After a wonderful but soggy first day on the hallowed Donington turf, we arrived at the excitement of Middle Saturday for Download Festival 2024. If you’ve not yet seen it, please catch up with our review of all the action from the Friday of Download 2024!
Despite the organisers efforts, conditions hadn’t improved any, with various parts of the arena being downright swamp-like. But that and the ongoing rain didn’t stop a hardy, growing crowd from being in the arena first thing to witness Bambie Thug (8). This performance in some ways felt like it might be more at home in some kind of twisted West End show than a traditional spot at Download; There was no live band, only a thumping backing track accompanying Bambie and her two dancers. One for the old school metal purists it definitely wasn’t. But regardless, it was utterly captivating. Bambie is a brilliant performer; Whether it’s writhing around while singing song lyrics that would make some cringe (Kawasaki) or slating governments while performing inside a recycling bin (Trash), you never knew what was coming next. A very poignant cover of The Cranberries’ Zombie while Bambie and her team brought out the flags of countries like Palestine, Ukraine and Yemen, along with flags for the Transgender and LGBTQ+ communities on stage was greeted by a thunderous response. Finishing off with their Eurovision smash hit Doomsday Blue, this was another in a long list of Download Festival main stage opening performances that will go down in Donington history. Burn The Witch indeed. JG
it’s not a good day at Download for the words no-one at a festival ever wants to hear: technical difficulties. British metal favourites Bleed From Within (8) have their set time decimated, coming on twenty minutes late due to equipment problems. Undeterred, they blitzed their way through what time they had left. If any band were given a four song set on the Donington turf, you’d be hard pressed to come up with a better run of songs than Sovereign, Stand Down, Levitate and the always face melting The End Of All We Know – which is exactly what we got.
Scott Kennedy’s always fearsome vocals carry the extra tint of rage at their shortened stage time, while the rest of the band shred as if their lives depend on it. If they can be this impressive with twenty minutes, what could they have done with their fully allocated slot? There was a bonus at the end of the Bleed From Within set, with Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan joining the guys on stage to rip through a rendition of Enter Sandman as part of the filming of “Rob & Romesh vs” going on across the festival all weekend. A fun end to something that was really very good in spite of the challenges. JG
Over on the Apex stage, BabyMetal (7) stormed on stage as normal with ‘Baby Metal Death’ whipping the crowd into a big frenzy with it’s usual riff-tastic awesomeness and slickly choreographed accompanying dance moves. Sadly it was a frenzy that was short lived as less than a minute into ‘Distortion’ our trip through the Metal Galaxy came to an abrupt halt. We’re not sure who the Fox God got on the wrong side of but we need to have stern words with them because rain storms and Baby Metal at UK Festivals seem to be becoming a bit of a tradition. “A unknown future” awaited the Donington crowd battling what can only be described as the downpour of the weekend.
Some twenty minutes later, Baby Metal got the green light to return to stage with their setlist left in tatters. Reopening affairs with the energetic ‘Metali!!!’, Su-Metal, Moametal and Momometal threw down the gauntlet to claw back the now drenched Download crowd with the Kami band showing all their chops in their dedicated solo section proceeding the song. In all honesty, having the Kami band open with guitars and drum solos (as excellent as they were) really wasn’t the set re-opener and big hype moment needed to pick things back up again. But all was not lost when they wheeled out mega-anthem, ‘Karate’ and the day was saved with the inclusion of the catchy ‘Ratatata’. By the end not even the rain could have dampened spirits and the big crowd singalong on Mainstage. Its bittersweet that seven songs were cut and whilst Baby Metal valiantly battled on, you can’t help but wonder what could have been. CF
Nothing, including an afternoon of press activities and the treacherous conditions were going to prevent us from seeing Holding Absence (8) at Download this year. We arrived slightly late to find Lucas Woodland (on his second outing of the weekend) and the rest of the band in full flow with the one-two punch of False Dawn into Scissors. As good as Lucas sounded with Funeral For A Friend the night before, hearing him belt out A Crooked Melody off the band’s most recent, excellent album, The Noble Art Of Self Destruction was a highlight of the weekend and that he is at the peak of his powers with his own band. Guitarist Scott Carey had an enormous grin on his face as Alpha Wolf’s Lochie Keough joined Holding Absence on stage for Aching Longing for the first time ever, two years after the bands collaborated on the track.
The singalong that greeted Afterlife had to be louder than anything that had happened in the Avalanche tent so far that weekend, apart from possibly Busted. A suitably epic reaction for one of the 2020’s best bits of emo flavoured post-hardcore. Breaking with the habit of a lifetime, Holding Absence finished their set not with the traditional Wilt, but with latest album closer The Angel In The Marble. It was absolutely fucking magnificent, and a true highlight of the weekend. Holding Absence just get better and better. They’re about to headline a castle FFS. A castle! You certainly wouldn’t bet against them headlining a stage in and around Castle Donington in the years to come. JG
Elder Emo’s and Post-hardcore lovers congregated at the Avalanche Stage to witness Silverstein’s (8) first appearance at Download Festival in twelve, yes TWELVE years. New school Silverstein in the form of ‘Bankrupt’ and ‘Infinite’ kicked affairs off but it was the old school where the band really hit their stride with 2003’s ‘Smashed Into Pieces’ launching everything next to level. Circle Pits followed by the time ‘Vices’ was unleashed with frontman Shane Told demanding that Download go harder. And harder did Download go. The singalongs were HUGE for ‘My Heroine’ and ‘Bad Habits’. The band even snuck in a little Linkin Park for good measure in the form of ‘One Step Closer’ as heads banged and the pit opened once more. Set closer ‘Smile In Your Sleep’ wrapped up Silverstein’s nostalgic set with the promise of a UK return when the band celebrates twenty five years next year. CF
The Offspring (8) just keep getting better and better, and today’s early evening set is an hour and fifteen minutes of pure punk rock perfection. Opening with a stupendous rendition of classic Come Out and Play before breaking into All I Want, the setlist is wall to wall bangers that has the substantial crowd literally jumping for joy.
The fun doesn’t let up as we’re treated to classics including Want You Bad, Staring At The Sun, Hit That, Million Miles Away, Bad Habit and Gotta Get Away. As well as being note perfect, The Offspring are brilliant performers and seem to be having the time of their lives. They banter with the crowd that there are….was it….one and a half million people watching today’s show, Noodles?
Closing the set out with triple threat (Can’t Get My) Head Around You, Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) and The Kids Aren’t Alright, there’s a moment of confusion from the assembled masses. There’s still fifteen minutes to go. Are the band finished?! Heck no, they’re just teasing us. Bouncing back with You’re Gonne Go Far, Kid, the stupendous set closes with everyones favourite angsty clasic Self Esteem. Well done boys, you absolutely smashed it. LF
Despite Fall Out Boy (10) sub-headlining Download festival a decade ago and performing countless arena, heck even stadium tours of their own since then, the announcement of the band among the names of headline bands for 2024 delighted as many as it outraged.
Keen to prove anyone and everyone wrong, the band clearly went above and beyond to pull out all the stops for their big Donington moment with staging and a setlist that is now the envy of the bands global fanbase. Put it this way, if you ever wanted a masterclass in how to structure the ultimate setlist for a festival headliner show then Fall Out Boy showed the way. It made Avenged Sevenfold’s headliner set comprising just 15 songs in two hours the night after, look painfully amateur in comparison. Taking the Eras Tour concept and making it pop-punk, the Chicago-ans delivered a headliner set headed straight for the Donington history books. And they did in their own unique way.
The stage was set and unravelled in somewhat dramatic fashion with frontman Patrick Stump decked in a hospital gown in a hospital bed, blaring across the big screen singing the opening lines of ‘Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes.’ Then suddenly, the screens went black, and the sound of hospital beeps blasted across the festival grounds as punters curiously wondered what would happen next. From out of nowhere, the band raced on stage straight into ‘Chicago Was So Two Years Ago’ and ‘Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy’ as fired up fans raised their voices in deafening unison in a sing-along that didn’t let up all night. Here ended the first Fall Out Boy “era” – what a homage to twenty-one years ago!
Then the unthinkable happened. They pulled out ‘Sugar We’re Going Down’ – this early in the set!? With fireworks!? Excuse us what!? Of course, Donington went absolutely nuts. It’s worth pointing out at this point that The Eras-esq staging was not apparent immediately, it was only as the set and scenes progressed that unsuspecting hordes of rockers and metalheads realised what they were witnessing unfold. At this moment it seemed like the band was throwing out all the aces within the first twenty minutes of taking to the stage. Oh, how wrong we were!
The ‘From Under The Cork Tree’ era rocked on with ‘Dance, Dance’, ‘A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch me’ and ‘Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows)’ sky-rocketing the atmosphere down in the soggy mud trenches of Donington. Not a soul didn’t have a wide beaming grin on their faces. And Dance, dance Download did, entering ‘Infinity On High’ well off the charts, singing ‘til their lungs gave out for ‘This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race’ and ‘Thnks Fr Th Mmrs’ with a giant sheep hanging from the rafters for good measure to match the albums cover.
The fire came in abundance for the next era – a quick saunter through ‘Save Rock and Roll’- complete with stellar renditions of ‘The Phoenix’ and ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light em’ Up)’ showcasing a band at the absolute top of their game and completely on fire.
The eras kept flowing with Patrick Stump heading over to his piano for ‘Mania’s, ‘The Last of The Real Ones,’ before going it alone with a magical piano medley. “I gotta commit to something.” he remarked, nervously laughing whilst smashing out melodies on the keys before treating the crowd to partial renditions of ‘What A Catch, Donnie’ and ‘Golden’ before being joined by the rest of the band for the otherworldly ‘So Much (For) Stardust.’
Dramatic Classical film score epicness with fireworks blasting to the beat of the drums and rocky riffs led the charge next as the band continued into their current era with ‘Love from The Other Side’ and the ridiculously catchy ‘Fake Out.’
All good things must end, and sadly this set had to end too. But not before an encore which saw bassist Pete Wentz flying through the air clutching a bouquet of multi-coloured balloons. ‘Centuries’ and ‘Saturday’ (performed on a Saturday – wahey!) ended a night that belonged to Fall Out Boy and Fall Out Boy alone.
The tunes were larger than life, the crowd and vibe were immense, and the staging truly creative and spectacularly delivered. Those who doubted their ability and worthiness to headline Download Festival were surely silenced by the sheer magic that Fall Out Boy brought to the Apex stage that Saturday night.
The eras of Fall Out Boy set up led Donington down the tracks of nostalgia and the good old days when the band was just finding their feet on UK shores and all that Kerrang! Radio and the music channels played was Fall Out Boy anthems on repeat. Every show, every playlist. You couldn’t escape it. Now over twenty years on (in some cases) these timeless songs have never sounded better. Nor has the band as a collective unit.
With any luck, hopefully one day they’ll make a triumphant return to Donington as headliners once more, but for now we’ll just say Thnks Fr Th Mmrs. CF
Fall Out Boy Setlist:
Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes
Chicago Is So Two Years Ago
Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy
Sugar, We’re Goin Down
Dance, Dance
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More “Touch Me”
Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows)
This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race
Thriller
Bang the Doldrums
Thnks fr th Mmrs
Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes
I Don’t Care
The Phoenix
My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)
Uma Thurman
The Kids Aren’t Alright
Immortals
The Last of the Real Ones
What a Catch, Donnie (partial)
Golden (partial)
So Much (for) Stardust
Love From the Other Side
Fake Out
Finale:
XO
Centuries
Saturday
It may have still been a very wet and soggy Donington, but Fall Out Boy definitely sent everyone home and back to their tents with smiles on their faces! Stay tuned for our review of the final part of Download 2024 in the coming days.
In the meantime, if you have enjoyed reading about the first two days of Download 2024 and want to get your hands on 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.
