June 9, 2006 16:29

Record numbers descend on Download

The metal extravaganza gets off to a scorching start

The biggest ever Download Festival has kicked off in glorious sunshine this afternoon (June 9).

A record 59,000 weekend campers have descended on seminal hard rock site Donington Racetrack for the three-day metal extravaganza. And organisers are already bringing in extra supplies of water to cope with soaring 26 degree temperatures.

All eyes today are on US rock titans Tool, who headline tonight in support of new album ’10,000 Days’. Before that, Deftones will also be debuting material for their forthcoming fifth album.

Singer Chino Moreno told NME.COM: “We’ve been all over the place and its taken three years, but we wanted to make sure we made the right record. We’re playing for an hour, but we still haven’t decided which songs we’ll play.”

The band have taken to unusual setlists; at their warm up at London Scala on Wednesday they played a two-hour set that incorporated 1995 debut album ‘Adrenalin' in its entirety.

The main stage was opened this afternoon by Amplifier, hotly followed by actress Jada Pinkett Smith’s band Wicked Wisdom. Husband Will Smith was watching from the side.

Stay tuned for NME.COM to see how the US metal legends get on tonight.