Bloodstock Festival 2024 – Sunday. It’s the final day of the 2024 festival, but the vibe around the site remains incredibly high. The Rockfit class is slightly less well attended than on previous days, as those who use Saturday night as the final party evening nurse hangovers. The sun is already streaming across the arena on a day that will become rather hot as it progresses.
Bloodstock Festival 2024
Catton Park, Derbyshire – Sunday 11 August 2024
Black Lakes
There’s not the biggest crowd in the Sophie Tent to greet Welsh Rockers Black Lakes, but there are certainly enough to provide the support needed for the five-piece to produce a stellar show.
Being on the bigger stages is stimulus enough it appears, and the band roar through a seven-song set that delights the diehards at the barrier and interests those who have wandered in with that coffee or early beer.
Singer Will Preston is a blur, his movement infectious, whilst guitarists James Rowlands (and bright red beard) and Scott Bradshaw are animated as well.
Black Lakes throw in a couple of newer songs from the forthcoming Dead Gods album, and Rowlands cannot resist jumping onto the barrier as the band conclude matters with Dissident. A last-minute addition, the band proved to be worthy in a year where the richness of the line-up was incredible.
Awake By Design
Having caught some of the antics of Raised By Owls on the Ronnie James Dio stage, including the show-stealing performance by Sam Strachan’s mum Barbara, it was back to the Sophie Tent for Awake By Design.
It’s only a brief view but what I see is impressive. The band blend their melodies with emotion, the combination underpinned by a harder edge than maybe expected from reading about them.
Fittingly they are on the same stage Evergrey had graced a few nights earlier, for there is a delicious similarity in style without any copycat approach.
Singer Adrian Powell brings the emotion with a fine performance. It’s a short set that draws from the band’s two main albums. Devoid Of Illusion sees them quickly get to grips with the setting and there are smiles on stage and in the crowd despite the rather melancholic subject matter.
Another band who impressed me with their energy, I will be keeping an eye out for Awake By Design in the future. 
Bloodstock 2024 will be held over the long weekend of 8-11 August 2024. MetalTalk’s Paul Hutchings, Adrian Stonley, Paul Monkhouse and Keith Conlin will be reporting from Catton Park.
Take Part: Are you at Bloodstock this year? Who are you looking forward to seeing? Want to get in touch and tell us how it’s going? Email MetalTalk Editor Steve Ritchie to tell us how it’s going for you. Bloodstock@MetalTalk.net
#boa24. For more information, visit bloodstock.uk.com. You can view a map of Bloodstock at bloodstock.uk.com/bloodstock_map.jpg
MetalTalk Bloodstock 2024 coverage is at https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2024.
You can read all the MetalTalk Bloodstock 2023 coverage at https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2023.
You can read all the MetalTalk Bloodstock 2022 coverage at metaltalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2022.
Weekend early bird tickets (Thu-Sun) for Bloodstock 2025 are available to purchase at the box office on-site for £175. Child weekend early bird’s are £45 (ages 4 -11). Mini moshers under age four can come for free.
Wednesday early access is also available for those who want to max out their Bloodstock experience – an early bird adult Wed-Sun ticket costs £200. There is no additional cost for children under 4, or aged 4-11, to arrive with a parent on Wednesday.
Bloodstock 2025 tickets can be purchased online from the official Bloodstock website.
