For its second edition in France, Download Festival built four stages in a former French Air Base in the suburbs of Paris. Before the festival even began more than 110,000 tickets were sold, and camping was very close to sold out. Substream tasked me with capturing the festival for the rest of the world to see. What follows is a highlight reel of the weekend’s best and wildest moments.

On the first day, bands such as Dead!, Hatebreed, The Charm The Fury, Pierce The Veil, Blink-182, Linkin Park and French Grammy nominated metal band Gojira performed in front massive crowds roaming stage to stage in between waiting in long lines for bathrooms.  There were a few moments when the sky looked as if it might break up and soak us in rain, but thankfully that time never came to pass. The clouds eventually dissipated and gave way to a setting sun that warmed the crowd as the first round of headliners took the stage.

The second day was only worse than the first in the fact it was much hotter, brighter, and generally sweatier than the day it followed. Fans did not seem to mind much however, which is understandable when you consider bands such as Alter Bridge, Five Finger Death Punch, and French band Aqme were performing. These sets were well received, but the highlight was undoubtedly System Of A Down’s night ending performance. The crowd was massive.

On the third day, the weather was even hotter, as a new heatwave rolled across France. Luckily for the festival goers that day, the crowds were smaller than the two previous days, so everyone had a bit more space. The headlines that day were big names such as Suicidal Tendencies, Rancid, Green Day or Prophets Of Rage. Other, “smaller” bands played, including French-Japanese styled band Rise Of The Northstar and Suicide Silence, as well as a long awaited performance from Architects and a Stray From The Path set that brought more stage dives than any other show that day.

Photos and text by Edouard Camus.