After the build up, the months of anticipation, the last minute band pull cancellations and the constant weather watching, Download 2024 was upon us! On our arrival we find Donington in a very soggy state, but that isn’t going to stop thousands of Download devotees from having a good time. With various members of our team across the festival all weekend, lets crack straight on into the action!
“WE’RE HANABIE. AND WE’RE FROM JAPAN” squeaks tiny powerhouse Yukina as heads across the arena turn towards the Opus Stage. Hailing from Tokyo, everyone takes notice of Hanabie (7) as the metalcore (or Harajuku Core as they prefer to be known) four piece blast us awake with the lively O.TA.KU Lovely Densetsu and NEET Game. It’s all too easy to draw comparison with Babymetal, but Hanabie. bring their own brand of noise to Download. Its raw, it’s edgy and it’s exciting!
Soon everyone is dancing to Ware Amatou and TOUSOU, heads banding and limbs flailing. Ok so at times Hanabie. may feel a little small to command the massive second stage, but there’s a tonne of potential here. We can’t wait to see what they do next. LF
Blasting onto the Apex Stage, Those Damn Crows (8) certainly energise the soggy crowd. Opening with Let’s Go Psycho (which the crowd certainly do, by the way) then straight into Man on Fire, it’s just as well the band have some pyro because the heavens open. A torrential downpour can’t dampen our spirits, although it gives it a very good try. Those Damn Crows put on a heck of a show, bursting into Takedown followed by Find A Way.
Quipping that although one side of him is burnt, and one side of me is wet, vocalist Shane Greenhall doesn’t let this hold him back as he strides down the walkway into the crowd. Those Damn Crows really give it their all, but also show a deep appreciation for the crowd declaring “we’re here because of you” as everyone joins together for a riotous Go Get It. South Wales, represent! LF
Defects (7) might have had their set moved due to all the Dogtooth Stage line up chaos, but waste no time in whipping the rapidly filling tent into a frenzy. The sound is initially all over the place, but recovers well enough to hear the blistering End Of Days and other excellent songs from their new album Modern Error. We aren’t able to catch their full set due to press commitments, but based on what we saw, Defects will be moving up the bill rapidly. JG
When band’s walk out with their axes practically strapped to their shoulders, you immediately know that they’re about to throw down some serious virtuoso business before any notes are played. Enter Polyphia (10) on their Donington debut. Instrumental they may be, on the mainstage in the daylight they may have played, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more musically accomplished band all weekend, if at all. But don’t mistake an entirely instrumental performance for translating to being dull, flat, lifeless or simply shredding for shredding’s sake because this set was anything but. Even their stage aesthetic was bang on the money. Hello there pastel pink amps and a light-up drum kit.
The band effortlessly blasted their way through fifty minutes of crazy technical progressive rock licks, fused with swancore-esq, genre-bending wizardry and musicianship that was frankly lightyears away in skill level. It was fun, it was playful, and it was flawless. From the soothing opening tones of ‘Loud’ to Tim Henson seamlessly transitioning between electric and acoustic guitars in ‘Chimera’. But it was the showstopping, iconic, riff sing-a-long to ‘Champagne’ that stole the show. Duh. duh. duh. duh. duh. duh. Anyone who didn’t have their faces melted by Tim Henson and Scott LePage “sweeping like janitors” throughout the set certainly had them melted by dancing pyro flames.
And best of all, it wasn’t all showboating. The band even commanded circle pits and to quote bassist Clay Gober, “big juicy walls of death!” An eargasmic performance from start to close and the beaming smile on Tim Henson’s face said it all. Bands like this usually get mugged off in obscure tents so we’re counting our lucky stars that the Download God’s pulled these out onto the main stage to shine brightly. Everything really is bigger in Texas. Hail Polyphia. CF
Mr Bungle (8) are just bloody marvellous. Where else would you find a band containing Mike Patton, Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo playing blistering thrash interspersed with snippets of things like Spandau Ballet’s True? There’s the odd nod to the bands art/funk rock days but this is primarily thrash mode Mr Bungle. The likes of Eracist and Raping Your Mind are fantastic, and a band that many thought would never grace Download are absolutely one of the highlights of the day. JG
“Busted at Download, who fucking knew!” quips Matt Willis, a few minutes into Busted’s (10) eagerly awaited Download debut. The online mixed reaction to the UK pop rock trio headlining The Avalanche Stage on opening night was nowhere to be seen in the flesh; The queue stretched back further than anyone could have ever hoped to actually hear anything, while the lucky ones inside the Avalanche Stage tent were treated to an hour of quite brilliant noughties hits. From the opening Air Hostess, the sprint through You Said No and the phone torchlight moment of Sleeping With The Light On, the first half of the set passed by in what felt like seconds. All of the band seemed to genuinely be having the time of their lives, Matt Willis in particular (though we don’t think he got through a single sentence without at least one F bomb – never mind Matt haha).
After a simultaneous reminder that What I Go To School For is both a) a banger, and b) would never get made in the year 2024, Busted tore through the likes of Who’s David and the 2.0 version of 3am – complete with Charlie putting some of his Fightstar screams to good use. The one-two punch finish of Crashed The Wedding and Year 3000 was perfect. After this, the only complaints that can be had is that they weren’t put on a much bigger stage. On this evidence Busted will be back at Donington, and if they’re not on the main stage or headlining the second stage at a future Download, it’s frankly bonkers. JG
It takes roughly fifteen minutes to exit the huge crowd at Busted and to make our way to Funeral For A Friend (8). By which time Charlie Simpson is on stage on guest vocal duties with FFAF’s borrowed frontman Lucas Woodland and the rest of the band ripping through All The Rage. A late replacement for Bad Omens after the success of their Slam Dunk team up with Lucas, this unique version of Funeral For A Friend were great to watch. Lucas Woodland has one of the best voices in the scene today – this is not an opinion, it’s a fact. To see him on stage with the band who got him into heavy music was very special, and there was extra fire in his voice belting out the likes of Rookie Of The Year and Streetcar.
A belting rendition of Into Oblivion was a particular highlight, and finishing with History and Roses For The Dead topped off the night nicely for the mass of elder emo’s and beyond in attendance. Rumours are that this arrangement with Funeral For A Friend and Lucas Woodland might extend beyond the current festival shows. We will be watching with great interest…
A challenging first day conditions wise, but the usual array of excellent bands of all kinds had us very excited for the next two days. Our full reviews of Download 2024 Saturday and Sunday will be coming very soon. Stay tuned also for a full gallery of action from across the stages from Friday of Download 2024.
In the meantime, if you have enjoyed reading about Download and want to snap up your tickets for next year, early bird tickets for Download Festival 2025 are available on this link!
Reviews by Jamie Giberti (JG), Lisa Fox (LF), Claire Frays (CF). All photos by Jez Pennington.
