Finally playing again after their insane 2010 set was cut, Five Finger Death Punch [8/10] have had to promise not to influence crowd surfers to come and high-five frontman Ivan Moody in order to be allowed this slot. Nevertheless, everything is just as chaotic as fans chose to do it anyway, and Ivan goes out of his way to high-five everyone. Antics include him stealing a steward's hat and threatening another for not not letting him have a giant inflatable penis, henceforth the saga between Five Finger Death Punch and festival security continues. Aside from all this, their set music-wise is excellent. Fan favourites Under and Over It and The Way Of The Fist provide an exhilarating reminder that the festival is far from over, and Ivan shows that he does in fact have a sensitive side by bringing several kids on stage so they'll be safe from the mosh pits, each of them enthusiastically raising their devil horns in the air to the delight of the crowd.
After such a a hectic show, everyone is anxious for more bedlam and the "olay olay olay Parkway" chants begin a good ten minutes before Parkway Drive [10/10] are even due on stage. Their entrance including the group chants along to Sparks proves to be the calm before the storm, as as soon as Old Ghosts/New Regrets kicks in Donnington is torn to shreds. Several pits of people of all ages open straightaway, as whether you know the band or not you simply can't keep still to fast-paced songs like Idols and Anchors and Swing, which sees the entire front section turn into one gigantic circle pit. The singalong to their latest single, Wild Eyes, is enchanting and there are more people on other's shoulders during Home Is For The Heartless than there are with their own feet on the ground. At one point, they even encourage moshing by pushing a poor man dressed in a fox onesie around the stage. What's even better is how the whole band look genuinely grateful to be here; it's impossible not to smile along with vocalist Winston McCall and all the members put so much passion into their performance you wouldn't believe they weren't headliners. There is so much love for them here, and rightfully so. Not only do they provide plenty of opportunities to lose your shit pitting to strikingly heavy tracks like Sleepwalker and Deliver Me, but there are also mass singalongs to modern metal anthems such as Karma and Carrion. Parkway Drive put on an absolutely stunning show and set boundaries high for the remaining bands.
Australian classic rockers Airbourne [7/10] on the second stage are reminiscent of old AC/DC with their carefree, live-fast attitude and put on a decent performance. With vocalist Joel O'Keeffe running around mentally all over the place, it's hard to no where your attention is supposed to be focused. Live It Up and Runnin' Wild are especially crazy with outbursts of beach balls and fireworks, as well as Joel jumping off stage and literally performing in a field in the middle of nowhere. Emphasising their outlook on life even more, he also decides to cheekily have more than a few swigs from a bottle of wine while on stage. Whilst Airbourne put on a good and entertaining show, it's nothing groundbreaking.
It's a good thing then, that A Day To Remember [9/10] are considered one of the best live bands around, and they certainly don't disappoint. Over the years they've slowly made their way up the bill with their perfectly defined mix of hardcore and pop punk; both which go down a treat to a crowd like this. No resistance to tear the place up right from the start, the band get things going at full force with new super heavy track Violence (Enough is Enough), then follow it up with equally hectic 2nd Sucks. Crowd favourites All Signs Point to Lauderdale and Have Faith In Me are performed with tremendous passion and are met with awe-inspiring singalongs, whereas heavier tracks like My Life For Hire and Why Walk on Water When We've Got Boats receive monstrous circle pits in which the breakdown following "disrespect your surroundings" in Mr Highways Thinking About the End is particularly insane. Other highlights include an explosion of beach balls, free t-shirts being shot into the crowd, about 200 rolls of toilet paper and Jeremy McKinnon's beard.
Worn out but ready for one last monumental push, everyone waits in anticipation for Rammstein [10/10], who will be the final main stage headliners this year. However, as excited as everyone is, there's a sense of sadness in the air as they all know that when they walk off stage at the end of their set, it signifies the end of Download 2013. Luckily, the German metallers are quick to smash this sadness to pieces. With about fifty fireworks going off before they're even on stage, it's apparent that their show is going to unforgettable and no one dares question this as Till Lindemann is lowered onto the stage wearing a pink fluffy coat surrounded by burning flames. During their first song, Ich Tu Dir Weh, there's such an extensive use of pyrotechnics it's genuinely surprising that the stage is still in one piece. Then we even see Till daring to swing around gigantic sparklers, which is both breathtaking and terrifying to watch.
Throughout their set, there's an overload of the theatrics that Rammstein are famous for. Not only does this include a dangerous amount of fire and smoke, but Till spraying the audience with faux semen from a giant penis and the band coming on wearing gimp suits and miming having sex with each other. Considering all the chaos it doesn't really seem worth mentioning that musically they are also astonishing, as their heavy industrial metal combined with melodic symphonies and easy-to-learn chants means that the language barrier becomes irrelevant. It is still however incredible to hear the amount of people who actually know the words, especially during Du Hast and Bück Dich. During their encore of the appropriately named Pussy, the strength of pyrotechnics is doubled and Till rides around the stage on an even bigger penis. Clearly not wanting to overdo it, when the song finishes the band simply take a bow and thank the crowd in English for being "fucking amazing".
Overall, Rammstein provide an awesome ending to an awesome weekend and an excellent summary of all the drama and chaos. Although we're sad to see it over, it's safe to say that Download 2013 has been the best yet.
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