Each year Download festival seems to move further away from its metal roots and, curiously enough, becomes bigger and bigger commercially. The second stage now rivals the main stage in size and a small portion of chips has gone up to £2.50. The sheer scale is staggering, armies of paying festival goers marching up to a mile from the campsite to the arena in anticipation of a variety of artists ranging from The Prodigy to Meshuggah and the opportunity to be questioned as to the whereabouts of their hands many times.

Over on the second stage both Lacuna Coil and Opeth play flawless sets, Lacuna Coil in particular sounding hardly removed at all from a studio recording and Opeth's evolved lineup tackling intensive tracks like 'The Lotus Eater' effortlessly.

The third stage (sheltered beneath a marquee and named after the festival beer 'Tuborg', but tasting less of piss) saw some rock in a more classic style during the day, with an enthusiastic and powerful show from Iron Maiden offspring Lauren Harris and her band of merry, grinning rockers followed later by a slightly weak performance by 80's legends Voivod who can't summon a big enough sound to get the tent going.

For those seeking a more modern metal style Staind peddle some solid nu-metal wares on the main stage with an amiably inoffensive demeanour, which is more than can be said for Limp Bizkit and the be-capped Fred Durst, hamming it up to the crowd perfectly a little later on. Those sticking around for Korn got a less grabbing set including the still potent 'Blind' and a completely redundant cover of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'.

Today's headline band are possibly the most anticipated of the weekend, and backstage is filled with musicians who are 'here for Mike'. While co-headliners Meshuggah turn the Tuborg stage into a dark cavern of concentrated leaden sound and blasting bass, a black hole by which a large crowd are happily devoured, Motley Crue entertain their unfathomably die-hard supporters. And in front of a huge plush-looking red curtain a heavily hyped Faith No More set begins light-heartedly as Mr Patton (dressed like Freddie Mercury) hobbles out like a blind elderly gentleman and the equally snazzily dressed band show off their versatility with an apt cover of soul song 'Reunited'. From here the gleefully receptive audience were treated to a set of lively classics from the FNM catalogue. Though appearing laid back the band projected more energy than a 'Relentless' factory, Patton demonstrating his cardio leaping around and singing parts of the encore, 'We Care A Lot', while doing situps, much to the amusement of the masses. [MG]