Pendulum, Download Festival 2026
LIVE REVIEW: Pendulum have a longstanding, and fantastical, history when it comes to Download. From their early days, cartwheeling out of the drum and bass underground into the belly of the rock and metal beast, to their triumphant return as they re-approached full band duty earlier this decade, every experience up until now, once again taking over the Apex Stage, further cements just how special the relationship between electronic music and mosh culture is.
It certainly helps trigger the carnage when so much of their latest album, ‘Inertia’, taking up a large chunk of today’s offering, is brimming with such heaviness. The playful bounce of ‘Napalm’ and the discomforting thrills of ‘Halo’ have pits forming in every corner, inhibitions thrown to the bleachers.
But it’s when they really get in the rhythm that their genius shines through the brightest. A quick one-two of the iconic ‘Blood Sugar’ and their timeless edit of The Prodigy’s ‘Voodoo People’ rolls back the years beautifully, whilst a guest appearance from Enter Shikari’s Rou Reynolds, dealing out the pair’s energetic take on ‘Sorry, You’re Not A Winner’, is as unifying as it gets.
As a brilliantly abrasive ‘Tarantula’ seals the deal, this time-honoured and powerful cultural crossover has yet another layer of concrete holding it together.
And long may these boundaries keep on getting pushed.
✏️ Jack Rogers
📷 Carla Mundy