Download Festival 2024 – Friday. We are well underway, as Download Festival regulars Black Stone Cherry charm the Apex stage, and Royal Blood add a bit of thunder.
Download Festival 2024 – Friday
Black Stone Cherry
Black Stone Cherry took on the Apex stage for their eighth stint at Download. The sun was beaming as the guys rip-roared around to a resounding response from the mud-splattered audience in their thousands.
The Kentucky-born rocker’s razor swept through their set with riffs of steel and more moves than a tattooed-up Jaggor. “We love coming to the UK because you festival goers are the best,” Hails guitarist Ben Wells.
Watching paint-splashed rockers scream the lyrics as Viking beer chuggers throw their horns to the sky, we are definitely the loudest, in all senses of the word.
For bassist Steve Jewell Jr., it is his first time at Download, and seeing him ramp up the already raging energy onstage with a wrestling mask, he knows the drill.
As do the band as they play the biggest songs from all their albums against a pale blue sky.
It kicks off the afternoon hype as the festival submerges itself into the full experience. 
Royal Blood
After sneaking a listen to Teenage Dirtbag proprietors (oh yes, they still have it and have it good), the reverberation of barrier-breaking duo Royal Blood thunders from the Apex stage.
It is hot, heavy and filled with outrageous oomph. Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher are no strangers to the main stage, claiming it as their own within seconds of opening their enrapturing, rock-fueled set.
Though, with Royal Blood, you know what you are going to get, it just gets better every time. Nothing can shake the spectacle of a stage like the Apex, and when you have a band like Royal Blood on it, the space opens even wider for the magnitude of the music to fill it up to the brim.
Continuing the theme of music that is too good not to be enjoyed, Heilung kicks out a superbly ethereal performance, while Download punters get their kick of pop-punk nostalgia with Busted. 
Download Festival 2024
MetalTalk Download 2024 coverage can be found at MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2024.
Download Festival 2024 will mark the second year of the festival selling out, with weekend, day and camping tickets now completely gone. The festival will reunite its incredible community of fans for a jam-packed five-day event (June 12-16).
This year’s MetalTalk team is:
Photography:
For Download 2023 coverage, visit MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2023.
For Download 2022 coverage, visit MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2022.
