Festival Review: Download 2024
Download 2024. How could Andy Copping and company hope to match the levels of excitement that met last year’s four-day, twentieth anniversary celebration? Would they be able to? Let’s find out.
Despite the forebodingly rain-laden clouds hanging over Donnington, the festival was in full swing on Friday 14th June — and first up, The Blue Stones. With Download being the band’s first UK appearance since last year’s headline tour — supported by Queens Of The Stone Age’s Michael Shuman, under his stage name of GLU — and the site managing to stay dry, conditions for the band couldn’t have been better. With a new album on the horizon, and a string of fan favourites making up the set — ‘Rolling With The Punches’, ‘Black Holes (Solid Ground)’ and the piano-led, rocky ‘Shaking Off The Rust’ to close off the set — The Blue Stones’ stint on the main stage of their first UK festival might have been brief, but boy was it brilliant.
As far as opening the festival goes, what more could you want?
And then the heavens opened, and everyone took refuge; after a few years of baking hot, sweltering and sweaty weather, Drownload was back. That didn’t seem to stop the bands though!
The Struts, taking to the stage in the middle of Download’s ‘showers’, were the physical epitome of sunny, bluesy, glam rock, a stark contrast from the now-quagmire of a main stage; picture V-neck shirts and charisma oozing out of every pore. Their irresistible charms warred constantly with the now muddy and rain-drenched Downloaders, but vocalist Luke Spiller’s sheer jubilance won out, the crowd shouting and dancing along to the likes of ‘Body Talks’, ‘Too Good At Raising Hell’ and the band’s latest offering, ‘Pretty Vicious’; even the rain took a much-appreciated break in the face of their rampant positivity. The Struts seemed to single handedly bring the sun out in Donnington — despite being from Derby, only twenty minutes up the road! Fantastic.
As much as the rain put a damper on much of the day, it didn’t come without its perks. Case in point — Dream State’s almost furiously rammed tent. With thousands ready to witness Jessie Powell’s Donnington debut with Dream State, the Welsh group couldn’t really have wanted more. Breaking straight into the opening chords of the title track from January’s ‘Still Dreaming’ release, the band wasted no time in getting the crowd moving and moshing to their hearts’ content. ‘White Lies’ and ‘Hand In Hand’ proved that vocalist Jessie Powell could carry CJ’s ‘Primrose Path’ (and prior) legacy into Dream State’s new era — with a healthy dose of added guttural growls, throat-wrenching screams, and Tom Connolly’s blast beats, of course — while closer ‘Primrose’ saw thousands of devil horns raised into the air in solidarity. A blisteringly brilliant half an hour.
Whenever someone’s travelled to the UK, the hope is that they’ll bring the sun with them. In the case of All Them Witches, from Nashville Tennessee, that was indeed the case; for the thousands at the Opus stage, basking in the now baking sun that was starting to peek between the clouds, All Them Witches’ blend of psychedelic, Americana rock, anxiety-inducing instrumentals, and post-punk shouts became the soundtrack to Summer — which, for the UK, basically comes down to the hours of sunlight that can be snatched between drizzles. The perfect warm up for QOTSA’s own instrumental mastery, even if a fair few hours separated them.
A short wait led to the Scottish duo of Hamish Reilly and Janine Shilstone, otherwise known as Vukovi. Having just returned from their co-headline US tour with Calva Louise, their late afternoon set on the Avalanche stage marked the first UK show since their triumphant ‘NULA’ in full show at Electric Ballroom back in March, and their first time back in Donnington since the 2021 Pilot. With the tent not only packed but leaking from its seams like a dodgy bucket, the throngs of fans had high expectations — and Vukovi delivered them in spades. Sure, the songs helped — ‘SLO’, ‘I Exist’, and closer ‘La Dee Da’ in particular — but it was Janine’s venturing into and crowd surfing on top of the crowd, or particularly her throwing Buckfast bucket hats into the crowd, that really left their set as one to remember. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take another three years to get them back in Donnington.
New York-based Bayside last played the UK in 2017. Now, multiple albums later, they’re finally back, and a good swathe of Donnington evidently couldn’t have been happier. As the first opportunity for most of the audience to see songs from either 2019’s ‘Interrobang’ or April’s ‘There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive’, bar two intimate warm-up shows preceding the weekend, Bayside’s return was long-overdue. And, even if the two albums only equalled four tracks between them, the sheer litany of fan favourites aired by the punk-come-rock band comfortably made up for it! ‘Masterpiece’ and ‘Montauk’; ‘Blame It On Bad Luck’ and ‘Already Gone’; and, of course, Sick, Sick, Sick’ and ‘Devotion and Desire’. An amazing set, tragically limited to only forty minutes. Thankfully, though, vocalist Jack O’Shea had let slip in Brighton that they’d be returning in February for a long-overdue UK headline tour. The only thing left to say, then - bring on February!
Royal Blood - ten years ago, Royal Blood were just two guys making noisy, sweaty rock music with just a bass guitar and drums. Now, Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher have royally earned the penultimate slot on the main stage at Download, just before a string of anniversary shows see them play their self-titled debut in full at O2 Brixton (amongst other shows). And, although Download may have lost at least some of its lustre by coming in the middle of an extensive UK tour, the duo happily got to show the crowd what’s made them such a household name. With a selection of tracks taken from all four albums, including last year’s ‘Back To The Water Below’, and a healthy dose of the afore-mentioned self-titled debut, Royal Blood showed just what makes them such a standout.
Having toured the UK last year, including a night at the O2, some people might think they know what to expect of Josh Homme and his bluesy, riff-making troupe. But if there’s one thing to know about Queens Of The Stone Age, it’s that nothing’s ever certain. Every album, from 1998’s self-titled debut, or its endlessly iconic follow-up, 2002’s ‘Songs For The Deaf’, to last year’s ‘In Times New Roman…’, might feature the same acid-washed, desert-bleached background of psychedelic instrumentals and Josh Homme’s inimitable vocals, but each album is distinctly different; and, on Friday 14th June, Donnington got to experience each of them in all their glory as the band took to the stage for their Download headlining debut.
Josh Homme isn’t a rock and roll star. He is the rock and roll star. He always seems to be permanently balancing precariously in his own stardom, as likely to wow thousands as he is to — as the story goes — kick a photographer. ‘I’m stoned, and fucked up, and I feel amazing’, he happily regales Download — ‘you c*nts are alright.’
He even looks the part, from the ratty, hole ridden T-shirt under the sleek, black leather coat to the silver tooth cap and the gelled back, silver fox hair; a blend of old school, snake salesman swagger and a level of coolness that not only disregards the opinions of others but fully spits in their faces.
But it’s that classic unpredictability that makes Queens Of The Stone Age such a marvel live. Even the setlist — most bands follow a single formula, or at best alternate between two. For Queens? Good luck figuring it out. Diving straight into ‘Little Sister’, the night felt perfectly situated between showcasing the newer material and letting the crowd rock out to the old; and, of course, the two-hitter ending of the anthemic ‘No One Knows’ and the furious ‘A Song for the Dead’ left the field in tatters.
There was some discourse around Queens Of The Stone Age’s headline slot feeling a little unearned. They’re certainly the ‘smallest’ of the three for 2024, and arguably the ‘smallest’ (in the UK anyway) headliner of the past few years. Yet their set on Friday night proved the opposite — there’s no other set they could have done. Headline or bust, and a great close to the opening day.
Saturday
Saturday. A new day brought with it a new onslaught of rain, as well as an ominous and prolonged rumble of thunder — but that didn’t stop the thousands of dastardly Downloaders from experiencing all that Donnington had to offer. What did, unfortunately, was the arena opening later due to safety concerns.
Breaking the early afternoon peace came The Hunna’s Download debut, thankfully during a blessed reprieve from the Heavens, and their set was nothing short of triumphant for the UK rockers. The main stage was greeted by a slew of songs from across their discography — ‘Other Side’, the ironic opener of ‘The Storm’, the rowdy ‘Can’t Break What’s Broken’, ‘I Don’t Like You.. OK’ with special guest Kelsy Karter, and even a live debut of a brand new song — but it was 2018’s ‘Dare’ that really lit up the crowd. Who doesn’t love a sing along?
As Download debuts go, The Hunna’s set was pretty damn good — if perhaps a little light for the heaviness that encompasses Download.
What isn’t light, though, was the next band. Bleed From Within are a much-beloved metal band from Scotland — and even just the jets of flames lighting up the stage as they walked on promised big things. And, despite some technical issues meaning they were on a good twenty minutes late, the explosive reaction from the crowd, fists and horns pumping in the air, showed an audience desperate for their head banging fix — and doesn’t absence make the heart grow fonder anyway?
Bleed From Within’s late start, conjoined with an early finish, meant that only a few songs were enjoyed by the crowd — particularly the phenomenal ‘Levitate’, or the Romesh-and-Rob featuring cover of ‘Enter Sandman’ — but even the small amount they had promised massive things for their tour with Slipknot later in the year.
Flying (or slowly slipping, as it may have been) back to the Apex Stage for the ferocious and frantically fun Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes led to the next band of the day… although technical issues also led to their starting late too! Their latest album ‘Dark Rainbow’ got a good showing, with ‘Self Love’, ‘Brambles’ and ‘Man Of The Hour’ leading the charge, although the brutal debut’s offerings of ‘Devil Inside Me’, ‘Juggernaut’ or the sing-along classic of ‘I Hate You’ showed the more recent mellowing to the band’s sound hasn’t fully tempered their rough edges; meanwhile, setlist standout ‘Wild Flowers’ saw Frank descending to run along the barrier before diving into the crowd — no aloofness from the ex-Gallows frontman, and with the monumental news earlier in the month, the stand-in Sex Pistols frontman. As fantastic a set as ever.
Babymetal are a band that have to be seen to be believed. As the band’s Iron Maiden-esque masked band members colloquially known as the Kami band took to the stage and blasted straight into opener ‘BABYMETAL DEATH’, screams and squealing guitars drowning out the cheering fans, all bets were off. And, as the trio of ‘Su-metal’, ‘Moametal’ and ‘Momometal’ took to the stage, their rainbow, kaleidoscopic outfits gleaming in the faint sunlight still peeking through the clouds, the chaotic, wondrous picture was complete. Choreographed dance moves from the three cemented the kawaii metal visuals that they’re known for, all while the band invited mosh pit after mosh pit.
Despite a pause in the middle of second track ‘Distortion, and having to then be heartbreakingly cut further short after only five songs, Babymetal’s set was the perfect dichotomy of happy and heavy, and proved that they well and truly deserved their late-afternoon set on the main stage. Let’s just hope that they get to deservedly wow the UK again next year.
Considering Enter Shikari’s set was at risk until only the morning of their show due to the festival’s at-the-time involvement with Barclays (search ‘bandsboycottbarclays’ for more information), their appearance on stage felt monumental. And, as they broke into a shortened version of their set from the arena-spanning tour earlier in the year, Download’s inevitable future headliners held nothing back. From the opening two-parter of ‘System…’ ‘…Meltdown’, Rou’s signature, almost bone-less, and definitely unhinged dancing competing with the bone-shaking electronic bass blasting over the arena, to the ‘Sssnakepit’ circle pit, jets of flame punctuating Rou’s stomping, and a damn rainbow sprouting in the sky around them, it was nothing short of incredible. ‘Void Stares Back’ saw Wargasm return to the main stage they’d vacated only hours prior, Milkie and Sam happily screaming along; ‘Bloodshot’ saw Rou appear, hanging from the sound tower as if by magic; and, as the now semi-famous photo suggests, the ‘old-school business’ of ‘Enter Shikari’ saw Rou let himself drop into a vat of mud — though thankfully bailing before it became a face plant!
As good a set as anyone could hope.
There were talks online about fans needing to run between the Apex and Opus stages, to catch both Enter Shikari and While She Sleeps. Thankfully, the delays experienced earlier in the day persisted into the Sheffieldian’s set — as much as anything because trying to run through the quagmires of mud and rivers of distinctly-not-chocolate-custard is at best a health hazard, and at worst simply an impossibility. Instead, after a squelching scroll, fans got the best of both worlds. As the UK’s first real opportunity to catch songs from new album ‘Self Hell’, such as the riff-heavy earworm of opener ‘RAINBOWS’ or the beautiful ‘TO THE FLOWERS’, fans were excited; add in the sing-along metalcore classics of ‘SLEEPS SOCIETY’, ‘YOU ARE ALL YOU NEED’ or ‘Silence Speaks’ and you’re on to a winner of a set. Their tour in December is going to be wild, to put it lightly.
The Offspring. Undeniably one of the most successful punk-rock bands of the past… what feels like forever amount of years, having their long-awaited return to the UK take place before the headliners of Fall Out Boy was a stroke of genius; fans could freely entrench themselves in the crowd for a few mighty hours of rock and pop-punk. The old and the new went hand-in-hand, both for the setlist and the crowd; hardened Offspring veterans introducing younger generations into the ways of Bryan “Dexter” Holland and Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman. Their frenzied energy was phenomenal; and, despite the band being over 40 years old, The Offspring really showed how effortless it is to age disgracefully, in the best possible way.
Fall Out Boy had only ever played Donnington once, all the way back in 2014 — on the Saturday then, too, as it turns out — as the sub-headliner for Linkin Park’s monumental ‘Hybrid Theory’ show. For it to take a full decade for the band to return, this time deservedly as headliners, felt almost criminal. But how would Fall Out Boy celebrate their Download homecoming? A heavy set, to appease the metalhead elitists decrying their spot? Their tour set, giving everyone a little bit of everything? Well, kind of.
Everyone present in Donnington had different light bulb moments during Fall Out Boy’s crazy voyage through the past. Some clocked it almost immediately with the unique opener of their debut album’s ‘Chicago Is So Two Years Ago’; some took a little longer, as the red curtains came out for anthem ‘Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down’, the winged sheep ascended into the air for ‘This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race’, or inflatable bears rose up for Folie à Deux’s ‘Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes’ — embarrassingly, it took the masked and dancing cheerleaders of ‘Uma Thurman’ to hammer home the message for me. This was an unprompted Fall Out Boy Eras show, and the crowd loved every second; even the polarising ‘Mania’ got a showing with ‘The Last Of The Real Ones’! How else would Fall Out Boy celebrate arguably the UK pinnacle of their careers?
“We just thought we’d make the biggest art project we could”, Pete Wentz informed the crowd, chuckling — and boy did they succeed. It wasn’t even just the set pieces; the unintentional, from an impromptu gender reveal plucked from the crowd, to the rain cascading around Patrick Stump as he belted the emotional ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ on the piano, elevated the triumphant to transcendent.
The final encore of ‘Saturday’, the final song of Saturday’s set, saw Pete fly into the air like a less grumpy Carl Fredrickson from Up, admiring the view from above as streamers, steam, and confetti rained down on the crowd; they might not have been everyone’s idea of a Download headliner when they began, but anyone not bowled over by the sheer brilliance of their headline set must have simply been against fun.
Sunday
Another line-up shifteroo and arena delays led, again, to a late start for the Sunday — but, with the dreary drizzles drawing to a close, it was time to Download in earnest!
Five blood soaked dancing vampires announced the Main Stage’s early afternoon set: Southampton theatrical rockers Creeper. With the band entirely decked in black — bar the streaks of blood dropping from their mouths — their Lost Boys, ‘80s aesthetic was in full swing; the Steinman-esque opener of ‘Cry To Heaven’, interspersed with arcane gouts of flame, only added to it. Their gnashing teeth punctuated their primal nature, committing ‘Sacred Blasphemy’ and ‘Teenage Sacrifice’ to the blackened hearts and memories of Donnington, frontman Will Gould their ghoulish conductor while the obligatory key-changes channeled their inner Meatloaves. And, although their latest album ‘Sanguivore’ may have dominated proceedings, older fans could still feel content with the likes of ‘Down Below’ adding a relative oldie to the set.
A seriously silly set — with special guest Dan Jacobs of Atreyu joining the band for closer ‘Lovers Led Astray’ — and a fantastic one to wipe away the Sunday cobwebs.
Running up to the Dogtooth Stage and settling in for the foreseeable future led to both Missio and their only-just-announced stage successors in the secret set of Australian outfit Parkway Drive — and the area was rammed.
There’s an upside and a downside to being the band preceding a secret set. The band in question, Texan, electro-rock duo Missio, were able to introduce a few thousand new audience members to their signature, alternative sound — yet it also meant they had to work twice as hard, with the majority of the tent comprised of Parkway Drive-merch wearing metalheads. And yet, from the screaming chorus of ‘Go Fuck Yourself’, through the electro blasts of ‘Twisted’ or ‘Everybody Gets High’, to closer ‘Middle Fingers’, Missio delivered a frantic and energetic set that won over even the most Aussie metalcore diehards present in Donnington.
The problem with secret sets at festivals is that everyone builds it up in their heads. The rumours abound over the past few weeks ran the gambit from the feasibly available Paramore or Foo Fighters, to the frankly absurd My Chemical Romance, and everything in between. Perhaps Fightstar might make an appearance? Charlie was here with Busted on Friday, after all. Or, perhaps, Download 2024 would mark the return of Them Crooked Vultures?
However. One rumour, steadily gaining traction, was Parkway Drive, also rumoured to be one of next year’s headliners. And then Download opened, the Parkway Drive, Donnington 16th June exclusive tees were revealed, and the anticipation began.
With the tiny Dogtooth stage tearing at its seams, thousands still trying to cram themselves into every nook and cranny, it suddenly became real. And, as Winston McCall and co. took to the stage, the very air vibrating with the resounding cheers, their furious half-an-hour set began in earnest.
How do you describe Parkway Drive - who played just before Slipknot last year, who handily sold out Alexandra Palace in 2022 — playing the small stage? In a word, carnage. The ground, already a cesspool of mud and sweat from two and a half days of moshing, might as well have been a best case of scenario; add in Parkway’s mosh and circle pits, Winston climbing up the tent’s pillars for ‘Idols and Anchors’ — the perfect perch to observe the chaos he’d created — and ‘Bottom Feeder’ challenging the Swifties for Seismic superiority, their half an hour was truly phenomenal.
As well as some bands’ debuts, Download 2024 also served as the site for Sum 41’s final UK festival show. You Me At Six calling it a day is sad, particularly for the UK rock scene — but Sum 41? Few punk rock bands have made such a global impact, so to get to be present at their final UK festival was an honour and a privilege, for the likely tens of thousands arrayed before the Apex stage. The bleach blonde figure of Deryck Whibley, a frosted-tipped blur racing across the stage, led Donnington through Sum 41 hits both old and new; latest (and final) album ‘Heaven x Hell’ favourites were met with both raucous cheers, and jeering boos at the thought of no more Sum 41. There was the happy ‘Landmines’, followed by the heavy, and flame-filled, ‘All To Blame’; the emotional, arm-swaying ‘Walking Disaster’ went hand in waving hand with fan favourite ‘In Too Deep’; Download 2024 even saw the Canadian greats pay tribute to one of the greatest to grace the UK rock scene with a frenzied, pop-punk cover of ‘We Will Rock You’ before the finale of ‘Fat Lip’ and ‘Still Waiting’. We can only hope they rethink their decision, but if not? Download 2024 was a hell of a beautiful send off.
“This is Download ‘24, but you came here to party like it’s 1999”, came the tones of the inimitable Fred Durst as Limp Bizkit took to the stage; one of the most anticipated bands of the weekend, he wasn’t wrong. How better to start a party off, then, than with ‘Break Stuff’? Though, party’s a strong word — full on mob mentality, tens of thousands screaming along, might be more accurate.
‘Rollin’’ and ‘My Generation’, likewise, saw muddy boots kickin’ heads as they surfed to the barrier; and, as flares lit up the sky, cups rained their hopefully-alcoholic contents on the crowd below, and tracked interludes saw fans screaming along to countless classics, Fred couldn’t have looked more content. Each second that passed just led to the crowd getting progressively rowdier and more and moreexcited, as it just meant an extra second of Fred Durst-certified mayhem to build upon the last.
But, then, how do you end such a set? Why, let’s do ‘Break Stuff’ again!
The only complaint, shared by everyone at Download, was that the set wasn’t longer. Some people even vowed to leave immediately after, so as not to risk tarnishing the end of their Download experience; who could dare to try to stand up to Limp Bizkit?
Well, there could only be one. Avenged Sevenfold. The only ‘classic’ headliner on the Download line-up, who else could bring Download to a close but them? With M Shadows their dulcet voiced frontman — the M presumably stands for masked, given the balaclava over his head — serenading the crowd, and the rest of A7 blasting their beats and generally rocking their way through ‘Game Over’, the beginning of the end had arrived. An exploding Barbie’s dream house portrayed the incendiary ‘Mattel’ before the soaring ‘Afterlife’ and anthemic ‘Hail To The King’ got Download screeching and headbanging along — although a crowd of thousands pumping their fists and screaming ‘hail’ never quite gives off the energy you’d hope — while ‘Fiction’ saw the flashlights come out, reflecting off of what at that point had become a pond of a floor in front of the main stage. ‘Nightmare’, though, was the first song that seemed to see the crowd screaming in excitement — at least until the sound blew, M. Night and co. looking both painfully confused, and heartwarmingly touched by the crowd’s screaming voices finishing off the track that had been otherwise cut short.
A few minutes later, BAM - power was back; yet what song do you play after a near-catastrophic system failure? Well, ‘Unholy Confessions’ of course. With the most signature of instrumental intros likely in metal, let alone the vaunted Avenged Sevenfold’s discography, it proved the perfect way to reignite the fires of Donnington — although it proved too late to prevent at least some of the fringes of the crowd from drifting away in the freezing Sunday night silence.
An extended drum outro then led into the most anthemic of A7 songs, ‘A Little Piece Of Heaven’, the crowd happily singing along to each and every word of the eight-minute classic.
It turned out the power lapse was almost a God-send; Avenged Sevenfold flew back into the set with a vengeance, the final duo of ‘Save Me’ and closer — and last year’s Life Is But A Dream… stand-out — ‘Cosmic’ finished Download ‘24 in mesmerising fashion.
If there was one bad thing to say about Avenged Sevenfold, however, it was that their set didn’t quite possess the same urgency as the sets of Queens or Fall Out Boy. They had nothing to prove — it was their third time headlining, after all — and, if a criticism was to be had, their set felt a little bit like resting on laurels rather than demonstrating what makes them such a powerhouse certainty. A brilliant set, undoubtedly, just one that didn’t quite always manage to compete with the bruised bodies, frozen fingers and mud-drenched everything that plagued everyone.
Despite this, though, Avenged Sevenfold led Download 2024 into a final, triumphant finish, and closed off the festival in style.
Now to sit anxiously by the phone, waiting for the announcements for next year!
Words by James O’Sullivan
