I went to Download Festival 2024 and the mud wasn't the worst bit

Rain is something that any UK festivalgoer has come to expect. That's why we have our wellies, primed to slosh through ankle deep slurry that gets even more difficult to navigate when the sun comes out and turns it from the consistency of gravy to that of ready-to-steal-your-footwear Weetabix that's been sitting on the counter for a couple of hours.

But this year it wasn't the mud that put a dampener on things, per se. The delays it caused though? The sets it cut short and the clashes it caused? Those made me sadder than the stream of torrential rain that had managed to find it's way through my waterproof to run down my neck before I even got into the arena for the first time on Friday.

Here, I'm sharing some of my thoughts from the three-day music festival. But be warned, it contains a little bit of moaning!

Read more: I escaped Birmingham and visited a pretty village down the M42

Friday, June 14

It took up to an hour in torrential downpour for fans to get into the arena on Friday. On the Opus stage, Scene Queen absolutely smashed their six-song set with a performance that seemed to harness both the joy of dancing to their sing-songy "Bimbocore" (with added Barbie Girl flourishes and Mean Girls references) and the vitriolic rage of a woman on the music scene that has had enough of the bull that comes with it. Jaws around me dropped so frequently, you could almost hear them swinging as lyrics too explicit to write here came tumbling out of Scream Queen's mouth.

From my spot somewhere near the centre, I got to see the joy on the faces of women who, for the first time in ages, heard their feelings reflected back at them. Musically, it wasn't my thing but thematically? I loved it.

I tried to catch some of the Wheatus into Busted pop fun run but you couldn't get near the tent to see a thing, disappointing payment for the 457,000kj of energy you had to expend to traipse there.

While Queens of the Stone Age delighted their fans with some lesser-played songs on an Apex stage surprisingly devoid of Big Festival Headliner gimmicks or fanfare, I slipped in to the Dogtooth tent and had the time of my life with Biohazard whose New York hardcore lore is as old as me. Dogtooth proved to be my favourite place, as always, and the messages of unity and togetherness sent me to bed happy after catching the tail end of Queens.

Saturday, June 15

Thunder and ongoing wet weather misery meant yet more waiting for fans to get into the arena on Saturday and it caused changes to the timetable. It was disappointing as the likes of Babymetal had their sets cut brutally short. Safety is key but it was hard not to feel gutted.

Tom Morello's set was a blast on the Opus Stage and his undeniable sound kept fans of Rage Against the Machine happy while his newer stuff reminded me a little bit of Springsteen, in the best way. The way Tom uses his platform to speak out about issues that matter to him is my favourite thing about him, but his excellent musicianship comes in hot immediately after and he was on top form. At one point, a rainbow shone down and ended right in the crowd. A pot of gold moment for the faithful.

On the Apex stage, Enter Shikari got the crowd warmed up for what would prove to be a nostalgic double whammy of Offspring into Fall Out Boy. For those of the heavier side of things, Pantera drew a gigantic crowd as Zakk Wylde paid tribute to Dimebag Darrell and Anthrax drummer Charlie took Vinnie Paul's spot.

I found yet more joy in the Dogtooth Stage when Dying Fetus melted my face off and not even Fall Out Boy's biggest Kerrang TV hits could sustain the delight when it was over. Two nights on the bounce, two headliners that just couldn't take us to the outer stratosphere before bed. Or maybe that's just me, a boring old woman shaking her fist at rainclouds who didn't catch the whole main stage set?

Sunday, June 16

The on-paper best day of the festival came around and the sunshine came with it but the overnight downpours had rendered the arena a slopfest. Gates opened at 12pm, when Lord of the Lost (scheduled for 11am) began playing to a crowd of no one because security couldn't get fans through quickly enough. A bummer for everyone.

It proved to be a day of downers for me, truth be told. I'd been bursting to see Creeper, who came out late, left early and interspersed their set with a call-and-response I had no patience for and a drum solo that felt like a waste of precious Apex stage time (and that's no disrespect to the drummer, who is ace). Every song from the set was from their latest album Sanguivore, with the exception of Down Below, and it ended on a very underwhelming performance of Lovers Led Astray with Dan from Atreyu joining in. They plugged their next UK show loads though, so worth putting their make-up on for I suppose...

My hopes and dreams for a surprise set from Ghost (after spotting subtly suggestive advertising around the arena) were crushed from the outset as merch for unannounced Australian metalheads Parkway Drive popped up on stands from the jump. Another thumbs up for the Dogtooth but I couldn't get near to catch anything so I listened from outside. I'd have moved faster to get there but my wellies were being sucked off my trotters.

Electric Callboy called in sick so didn't arrive at all, sadly. The weather pushed bands along the schedule, dashing our hopes of running hither and thither to see any much as we could. Clashes were brutal and this time there were far fewer chances to strategically catch different parts of competing act's sets.

Kerry King was home on the Download stage. Is it a heavy metal festival without him? Not in my book. I've seen him more on Father's Day weekends than my own dad over the years so: Happy Father's Day Kezza.

Bowling For Soup took things up to full party mode, delighting with their pop punk bangers and bringing Brendan B Brown out for a Wheatus singalong to appease those who couldn't get near the tent to see them on Friday. I caught Elvana's curious Elvis-fronted-Nirvana party on Opus while securing my spot on the barrier for Thy Art Is Murder who, despite saying he was struggling a little bit with the European air on his vocal cords was led by an adept and impressive Tyler Miller, their vocalist of less than a year.

On the Apex stage, Limp Bizkit whipped the crowd up with a best-of-the-90s-style megamix. At one point, Fred said he'd run out of songs and would take requests before playing Break Stuff again to finish. A weird choice and a good excuse to get out of there to find a spot in the pit for Machine Head on the Opus stage. Nostalgia is fine and all, but I wanted more.

I found it thanks to Robb Flynn. Machine Head's rousing anthems lit the place up and the experienced legends performed like a main stage headline act; fire, ticker tape and a cleverly curated setlist that gave the fans what they needed after three days of slog. From the opening notes of Imperium to the roaring Halo finale, it was magic.

The Black Dahlia Murder did the most in the Dogtooth to close that stage off, a performance with more energy than the thunderstorm that had knocked the lights out on the campervan site. Another perfect booking for that slot.

Walking out to a really sombre Avenged Sevenfold finale felt like a flop. In my mind, M Shadows' voice is rousing, but the crescendo of the entire festival fell on a tired crowd. Whatever happened to sending the crowd home happy?

It's been 18 years since my first Download Festival and I've been to loads since then. This was the first time I've ever felt like every headliner missed the mark. Sure, a lot of that is personal preference but when you consider the times Iron Maiden brought out loads of gigantic Eddies, Metallica commanded tens of thousands from the front of the arena to the back, Slipknot got us crouching down in mud before losing our minds to Spit It Out? Remember when Kiss gave us a Crazy Crazy Night and we went home wrapped in streamers?! Where was the OOMPH this year?

Fans adore Download. For many, and they know this well judging by the photos and graphics they flashed up on the screen throughout the weekend, this is where they feel happiest. But in 2024, for the first time, I couldn't wait to get away from Castle Donington. Fingers crossed for 2025 because of course I'll be back; it's home!