as a surprise, but 2025 was the first time that Korn headlined the Download Festival. While Sleep Token’s ascent took relatively little time, these nu-metal giants finally got their due 21 years after first appearing at the festival.
“We played this festival when it was still called Donington,” Jonathan Davis told the crowd. “We’ve been up, we’ve been down and we hadn’t even headlined a tent here, now look where we are!”
Korn have been making the festival rounds in Europe and delivered an 18-song set for those in attendance. The show opened, as expected, with Jonathan Davis asking “Are you ready?” as they launching into “Blind.” The set included a four-song encore that featured “4U,” “Falling Away From Me,” “Divine” and “Freak on a Leash.”
See fan reactions and fan-shot video below.
Korn “Blind” at Download 2025
Korn, “Freak on a Leash” at Download 2025
3. Green Day Get Political …. Again
It’s probably a bigger surprise when Green Day don’t lean into something political during their sets.
But with President Trump holding a military parade while protests across the U.S. were planned throughout the weekend, Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong couldn’t help but comment on what was going on across the other side of the globe.
Speaking to the crowd in between songs, Armstrong commented, ““Donald Trump in his administration is a fascist government. And it’s up to us to fight back.” The comments were made during Green Day’s headline set just ahead of the weekend parade that Trump had scheduled.
The Green Day performance also included a little bit a name-calling as well, as Armstrong encouraged the crowd to join in chants of “You Fat Bastard” in a message to Trump.
The 21-song performance also featured another political nod. The show opening “American Idiot” once again contained the line adjustment, “I’m not part of the Elon agenda,” The show was packed with Green Day hits, while the song “J.A.R.” made its first appearance for the band during this current tour.
@rhianwirtz Green Day’s seminar at Download #greenday #donaldtrump #downloadfestival #download2025 ♬ original sound – Rhian
Green Day, “American Idiot” at Download 2025
4. Sex Pistols Stop Show Multiple Times
Sometimes you want to get it just right. Credit to Sex Pistols’ Frank Carter for understanding the assignment and stopping “Pretty Vacant” three times in order to get the audience into a sufficiently rocking moshpit.
While that may be a bit excessive, it definitely set the bar for the energy level for the remainder of the band’s Download Festival set. Stepping in for the legendary John Lydon, Carter kept the spirit of the Sex Pistols in good hands. The 17-song performance featured a run through Sex Pistols’ biggest songs and a cover of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” to boot.
Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter, “Pretty Vacant” at Download 2025
Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter, “God Save the Queen” at Download 2025
5. President’s First Ever Performance
One of the most buzzed about performances of the weekend didn’t take place on the main stage. Rather, masked mystery band President chose to make their live debut in one of the tented side stages at Download in front of an audience ready to show how much they’ve embraced the music has issued so far and see what else they have to share.
It was only a five song set for the upstart rockers, but fans were visibly singing along with opening “Fearless” and closing “In the Name of the Father,” the two singles issued so far.
It was sparse in terms of production value, with the band only utilizing a podium with their neon double cross logo on it. But they captivated the crowd with a set to featured the debut of three new tracks – supposedly titled “Dionysus,” “Rage” and “Destroy Me.”
READ MORE: SETLIST + VIDEO – Masked Mystery Band President Play First-Ever Show
The group were sent off with chants of “President” ringing throughout the tent. Their first “rally” went well.
President’s First Ever Performance at Download 2025
6. “Watch” Out
When attending the Download Festival this year, there was a warning in advance. Local police had requested that fans attending the music weekend leave one item typically found on your person behind. That would be the smartwatch.
So why would the time-keeping instrument be off-limits? According to The Guardian, back in 2023, the local police received hundreds of 999 calls as the smartwatch tech had naturally assumed certain fans at the music weekend had been in a collision.
In order to avoid a repeat, the Leicester police had appealed to fans to either leave their smart watches behind, to place the watches in airplane mode or to disable the emergency alerts in order to cut down on the collision warnings that festival goers were sending to the authorities over the weekend.
According to a posting from the Leicestershire Police, “We saw a rise of nearly 700 extra 999 calls in a weekend. The tech assumed that people in mosh pits had been in a collision, causing 999 contacts and abandoned 999 calls. All those calls had to be assessed, with three outbound call attempts completed to ensure there is no threat, risk or harm, taking our contact handlers away from answering true emergency calls.”
7. Dawn of the Luxury Port-o-Potty?
For all the talk of bathroom issues ahead of Download 2025, festival organizers got at least one glowing review from a fan on social media. One of the female attendees of the music weekend humorously tweeted, “The toilets at Download were mad yesterday. Proper locking cubicles with a seat and electronic flush??? And sinks with soap, water??? And MIRRORS. If that was your first festival, you don’t know you were bloody born.”
It’s a long way from the port-o-potties, it seems.
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Gallery Credit: Chad Childers, Loudwire
