Saturday 11 June 2005 15.00 We arrived in Castle Donington and evidence of the festival's existence was confirmed by the passing rockers with quilts on their heads and 'Download 2005' t-shirts on their backs. It was so rock ‘n’ roll! 15.45 We parked up and after a quick pat-down from security we were in. Once inside the race track and all we could here was the sound of distant screams and pounding drums. We made a B-line for the main stage where an amazing band were playing. I’ve got absolutely no idea who they were though. Five pounds is a lot of money for a copy of the line-up so it was a bit of a guessing game. I couldn't believe how busy it was. I had no idea so many people where into this kind of music - rock on. First things first though, I needed something to eat. It was time to hit the hotdog stand! 16.30 We decided to head to the Napster Tent as it sounded the loudest. There were bottles being thrown left, right and centre. Unsure as to why people throw bottles, I just stood there and swayed to the music, dodging plastic when necessary. 17.00 We popped into the Snickers Bowl hoping to see a wipe out (yes, I enjoy seeing people in pain) but the skaters and riders were all on top form so we were out of luck. Annoyed at not having seen anyone fall over, we decided to head back to the main stage. Anthrax had just come on and the crowd were lapping it up. Hands were in the air and bottles were once again being slung. This must be the way the crowd shows their appreciation for a great band. However I couldn't stop laughing at the unlucky lad who decided to stand on his mates shoulders completely exposed. Needless to say every bottle at the festival homed in on his bare cheeks, which resulted in him falling on the floor butt-naked. Even the band were laughing at him - hilarious. More of this please! 17.45 We decided to check out the media village hoping to bump into Ozzy (or even better Sharon) but there was no sign of them. There were plenty of bands being interviewed – if I wasn't so uninformed I would have known who they were but sadly I didn't. 18.00 Home time! Off to work to earn some cash to blow tomorrow on what promises to be an awesome day out. System of a Down and Mastodon are on my' to-do' list - what more could a young lad want? Sunday 12 June 2005 16.00 We arrived back at Download just in time to see Mastadon. This was going be my first experience of a mosh-pit and I think its fair to say I was being thrown in at the deep-end. As mastodon started playing, the crowd opened up in front of me and I found myself on the edge of total madness! I didn't really know what to do other than just stand there and watch the arms, legs, hands and feet of people throwing themselves at each other. It was insane but after taking a few minutes to consider my options, I decided to get involved head first! 16.45 Enough was enough! Mastadon had finished so I headed for the nearest exit and relished in the fresh air that I was now able to inhale. In the thick of it, there had been so much dust in the air that I could hardly breath. I put that to the back of my mind though, as breathing wasn't really my top priority during the Mastodon gig. 17.30 We head to the media area to have a sit down and a beer. The rumour mill had started and the word on the street was that Funeral For a Friend were the 'mystery band.' So we headed back into the thick of it catch them. They were pretty cool but a lot more chilled out than I'd expected. I was now, after all, a full scale hardcore mosher! 18.30 It was time for food; a jacket potato with as many toppings as the lady could fit into the Polystyrene container, followed by a dirty burger with cheese for afters! Satisfied with how my stomach was feeling, I sat down and sparked up a cigarette and watched the crowds growing bigger and bigger. I can't wait for System of a Down! 19.30 We couldn't wait any longer so started to make our way into the crowds to try and get a good position. Unfortunately, this meant standing through some of Slipknot. I could spend hours ranting on about how fake and generally c**p slipknot are, but I wont. I have bigger fish to fry! 20.30 The wait begins; it seems to take forever, the atmosphere is awesome though. Thousands and thousands of people stand on ceremony for a band that is guaranteed to blow the place apart. Images of naked women flash up on the larger-than-life TV screens. Chants of "wweeeeeeey" and "booooooo" only add to the excitement. 21.30 Finally System of a Down appear on stage and I'm not disappointed by the amount of madness which prevails. My body was already aching from earlier in the day but the alcohol helped me ignore the pain. The next ninety minutes are unreal. Hearing System of a Down live is something I couldn't have prepared for. And not only hearing them but being there in the thick of it! I lost my mates after about two minutes and didn't see them until the end of the festival but it didn't matter; I was having an amazing time and I knew they would be too! 23.00 The show is over and it's time to head back to the car. I've picked up a few injuries along the way and feel as though my feet have been trampled on by a heard of elephants but it was all more than worth it and I'll definitely be making a return visit next year. As for now, all I want is a shower and a nice cup-of-tea to wash down all the inhaled dust. Till next time... Ben K | 
