Download Festival 2011: Round up!

Read how our weekend went and catch up with pictures and interviews

Theo Tritsarolis - 13 June 2011

The opening night saw Def Leppard aggressively rebuke the unfavourable comments made about their 2009 Download appearance, with their opening number of 'Undefeated'. As the only UK headliner of the weekend, Def Leppard represented home-grown talent perfectly, showcasing a combination of futuristic stage-production and a solid set of tracks which contained the favourites 'Rock On' and 'Rocket'. Keith Weir, of the Quireboys, was welcomed on-stage, amid shouts for an encore from the audience, for keyboard support for 'When Love and Hate Collide'. - Read about it here

The Australian band, Pendulum, occupied the second stage and provided alternative entertainment to Def Leppard with their popular electro-rock. Onlookers were treated to a set full of deep beats and dirty drops, with the 2005 banger 'Tarantula' preceded by a scream of “Are you with us?” causing a frenzy in the crowd.

Gracing the UK after a six-year absence, System Of A Down took to the main stage on Saturday night. The band amazed the brave crowd, who turned out despite the sodden weather conditions of the day, with a rocking true-metal style. The 26 song set, crammed into an hour and a half, demonstrated why the Californian artists are judged as one of the best rock-bands in the world with 'Chop Suey' eliciting a shouted response from those gathered to watch them. - Read about it here

Conspicuously missing from the rock festival's line-up for more than sixteen years, Rob Zombie graced Donington Park's second stage with a strange but wholly amazing performance. Bursting through the chest of a humongous metal robot, Zombie wowed festival-goers with an amazing set that opened with 'Jesus Frankenstein', and included throwbacks to the White Zombie era with 'More Than Human', 'Super-Charger Heaven' and firm 'Guitar Hero' favourite 'Thunder Kiss 65'. - Read about it here.

Virtual Festivals caught up with James Cassells of Asking Alexandria backstage. Speaking about how he attended in 2006 and how the festival has been steadily improving he stated that he "came two years in a row with one of the guys in the band, it was a lot of fun, awesome. I think the site has changed around quite a lot, I remember the planes used to come over the main stage and they don't now.” - Read the interview here.

Although the weekend may have been overshadowed, pardon the pun, by rainclouds, Josh Todd of Buckcherry kept a sunny disposition and focused on how the band have been “just started playing a new song off [their] new record called 'Recovery' and it's been going over really great live.” - Read the interview here.

Check out the photos from Download Festival 2011 Day One and Day Two.

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