Download 2024 looks to the future with a lineup that embraces buzzy new talent

There's no legacy headliner, the lineup is more diverse and everything just feels a bit more exciting. Words: Ali Shutler. Photos: Frances Beach.

Ever since 2021's Download Festival, the historic home of rock and metal has been trying to embrace the future. In recent years, the smaller stages have been filled with buzzy young upstarts, with a few even gatecrashing the main stages. Following those tentative steps, the 2024 event feels like a bold leap forward. There's no legacy headliner, the lineup is more diverse and everything just feels a bit more exciting.

Returning to Download's Apex Stage, Wargasm are the perfect band to bridge worlds. Their music pulls heavily from the abrasive rebellion of the 90s, but it's all delivered with a playful swagger while Cassyette reworks the theatrical passion of 00s emo with added ambition. Pinkshift were always one of the most innovative bands to come from the pop-punk resurgence, and now they're pushing things even further.

Sunday's set sees them flirt with hardcore and melodic rock, with new song 'Blood' channelling the same clenched fist fury that drove Rage Against The Machine. This new generation of bands are comfortable ripping up the rulebook of rock as well. Fresh from a successful stint at Eurovision, Bambie Thug introduces Download's main stage to their dramatic, awe-inspiring Ouija-pop while Scene Queen cuts beatdowns with sugary '00s pop and tongue-in-cheek humour.

Hanabie take heavy influence from Babymetal, but trade in the synchronised dance routines and complex lore for something far more incendiary. Their Harajuku-core brings together nu-metal, indie rock and hardcore but doesn't shy away from giddy pop choruses either.

It feels like this new wave of talent has inspired the bands that came before them as well. Babymetal's typically polished performance is interrupted by a freak storm, but when they're finally allowed to return, the gleeful attack of 'Ratatata' feels like the most glorious thing going.

Heilung are the wonderfully weird love child of Sleep Token and Ghost, while Enter Shikari continue to command community, even on the biggest of stages. Nothing bridges the gap between festival audience and artist more than the lead singer rolling around in the mud.

Then there's Creeper, who continue to reach new, ambitious heights without losing their art-punk swagger. Soft Play's return to their high-spirited, scrappy roots sees them re-energised, while Royal Blood's imminent ten-year anniversary celebrations have seemingly inspired them to get back in touch with the fearless kids that single-handedly inspired the last rock resurgence.

Sum 41 may be on a farewell tour, wanting to go out on a high after nearly thirty years of pushing back against every expectation that came their way, but Sunday afternoon's set is more joyful and urgent than ever. "This is the only time I'll be serious today. Thank you," vocalist Deryck Whibley tells the absolutely gargantuan crowd. "You mean the world to us." The feeling is very much mutual.

However, The Offspring are showing no signs of slowing down. Eleventh album 'Supercharged' is out later this year, but the band sound as snotty and determined as ever, with those generation-defining anthems still relevant after all this time. Limp Bizkit aren't interested in redefining their relevance; they just want to party like it's 1999. Luckily, there's nothing more fun than self-aware nostalgia.

Fall Out Boy are the riskiest headliner Download have hosted in a long while, but you wouldn't know it on Saturday night. Debuting their new The Days Of Fall Out Past show, the band straddled generations, genres and their own enduring legacy to deliver a gig worthy of Donington's epic history.

Meanwhile, Busted pull one of the biggest crowds of the weekend, with the world of rock finally embracing the pop trio.

The more things change, though, the more things stay the same. After years of sunshine, bursts of torrential rain turn the festival site into an absolute mudbath, meaning almost everyone on Sunday has a shortened or delayed set.

Elsewhere, the celebration of the blossoming hardcore scene doesn't happen, with bands like Scowl, Speed and Zulu pulling out in the days leading up to the festival. Some people claim boycotts don't achieve anything, but this one did contribute to a conversation that eventually saw Barclays pull sponsorship from several events this summer.

Pantera's Opus Stage headline slot also leaves many uneasy for a number of reasons, including the band's current vocalist Phil Anselmo screaming "white power" at a benefit gig in 2016.

Queens Of The Stone also feel like an odd choice in headliner. Over the years, their desert-rock swagger has lost a lot of its menace, and Friday night's set is like an echo of every gig the band have played for the last decade, including Josh Homme's promise to deliver a night Download will never remember. How right he was.

There are growing pains, but by championing the new while not ignoring the legacy of the event, Download 2024 ultimately feels like an event worthy of the exciting, vibrant and progressive world of rock.