Download Festival 2024: A Weekend Review

No Summer is ever complete for me without attending Download Festival.

I have been attending this event for over a decade now… and each time I fall more in love with it. This year I did three nights camping instead of my usual five nights, which doesn’t mean it wasn’t any less fun-filled, energetic or mind-blowing.

FRIDAY

After an early start with my friend, the excitement was setting in the more street signs we saw for the festival as we sang along to my annual Download playlist to get in the mood for what was about to come.

Once we reached camp and set up our tents it was time to get ready for the arena. The weather was a bit hit-and-miss with light showers, so we decided to head over to the Download Megastore before venturing in to see the bands.

The Megastore was fully stocked with incredible memorabilia, clothing, household goods, dog toys, a coffee station and Mary Wyatt clothing who have collaborated with Download for the second year in a row.

The heavens did open up drastically whilst we were in the Megastore so we tried to wait it out but in the end, decided to run to the nearest shop to grab a poncho to head back to the camp to dry off.

The first band of the day were the ever-energetic Dream State at the Avalanche Stage: the way that Jessie and the band interact with the crowd and get the energy pumping is always a fantastic watch. Playing a mix of old and new hits such as “White Lies”, “Taunt Me” and “Primrose” and getting the crowd in the mood for what the rest of the day had to bring.

Afterwards, it was time for Escape The Fate to explode on the stage, putting on a fiery show and belting out some incredible throwbacks “Gorgeous Nightmare”, “This War Is Ours” and “One For The Money”. I’ve seen this band on most of their UK tours for the last 15 years and every time you can find me bouncing about and shouting along to every word.

Once their set was complete it was time to head on over the the Apex Stage (Main Stage) for the groovy Southern rock tones of Black Stone Cherry and dance along to tracks such as “Mary Jane”, “White Trash Millionaire” and “Blame It On The Boom Boom”.

We did leave the arena after this point as we weren’t too interested in catching Friday’s headliners Queens Of The Stone Age but we could still see and hear the main stage from our campsite and I could see that they pulled in a decent crowd.

My main priority was getting some sleep as the EDM rock god that is Sullivan King was due on at the DogHouse at 01:30. I made my way in the rain to the Village and bumped into some friends along the way and I could feel the bass as I got nearer to the venue.

What. A. Night! This set was my highlight of the whole entire festival. Sullivan did not let the party die at all, his stage presence, light shows and fire on stage blew me away. Occasionally screaming down the mic and shredding on his guitar to show us his skills, he is the definition of an entertainer. He also played his new “Bad Omens - The Death Of Peace Of Mind” mix so I was extremely happy with that.

I left that tent with the biggest grin on my face, I had danced my heart out and spent the night with the best people.

SATURDAY

The day kicked off with torrential rain and thunderstorms so we decided to stay at camp and watch the main stage from there.

The Apex Stage started with Eurovision’s Bambi Thug who set the day off with a powerful performance and used her stage presence for good by putting on a political standpoint highlighting the importance of peace and a rendition of The Cranberries - Zombie.

The rain kept pouring and the ground was getting more difficult to walk through but we made it to the Apex Stage for Babymetal’s performance, this set was unfortunately cut short due to the thunderstorm but I’m so glad that they got to perform their new song “Ratatata” which features Electric Callboy, especially when Electric Callboy had to pull out of the festival due to illness.

With the storm passing it was time for the party starters to Enter Shikari, every time I saw them they put on a brilliant show and interacted well with the crowd. You even ended up coming down from the stage to throw himself in the mud (R.I.P. to his white pants).

Next up it was time for The Offspring to dominate the Apex Stage giving the crowd a full throwback set and proving that they still belong on a stage.

Closing off the muddy day were alternative legends Fall Out Boy. Giving the crowd a generous helping of songs from each album, including fan favourites such as “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”, “Thnks fr th Mmrs”, “The Phoenix” and “Centuries” the cheers and chants could be heard for miles around. Their set included a brilliant light show, a fire-shooting guitar, Pete Wentz floating with balloons and even a gender reveal - Congratulations again to the new Fall Out Boy!

Finishing up with an elevator version of “So Much (For) Stardust” the fireworks were let loose, a perfect closer for an incredible band that has been a pillar in the alternative community.

SUNDAY

Crawling out of my tent on Sunday morning I was so glad to finally see the sun after the last couple of days of rain. The arena was opening later today to sort out some of the thick mud that had accumulated.

Having a slow morning I watched Lords Of The Lost from my camp and boogied along to the Eurovision legends whilst doing my make-up before meeting up with my friends to head into the arena.

The first band of the day were Code Orange on the Apex Stage, now I’d never listened to them before but I had no one else on my schedule at this point so decided to check them out, because what else is a festival good for if you don’t discover new artists?

I genuinely enjoyed their set and they put me in a great mood to properly start my arena day. Due to the arena opening late some of the earlier band’s sets were shortened and this did not seem to please Code Orange who smashed up the stage when they were unplugged for overrunning their time… It’s been quite a while since I last saw a stage destruction!

Once the stage had been put back together it was time for goth rockers Creeper, again with a shorter set than planned they utilised their time and still put on a brilliantly spooky show and even had Atreyu’s Dan Jacobs come out to perform “Lovers Led Astray” to close off.

Now it was time to battle my way through the sludge to get over to the Opus Stage as funky rock group Royal Republic were due on. I absolutely love watching this band and grooving along to their songs, they always put me in such a good mood and it was even better with the sun being out. I left their set during their last song as a good friend had messaged me to tell me who the secret band was - Download hasn’t had a secret band for a few years now and there had been a lot of speculation leading up to the festival on who it could be, including big names such as Paramore and My Chemical Romance - So I was over the moon to find out it was Australian metalcore legends Parkway Drive!

They had posted a cryptic video earlier that day hinting that they were playing the festival and soon the word spread like wildfire which was evident by the size of the crowd at the DogTooth tent.

No matter where I am at a festival, if Parkway Drive is playing I will be at their set. Not one person in the crowd stood still, even crowd-surfing somebody in a wheelchair at one point whilst Winston climbed up the centre of the scaffolding belting out hits such as “Prey”, “Vice Grip” and “Bottom Feeder”.

We made our way back down to the Apex Stage soon: it was Bowling For Soup time! Getting to sing along to “Girl All The Bad Guys Want”, “High School Never Ends” and their cover of Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag” made my teenage dreams come true.

I did leave their set early though to make my way all across to the Avalanche Stage to see a band I’d been dying to see for a long time: Of Mice & Men and as soon as they came out on stage the crowd parted and immediately started pitting to the opening song “Obsolete”. We did not stop bouncing around to every song and they finished with a song that I never thought I’d hear live “Second & Sebring”... and yes, I am not ashamed to say that I cried.

Leaving the tent on a massive high, prepared myself for pop-punk legends Sum 41. Holy hell, they blew me away, their energy, sound and stage presence were so encapsulating. I am grateful that I got to see them at their last UK festival and I’m going to try to get tickets to their UK farewell tour later this year - I highly recommend that you grab yourselves some tickets!

Once the stage was reset, Daddy Durst was ready to bring the party! Limp Bizkit brought the house down with their set, belting out “Break Stuff”, “Rollin’” and “Nookie” whilst also bringing in the slow and melodic “Behind Blue Eyes”. Luckily no rerun of the infamous Woodstock incident and it was one hell of a show!

As the sun started to set it meant that it was time for the return of previous headliners Avenged Sevenfold. Starting off with “Game Over” they set the crowd off for what would be a memorable night. Despite there being some technical difficulties which paused the show, the Californian kings took the stage back by storm. “Hail To The King”, “Buried Alive”, “Bat Country” and “A Little Piece Of Heaven” were my favourites of the night.

Having such a great band to finish off the festival was a brilliant move, the walk back to the camp was filled with singalongs and cheer. Once back at camp, I made the decision to not go to the Village for the end-of-festival celebrations as I knew I’d have an early start but I could still hear Hoobastank’s acoustic set blowing over the camp and I don’t think I’d want to end it any other way than wrapping up in the tent humming along to “The Reason”.

Download, thank you again for being my favourite festival, and for always putting on an incredible event.

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Words and images by Hollie Wood