one muddy boot step in the right direction with a weekend of acts paving the way for a new era

by Felix Bartlett | June 19, 2024

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We’ve just about scrapped the last remnants of the Download Festival mud from our boots after a soggy weekend at the hallowed grounds of Donnington Park. The 2024 edition (Download XXI) of the festival has had fans divided from the start starting waaay back in the bleak winter when Queens Of The Stone Age, Fall Out Boy and Avenged Sevenfold were announced as this year’s headliners. For the first time, the festival appeared to have taken a step back from its usual roster of heavy-weight rock and metal artists and instead drew its attention to newer talent in the scene. Gone is a two-night set from Metallica and instead is a lineup that feels picked from the world of 00’s pop-punk.

Looking at the first day of the festival punters were greeted to one of the more ‘rock’ rosters of the 3-day weekender with the likes of Black Stone Cherry, Royal Blood and Queens Of The Stone Age taking the top 3 slots on the Apex stage. A damp start to the weekend but by no means the worst weather of the weekend Friday provided a fresh blend of acts on the lower stages with Japanese nu metalcore Hannabie kicking off the weekend for us with their spiky neon onslaught and hard-hitting vocals that proved to be a fantastic remedy to invigorate the mud-soaked crowd.

Queens of The Stone Age are known to be rarely a disappointment when playing live, and although lacking in stage props and pyrotechnics, frontman Josh Homme made up for in his stage presence. With a lit cigarette in mouth and a glass of red wine resting within reach, Homme delivered on an immersive experience with some of their best tunes. For nearly 30 years, QOTSA have delivered top songs and memorable performances. Hommes called on fans to focus on the present as that mattered, being together in the here and now.

Day 2 (Saturday) of Download proved to be the most challenging for both festival goers, artists and organisers alike. It must be said that we must acknowledge the underlying political tension that surrounded this years festival. In the run-up, Download became the latest festival to face pressure due to its sponsorship from Barclays, who have reportedly invested in arms companies supplying to Israel. Just weeks before it kicked off, The Great Escape had seen over 150 artists arrange a mass boycott in solidarity with Palestine for the same reason. Then in the days leading up to Download, a number of bands started dropping out including Pest Control, Scowl, Speed and Zulu, while eyes turned to those still on the bill for indication about what could come next.

Up until the festival tensions were running high with many artists seemingly prepared to drop out at the last minute if changes were not made. It was only until Enter Shikari announced that after putting pressure on festival organisers that Barclays would be withdrawn from sponsoring Download – as well as Latitude and Isle Of Wight – and the scheduled performances would be taking place as planned. That being said, there is still a political charge running prevalent: both Tom Morello and Enter Shikari share how they put pressure on the festival organisers to drop the sponsorship, while Bambie Thug delivered a rendition of The Cranberries’ hit ‘Zombie’ toward the end of their set while holding the Palestinian flag.

The rest of the Saturday was spent in a flurry of dodging rain storms, emptying wellies and ensuring set times were still being met! On the Opus stage fans were delivered a sprinkle of the heavier side in the lead-up to Pantera’s outstanding return to UK (over 20 years since their last performance), Slaughter To Prevail’s absolutely annihilating vocals and even a surprise collaborative set from Bleed From Within and none other than Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan delivering a cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman“.

Saturday night headliners Fall Out Boy were an absolute treat to sign off the 2nd night. The band has captured the hearts of fans for years and knew this when delivering their epic 26-song setlist, taking fans both new and old down memory lane, with a set sprinkled with songs from across their 23 years. This was a monuments moment for the band with Pete Wentz sharing “If you’ve got a dream like that, if you make art like that, keep making that fucking art. You’ll end up here maybe.” With a flurry of fireworks and flames, FOB put in a heavy display and fan favourites were intertwined with tracks dating back years. The set ended with Wentz being lifted into the sky to ‘Saturday’, a fitting song to end an electric set. 

Despite the rain, attendees to the festival were blessed on the final day with blue skies. With a delay in the arena opening due to weather conditions and Electric Callboy cancelling their set there was some disruption over the final day but that didn’t dampen the spirit of fans. Without a doubt, this was the heaviest day for the Apex Stage with the likes of Kerry King and Limp Bizkit bringing an unexpected storm (of people) before Avenged Sevenfold closed the weekend. But before all that things were kicked off into 5th gear with Code Orange’s bloody set, no really, Jami Morgan was literally bleeding five minutes into his set. Smashing a mic into your forehead will do that. Things quickly escalated after their set was cut short and the sound was cut, and they carried on until stage hands emerged and began clearing them off, at which point Jami threw a mic stand, and guitarist Reba Myers boots over a pyro pot. 

Besides the above mayhem, the Opus stage welcomed punk rockers Bowling For Soup and the final UK festival performance from Sum 41 delivering an unforgettable performance that left fans whipped up in a flurry and reminding us of some of the epic memories that this festival delivers on.

Outside of the above main stage performances fans were eagerly awaiting the news of who the secret set of the weekend would be. After much speculation, the best-kept secret of the weekend was revealed to be none other than aussie legends Parkway Drive who delivered a bone-crunching performance on one of the smallest stages at the festival!

Download 2024 was far from a roaring success, with its series of unfortunate events plaguing the weekend that could have ended in the festival’s ultimate demise. But against the odds, the festival stood its ground and with the partnership with Liquid Death breathing a breath of fresh air into the grounds this year’s rendition proved to be one muddy boot step in the right direction with a weekend of acts paving the way for a new era. With that in mind, we can’t wait to see what surprises the next rendition of Download Festival has in store for us and fans around the world.

Verdict: 💀💀💀💀