Download Festival 2014 Review: 10 Best Performances
Those who were totally rocked salute you.
rating:4
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The dust has now settled on the granddaddy of rock and metal festivals, and as rock fans wander back to their desks bleary-eyed with heads full of helicopter drum bursts and face-melting guitar solos, its time to take stock of the three days of festivities at Castle Donington. This year more than any recently, it feels like Andy Copping went for as diverse an experience as possible, adding eye-brow raisers like Status Quo to the bill and effectively allowing two anniversary headline slots (with The Offspring playing the second stage on Friday unjustly). But together, the bill worked well, charting a course through rock history, and paying homage - even with the comic sensibilities of Steel Panther - to the previous steps that make the ongoing journey so special and so important. Inevitably there are some who will always say that Sonisphere, or Bloodstock or any other specialist rock festival was better, but theres a reason Download, and Monsters Of Rock have been around forever, and its because the organisers know how to stuff their bills with the kind of head-turning, crowd-pleasing acts that would make even the most cynical fans happy. And the best of the class of 2014 did not disappoint again