Mud, Metal, and Missing Footwear: My Download 2006 Diary
Looking back at the archives, 2006 wasn't just a festival; it was a fever dream fuelled by black coffee, stage pyros, and the constant roar of planes descending into East Midlands Airport right over our heads. Working for Kerrang! Radio that year meant I was right in the thick of the chaos, and honestly? I wouldn't have traded it for anything
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The Great Shoe Retrieval
My weekend started upon leaving work at 3pm and making to site with a literal bang (and a thud). My ride into the site was via a buggy driven by Andy, who clearly mistook the backstage paths for a Formula 1 track. He hit a speedbump with such velocity that I nearly went airborne—my dignity stayed intact, but one of my shoes did not.
I actually had to go on a rescue mission for it. I remember sprinting back down that long, dry, dusty path, dodging production vehicles and looking like a frantic flamingo, just to reclaim my footwear from the dirt. Mission accomplished, but the dust stayed on that shoe for the rest of the summer.
No Jonathan, No Problem?
The big drama of the weekend was the "Korn Situation." Jonathan Davis had been rushed to the hospital with a blood infection, leaving the band's set in jeopardy. While the vibe backstage was tense, what followed was legendary. Watching a rotation of vocalists from Avenged Sevenfold, Trivium, and 10 Years step up to fill those massive shoes was a "you had to be there" moment in metal history.
'It's On' (with Jesse Hasek from 10 Years)
'Falling Away' (with M Shadow from Avenged Sevenfold)
'Somebody' (with Dez Fafara from Devildriver)
'Coming Undone' (with Dez Fafara from Devildriver)
'A.D.I.D.A.S.' (with Benji Webbe from Skindred)
'Clown' (with Corey Taylor from Stone Sour)
'Freak' (with Corey Taylor from Stone Sour)
'Blind' (with Matt Healy from Trivium)
Highlights from the Lens
Between the interviews and the backstage madness, my camera shutter didn't get a second of rest. A few moments still stand out in high definition:
Alexisonfire: Their set was absolutely epic. The energy they brought to the stage was infectious, and capturing that raw, post-hardcore intensity through the lens felt like catching lightning in a bottle.
Killing Joke: Legends for a reason. There’s an eerie, driving power to their live sound that translates so well to film. Shooting them felt like documenting a piece of industrial history.
Ginger & The Sonic Circus: This wasn't just a set; it was a spectacle. Watching the Psycho Cyborgs literally drilling into Ginger as the show kicked off was the kind of theatrical insanity you only see at Download.
The Prodigy Pit: I’ve shot a lot of heavy bands, but the pit for The Prodigy was on another level of feral. It was a sea of limbs and adrenaline.
The Sound of "Breathe": As I was escorted out of the pit, the opening notes of Breathe hit. The bass was so physical that the entire tent didn't just shake—it rumbled. You could feel the air vibrating in your lungs.
The Donington Atmosphere
There’s something uniquely "Download" about trying to frame a shot of a guitarist shredding while a massive commercial airliner screams overhead every ten minutes. It adds a layer of industrial grit to the photos that you can’t replicate anywhere else.
Despite the missing shoe and the Korn-related curveballs, 2006 was a masterclass in why we love this community. The energy was electric, the bands were top-tier, and the stories—well, they're still worth telling twenty years later.
