It's been murderous getting on-site at Donington today; a sell-out attendance, a stacked, four-day line-up and a traffic accident near the festival has caused bedlam on the roads, leaving many punters stuck for hours in their cars or forced to plod along on foot for miles to finally get stuck into the action. If it were any other band headlining tonight, you might imagine that all the chaos would be the day's biggest talking point. Luckily, this isn't any band. This is fucking Metallica, playing the first of two headline sets this weekend with the promise of no repeats.
With everyone now safely in, metal's undisputed heavyweight champs draw an immense crowd, and a deafnening cheer goes up as AC/DC's It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll) blares out over the PA, signalling their imminent arrival. Images of the band meeting and hanging with fans swarm over the screens - a nice touch that reaffirms the connection the biggest band in heavy metal manage to maintain with their followers. Then, the Four Horseman bound out onstage to tear into a ripping Creeping Death, bathed in searing red lights and backed by a huge, glistening LCD backdrop. Incredibly, this is Metallica's first Download set in over a decade, and no one present is in any mood to tit about.
