The final day of Download Festival 2024 is, judging by many comments online from attendees and those who wish they were going alike, “the most stacked” line up of any day on this years’ festival. Perhaps it is no coincidence that it was also the first part of the festival (RIP packages aside), to sell out. If you’ve yet to do so, please catch up with our previews of the Friday of Download 2024 and the Saturday of this years’ annual pilgrimage to Donington Park, and then we will crack on with our look ahead to the final day. Here are some bands we think you should check out on the Sunday of Download this year.
Avenged Sevenfold – Apex Stage – 9pm
To be quite honest, this one could go either way. Both of Avenged Sevenfold’s‘ previous headline slots at Download (in 2014 and 2018) were fantastic, the 2014 set which confirmed them as genuine festival headliners was particularly brilliant. But Avenged return to Donington off the back of what can only be described as one of the worst albums put out by a big metal band since….(we want to say Lulu at this point, but there has to be something more recent than that). Life Is But A Dream is disjointed at it’s best, and an overindulgent absolute mess at it’s worst. How you may come to view this set and performance may be heavily factored by your views on this album. Other recent sets have been heavily focused around LIBAD material, with long loved fan favourites like A Little Piece Of Heaven, Buried Alive, Sheppard Of Fire and The Beast & The Harlot either taking rotating slots or are absolutely nowhere to be seen. It might not sound that way, but we do genuinely want this to be a success. Avenged have always been a band to do things their own way, so we are genuinely intrigued by what we are all going to witness on Sunday.
Limp Bizkit – Apex Stage – 7pm
You know what time it is! Time for Limp Bizkit’s first performance at Download since 2013! It’d be easy to fill a couple of paragraphs with nothing but lyric quotes from their UK number 1 album Chocolate Starfish, but by all accounts Limp Bizkit are on the best live form they’ve been in since their early 00’s mega stardom. This is set to be an hour of nostalgia fuelled singing, bouncing and moshing of the highest order. Bonus points if they drop Gold Cobra into the setlist too. Keep on Rollin’ baby!
Machine Head – Opus Stage – 7:45pm
Another band making a much welcome and long overdue return to Donington – none other than Machine ‘Fuckin’ Head! Robb Flynn and co haven’t been seen on the Hallowed Turf since 2012. Not too long after that, Machine Head quit playing festivals for almost a decade, concentrating on their “Evening With” tours. We’re happy to say they’ve loosened things up a little, having very much enjoyed their 2022 co-headline tour with Amon Amarth, and now once again having the prospect of letting freedom ring with a shotgun blast on Donington soil. The fact they return as stage headliners seems incredibly fitting for the band who are celebrating 30 years since the release of their mighty debut album Burn My Eyes. Some difficult choices await those who try to juggle themselves across the run of Limp Bizkit > Machine Head > Avenged Sevenfold.
Sum 41 – Apex Stage – 5pm
We’re going In Too Deep for one final time with Canada’s excellent pop punk cum pop metal specialists Sum 41. Their last ever UK festival performance will be this Sunday at Download 2024. Determined to go out on top – and their recent album Heaven x Hell is certainly an admirable last album, we’re expecting a career spanning set chock full of hits from Deryck Whibley and friends. Here’s hoping they through in a couple of their excellent more metal tracks (We’re All To Blame, Out For Blood) alongside the bonafide pop punk classics. We will be very sad to see them go!
Bowling For Soup – Apex Stage – 3:40pm
Back for a second dose after last night’s acoustic fun in District X, this is the full blown Bowling For Soup experience. Their first performance since 2014 promises to be two parts wall to wall pop punk hits, one part stand up comedy. If you’ve seen them live before, you know exactly what you’re gonna get. For the uninitiated, now is the perfect time to join the BFS army. Expect one of the day’s largest crowds for that mid afternoon main stage slot which is the perfect time for Bowling For Soup to bring some hilarity to Download 2024. Only one question remains: Will there be any inflatable sheep this time?
Creeper – Apex Stage – 1:10pm
After surprising us all as last years’ secret band (at least until people saw the line up T-shirts!), Creeper are restored to what is arguably their rightful place on the main stage. New album Sanguivore has taken the band to ever camper, 80’s powered heights in the best possible way. What other band in the rock n’roll mainstream in 2024 could get away with a lyric about the Lord and Saviour of the world performing certain activities on his knees? Expect songs from all across Creeper’s catalogue as they continue their steady, deserved ascent to the top.
Code Orange – Apex Stage – 12 midday
Code Orange make their long awaited return to Download, and it’s on the main stage! Their first performance since 2017, the once hardcore but now impossible to pigeon hole (because they will do whatever the **** they want, and their fans like it that way) group are ever expanding their sonic horizons, so it’s going to be fascinating to see which way this set leans amongst their wide variety of material. It might be midday on Sunday, but we’d expect huge crowds, and equally huge mosh pits. A guaranteed way to shake off your Saturday hangover, or add a bangover to it.
Alien Weaponry – Opus Stage – 11:50am
Back in 2019, a young New Zealand trio called Alien Weaponry made a Trivium like splash on Download Festival with their main stage performance. Their mix of heavy metal and traditional Mauri music was something genuinely new, and their debut album Tu was one of the metal debuts of the 2010’s. Things perhaps have not quite taken off in the way many expected for the band since then; As with many fantastic artists, COVID was a genuine momentum killer, from which they are only now getting back to full speed. They’ve just wrapped up a tour with our friends URNE (see the Friday preview for more on them) and there is hopefully new music on the way. They have a lot to live up to from their previous Download appearance, come and see if they can create another Donington moment that will live long in the memory.
Hoobastank – Avalanche Stage – 5:50pm
Back when US alt-rockers Hoobastank were first added to the Download 2024 line up earlier this year, their performance was advertised as “playing The Reason in full”. Those words have quietly disappeared from subsequent announcements and posters, so to be frank, we have no idea if that is still happening or not. They’ve got an hour long set, so it’s definitely plausible. Either way, Hoobastank’s return to Donington for the first time in twenty years is set to be an enjoyable one; Fans of a certain age will have very fond memories of the likes of Out Of Control and Same Direction, not to mention the mega success of The Reason itself. With the band having benefitted from some trends on TikTok in newer years too, it’s a chance for a whole new generation to experience Hoobastank too.
Electric Callboy – Opus Stage – 5:25pm
The biggest act to come out of German heavy metal since Rammstein? There’s definitely a case to give Electric Callboy that title. Since their rebranding from Eskimo Callboy a few years back, the party metal specialists have gone from strength to strength, playing venues double and triple the size they would have been in just a few years ago. Rivalling Bowling For Soup for the title of “most fun band playing Download 2024”, Electric Callboy’s mix of metalcore, dance beats and pop sensibilities has struck a real chord with fans all over the world. Another of this years’ horrific clashes has them massively overlapping with Sum 41’s last ever UK festival performance. Whatever you choose, have a fantastic time.
Honourable mentions: Kerry King, Corey Taylor, Royal Republic, Atreyu, The Black Dahlia Murder, Erra, Harper
All of these bands and many more can be enjoyed on the final day of the 2024 Download Festival, headlined across the weekend by Queens Of The Stone Age, Fall Out Boy and Avenged Sevenfold. The festival has now officially sold out, though there may be some tickets available on re-sale. Anyone wanting to check for some last minute tickets to the annual pilgrimage to Donington Park can do so on this link.
