LIVE REVIEW: Download Festival 2024 – Sunday

Two days of music down, one to go, and once more Download Festival 2024 finds itself with problems from the beginning, delaying the opening of the arena for an hour to allow for more fresh hay on the sodden arena ground. It’s another dart in a pock-marked weekend, but mercifully the day is warm and sunny without a raindrop in sight; oh, and of course there’s another 30-40 bands to play, so let’s get to the highs and lows of Sunday at Donington…

DELILAH BON – The Avalanche Stage 

Unfortunately for DELILAH BON, the organisational issues getting everybody in meant that the size of the crowd probably isn’t what it’s supposed to be, but the love for her is clear as people are running towards The Avalanche Stage in the hopes of catching her set. Her style, confidence and energy is next level, and there’s something addictively refreshing about her completely unapologetic attitude as she plays one feminist anthem after another. While there’s a clear rage that comes through as her lyrics detail the different injustices that women face on a daily basis, there’s a sense of catharsis, from both DELILAH BON and her audience, as they finally say what so many women are thinking. This is punk, and it’s also the future, so expect so see her again on bigger stages with bigger crowds.

Rating: 9/10

CODE ORANGE – Apex Stage

CODE ORANGE are pissed off: “This one goes out to AVENGED SEVENFOLD for trying to cut everyone’s set!” shouts Reba Meyers as they lay siege to the Apex Stage with a monstrous Bleeding In The Blur. One of the brightest heavy talents of the 2020s, they’re menacing and mighty, frontman Jami Morgan cut open on his forehead and letting it stain his white shirt. Boos turn to cheers as they continue playing when their sound cut, with mic stands and middle fingers thrown after they’re forced off. Say what you like about the ending, but the rest is brutally brilliant.

Rating: 8/10

CREEPER – Apex Stage

While CREEPER are no strangers to the main stage at Download Festival, they come back this year with a pretty different style and attitude. Their set is based almost completely around their newest album Sanguivore, supposedly in the hopes of converting some new fans to the CREEPER cult, and we’d be extremely surprised if this set didn’t do so. Opening with the anthemic Cry To Heaven, alongside some vampiric dancers, they easily have the crowd dancing and singing along, commanded effortlessly by frontman Will Gould. They sneak in Down Below, one of their earlier hits, but it goes down incredibly as it’s so easy to sing along to. While their set is short, they pack in a drum battle, a feature from Dan Jacobs of ATREYU, and plenty of charm and charisma. This set proves they are deserving of a headline slot, and we can’t imagine it will take them very long to get there.

Rating: 10/10

ROYAL REPUBLIC – Opus Stage

With latest album LoveCop just a week old, ROYAL REPUBLIC are riding that new record high across Europe right now. Here, their bouncy, 80s-inspired synth rock is extremely infectious on the Opus Stage, My House and the STATUS QUO­-infused Getting Along kicking Donington Park up a gear and into full-on party mode; and yes, they cover METALLICA, this time Damage Inc. Backed with spinning disco lights and a colour changing lightning bolt, ROYAL REPUBLIC are a seriously fun time – their tour in November is going to be a belter, and they should have had a longer slot here.

Rating: 8/10

NOISY – The Avalanche Stage

In their short set, NOISY have to fight against a ridiculous amount of technical issues, but their positivity and attitude alone is enough to win everybody over. While a relentless rave isn’t exactly what you’d expect at 2pm on a Sunday, it’s Download Festival, so anything can happen, and the tent easily transforms into a dance floor. Though the trio haven’t been around too long, they certainly know what they’re doing, and frontman Cody Matthews’ stage presence elevates the set as he cracks jokes and encourages every to keep it moving. In alternative music, sometimes things can just be so serious, and NOISY bring the fun.

Rating: 7/10

PINKSHIFT – The Avalanche Stage

While PINKSHIFT are still newcomers on the scene, their impact in pop punk has been substantial, and their energy and excitement is unmatched. A few days before their set, they posted their gratitude to Download Festival for dropping Barclays as a sponsor in support of Palestine, and this sets the tone for their set as they bound on stage. While their songs are all fairly upbeat, they have this insistent, relentless energy that is just captivating, and singer Ashrita Kumar is a powerhouse. They debut a new song, a powerful, political punk track standing against genocide, and their shift towards a more hardcore style is obvious. PINKSHIFT can do many different things, and they do them all extremely well.

Rating: 8/10

MISSIO – The Dogtooth Stage

There’s a reason the Dogtooth Stage is fit to burst at 2:45pm, but it’s not for alternative electronic duo MISSIO. They’ll be fully aware that the vast majority aren’t waiting for them, but they’re unaffected and just do what they’ve been asked to. There’s something there in the middle of their sound; a touch of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE here, a bit of PEARL JAM there as they bring progressive and desert rock into their mix, and Middle Fingers is a half decent track, but whilst they have something, they don’t have much of it.

Rating: 5/10

PARKWAY DRIVE – The Dogtooth Stage

So, why is The Dogtooth Stage rammed and overflowing? Two words: PARKWAY DRIVE. Flying in as the much-speculated ‘secret band’, they arrive, play six songs and leave with the tent in ruins. A surfboard with gaffa taped initials as a backdrop is a wonderful touch and to see them play a stage this small is a privilege. Every song is its own event: the punch of Glitch, the huge singalongs for Prey, Vice Grip and Idols and Anchors, the crush of Bottom Feeder and the glory of Wild Eyes. PARKWAY DRIVE saw, they came, and good LORD did they conquer.

Rating: 9/10

BOWLING FOR SOUP – Apex Stage

At this point in their career, a set like this comes effortlessly to pop-punk legends BOWLING FOR SOUP. Their one goal has always been to just have fun, and they certainly fulfil this in the short time they have. Opening with back-to-back classics Girl All The Bad Guys Want and High School Never Ends, they immediately get the crowd jumping and singing along, which also happens with Phineas & Ferb theme song Today Is Gonna Be A Great Day. A cover of WHEATUS’ Teenage Dirtbag with Brenden B. Brown is a crowd pleaser, as not everybody could get into the tent to see WHEATUS the day before, and frontman Jaret Reddick effortlessly entertains the audience. While they had to perform without guitarist Chris Burney, they definitely did him proud, and as they end with 1985, the energy is at an all time high.

Rating: 8/10

THY ART IS MURDER – Opus Stage

The THY ART IS MURDER camp hasn’t been the happiest in recent months, what with the acrimonious departure of previous vocalist CJ McMahon last September. On stage, however, they’re still a force to be reckoned with, their deathcore blasting across Donington with aplomb and ripping collective eardrums a new one. Whether it’s the blast beat delight of Death Squad Anthem or the furious intensity of newer tracks like Blood Throne, THY ART IS MURDER are heading into a new chapter with purpose. And yes, they still come on to the VENGABOYS.

Rating: 8/10

SUM 41 – Apex Stage

For SUM 41, it must seem like the Download Festival crowd is going on forever. On what is their final ever UK festival appearance, the pop-punk giants pull one of the biggest crowds of the day on the Apex Stage for the latest show in their around-the-world swansong that culminates next February. Given they were just a week away from announcing their final ever headline shows on these shores, they do exactly what they need in front of a mix of diehard fans and casual viewers, and do it well. Only one song from latest record Heaven :x: Hell is aired in Landmines, the rest of their hour stage time reserved for some of the biggest hits of the early 00s. Over My Head (Better Off Dead) and No Reason form part of an incredibly song start, but, as one might expect, it’s the final straight of In Too Deep, Fat Lip and a closing Still Waiting that generate the biggest responses. There might be more UK gigs to follow, but for those who won’t make them, this is an emotional, beautiful farewell to a band who helped define a generation. Thank you, SUM 41.

Rating: 8/10

LIMP BIZKIT – Apex Stage

While they’re not quite headlining, there’s definitely a feeling across the weekend that LIMP BIZKIT are the most anticipated band of Download Festival 2024. It could be the many, many people walking around in Fred Durst’s signature white t-shirt, chain and red cap, or just the ridiculously huge crowd that gathers well before they even enter the stage, but the excitement for the nu-metal legends is electric. As they swagger onto the main stage to Sweet Home Alabama, there’s just something so deliciously absurd about their all-around energy that immediately wins me over. Launching straight into Break Stuff, giving the crowd no warning to start their mosh pits, but of course they do anyway, and the place pretty much erupts.

You’d think the energy would be hard to maintain, but the band are obviously used to it, and they waste no time playing banger after banger, with My Generation and My Way back to back, which everybody loves, of course. They do a surprising amount of covers, but it works for them, as it means there isn’t really any lull in the set, everybody can sing the whole time. As their set comes to a close, the only really fitting way to end it would be to play the iconic Break Stuff again, which of course they do, giving the crowd one last time to let out any hidden aggression, and the pits definitely live up to this, and there’s a sense that this LIMP BIZKIT set at Download Festival will be one for the history books.

Rating: 10/10

MACHINE HEAD – Opus Stage

Remember when MACHINE HEAD said they were never going to play festivals again? It seems a lifetime ago now, but God Almighty is it a joy that they’re both a) back doing such a thing and b) in a slot where they can bring a full production. Even better, Robb Flynn and co are in the middle of live performance purple patch: the Bay Area thrashers are utterly irresistible this evening, destroying the Opus Stage with a headline show that takes in their whole career, a metric tonne of pyrotechnics and some of the greatest metal songs ever committed to tape. Imperium remains a bombastic opener and Locust is still a sprawling epic, but it’s the unlikely duo of The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears from the often-criticised The Burning Red and standalone single Is There Anybody Out There which stand taller than them all, two tracks that have aged like the finest of wines. A wonderful rendition of Halo brings an end to a performance with just one conclusion: MACHINE HEAD have stolen the whole weekend right at the death like a striker popping up with a winning goal deep into injury time.

Rating: 10/10

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER – The Dogtooth Stage

It’s the first performance for THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER in the UK since April 2019; obviously there’s been a pandemic since then, but more poignantly for the melodic death metal masters, it’s their first here since the tragic passing of former vocalist Trevor Strnad back in 2022. Guitarist Brian Eschbach has moved to lead vocals with former axeman Ryan Knight returning to fill his gap and, although things are still a work in progress, tonight’s headline performance on the Dogtooth Stage is proof enough that they’re going to be just fine. New track Aftermath is a bruising, ripsnorter of a song and an exciting taster of what’s to come on upcoming record Servitude, while What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse remains an extreme metal classic and Statutory Ape leaves punters rubbing their eyes in surprise as a man in a gorilla costume comes on for a laugh and a dance. As for Brian, who is naturally going to be under more scrutiny than the rest of the band, he’s taken to frontman duties like a duck to water. If people chose THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER as their final band of the whole weekend, it’s a worthy closing performance.

Rating: 8/10

AVENGED SEVENFOLD – Apex Stage

AVENGED SEVENFOLD are not new to the Download Festival headline slot, and this is extremely clear in their confidence, ease and coolness as they close the festival. Frontman M. Shadows walks onto stage in a balaclava and just sits down, taking a moment in a move that could easily be considered cocky, but that he pulls off as amusingly calm and collected, like he knows they deserve to be there. Wasting no time and jumping straight into it, they start with one of their fairly new songs, Game Over from 2023’s Life Is But A Dream…. From the beginning, the atmosphere is next level, and they sound incredible, with Shadow’s vocals easily being some of the best all weekend. As they continue on with Mattel from the same album, it’s obvious that this setlist will be a controversial one, where they play only what they want to in no attempt to blindly appeal to the masses. They are no strangers to this headline slot, and they will spend the time however they choose, but this isn’t to say that the audience aren’t enjoying themselves, and there’s a sense of celebration as they let off steam for the last time this weekend. The band certainly have a stage presence about them, and each member looks comfortable, easily commanding the crowd.

Visually, Nightmare is perhaps the coolest, as the band controversially use AI to distort their faces on the big screens. However, halfway through they are plunged into darkness and the sound cuts out. While this stage has had technical difficulties all weekend, this is maybe the most dramatic, and the band kind of wander the stage, looking a bit confused. They play it off well though, and as soon as they can, they go straight back into it, with Unholy Confessions and a powerful drum solo. As their slot comes to a close, and AVENGED SEVENFOLD play fan favourites like A Little Piece Of Heaven and Save Me, it becomes clear why they deserve to be here: they are so loved, and they put on such a good show.

Words: Elliot Leaver, Millie Warwick

And that rounds up our coverage of the Sunday of Download Festival 2024! Check out our review roundup of Friday’s and Saturday’s action, and we’re already counting down the days until Download Festival 2025!

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