Bloodstock Open Air 2024 – THE GIANT REVIEW!

FRIDAY

Back to Bloodstock for my 22nd year, yes you read that right – from it’s humble beginnings in Derby Assembly rooms and my humble beginnings as a baby greebo, here we both are once again. The sun is shining in a menacing sort of way that tells me I’m going to end the weekend a delicious shade of rouge, but I am so ready to headbang my way through BOA 2024’s delectable musical offerings.

Green Lung hailing from London bring their stoner metal flavour to the RJD stage, which is set with an odd collection of Jim Henson-esque monsters for some reason. I really like the furry viking head thing but that horse-raven thing at the side is absolute nightmare fuel to be honest. “This song goes out to anyone who has ever suffered with depression” says frontman Tom Templar, before the band play recent hit ‘One For Sorrow’.

© Anna Hyams

Grand Magus’ set is besieged by technical difficulties early on as the PA appears to be off on it’s own musical adventure when they’d stopped playing, but wow did they recover. Swedish heavy metal may as well be a brand in it’s own right at this point, but I have a theory that bands that unironically wear their own t-shirts – are always great. Next we catch supergroup Haliphron over on the Sophie Lancaster stage for some screamy doomy funtimes with a frontwoman who is possibly of Targaryen descent; “We are honoured to be on the Sophie stage, may she be remembered forever”.

Off for a wander we say a quick hello to local(ish) Tamworth legend SpudMan who is yelling funny things at everyone whilst scooping ungodly amounts of cheese onto potatoes, in the best way. Battle reenactment in the square is drawing a massive crowd of cheers, because who doesn’t want to relive their primary school field trips at a festival? The biggest cheer is reserved for when one from the blue team manages to smack the helmet off a very tall member of the green team (don’t quote me on that, the colours were a blur of shields and swords) as the compare shouts “Aww what lovely long flowing locks he has” just to really dial down the cool-factor.

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Next we catch Rotting Christ, who despite their name are actually a band of very nice and friendly looking men doing a lot of shouting and hair windmilling. Black metal in the sunshine really hits different than it does on Spotify I tell you, they’re even *smiling*.

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Norwegian metalheads Enslaved come out swinging with their Norse mythology inspired works and runes tattooed all over them, but the tone is immediately sobered as they say “We had some sad news this morning, a friend of ours passed away yesterday” referring to Dave Sweetapple of American band Witch.

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Hatebreed up the tempo later on, as the heat of the day finally starts to wane a little, yelling “This is hallowed ground Bloodstock”, “It’s our job to make sure you wake up tomorrow with no voice left” and inciting some giant circle pits. Even the inflatable dinosaurs are up for a crowd-surf this evening, despite them being quite hard to navigate where you’re actually grabbing/passing them above your head…

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In what seems like a day of laments, there is also the matter of the Lemmy Forever vigil which is brought to the main stage. A giant bust of Lemmy Kilmister (of Motorhead, in case you’ve been living under a rock for… well, ever) is ceremonially wheeled out onto the stage flanked by the Bloodstock organisers Adam and Vicky, and Phil Campbell. They each take turns to explain a bit about how much Lemmy loved Bloodstock, and what an impact he’d had before the portion of ashes bequeathed to Bloodstock were locked up in a tiny safe inside the bust. It’s quite a cool thing to do really, send parts of yourself to everywhere you loved – what a nice idea. Anyway, during the weekend you can go and ‘visit’ Lemmy inside the BOA art gallery, before he is relocated to Nottingham’s Rock City venue for the next year. If you do visit him, let me know if you also think his bust has very Iron Throne vibes, it’s so cool.

© Anna Hyams

After a brief reprise for a bag of hot donuts, my most-anticipated band Clutch absolutely smash the metaphorical doors off the place with their signature brand of fast paced rock n roll. I will always find it absolutely hilarious that the rest of the extremely normcore coded band stay almost stock still mid-stage for the entire set while enigmatic frontman Neil Fallon wreaks body-contorting frenzied havoc about the place for a solid hour. “I didn’t think I needed sunscreen in the UK, that was a mistake” he jokes, before launching into earworm (and favourite of mine) ‘Sucker for the Witch’.

The awesome cosmic backdrop sadly isn’t on any of their tour merch, which incidentally was almost sold out completely before they ever even made it to the stage, so here’s my petition to Clutch to get it done. In another little stage sound mishap for today; “Hold on the guitar isn’t working… did you turn it off and on again? That’s good enough for rock and roll fuck it” doesn’t impede them for long and we get the excellent ‘In Walks Barbarella’. If you don’t singalong “Weaponized funk” there’s something wrong with you.

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On the Sophie stage, The Vintage Caravan look exactly as you imagine they would – sporting the white Stetson, bootcut flares, double denim and jorts style of the US south. Except that they’re from Iceland. Oh. Anyway, I flippin’ love them. Guitarist Óskar Logi Ágústsson may be delightfully twee and joyful to watch, but his work is impeccable clean and complex – straight on my playlist they go.

Operatic all-lady quartet MAB burst the seams of the EMP tent with a huge crowd, but really needed to be elsewhere for the full effect I feel. There’s something slightly janky about trying to contain soaring vocals into an itsy bitsy tent, that is also a bar, that is also surrounded by shops with their own music playing.

Final band of the day for us is main stage closer, Sweden’s premier prog gods Opeth. Now, I will preface this with – last time I saw them I was unenthused. Mainly because I’m not all that into prog, but also because it was daytime and it felt all wrong listening to that kind of music in the blazing sunshine. Tonight however, the crowd is full, the sun has gone down and we are ready for some gloomy good times. ‘The Grand Conjuration’ opens the show and it really is impressive, despite it lasting for around eleventy billion hours. No I’m only joking, apparently the average Opeth song is only (ONLY) 8 minutes and 19 seconds long…

Mikael Åkerfeldt is in a much more talkative mood than last time as well, which is nice because the BOA crowd are feeling a bit heckle-y tonight it seems. “I LOVE YOU MIKAEL” an enormous man in the front row yells, drawing a laugh from the band before someone else shouts “Play Freebird!”. Taking it in his stride, Åkerfeldt shouts back “Freebird? That’s a good song… but no”.

© Anna Hyams

“We have a new record… but we don’t know the songs yet… were gonna come back and play some songs sometime in the UK. Our manager is really angry with me right now for not saying the date but I can’t remember” they joke, but there’s no doubt the new stuff is met with trepidation from ‘Oldpeth’ fans. ‘Deliverance’ for the encore more than makes up for it, it’s a gorgeous, sumptuous show… for Opeth fans. For the rest of us uncultured swine, it’s a litany of lengthy poetry and I am too sleeeeepy.

  1. The Grand Conjuration
  2. Demon of the Fall
  3. The Drapery Falls
  4. In My Time of Need
  5. Heir Apparent
  6. Ghost of Perdition
  7. Sorceress

Encore:

  1. Deliverance

SATURDAY

A showery start to Saturday has us all worrying we’ve brought the wrong clothing, but it soon clears up to be another spicy day in the sunshine, and we’re headed to the Sophie stage to catch the rather beautiful goth goblin that is Ludovico Technique. As the Ringwraiths, ahem, band, make their way to the stage we catch a glimpse of vocalist Ben V swigging something viscous from a plastic cup, that looks suspiciously like he’s downing a blood bag.

© Anna Hyams

The Dementor’s amp up and he creeps into centre brandishing his giant claws at the crowd. I’m really into this resurgence of industrial spooky metal, it has a very MM feel with a bit of a grungy Silverchair esque edge to it. I even like the orc-blood drool (which I guess was the contents of the curious cup).

On the RJD stage, Forbidden are bringing us some classic old school thrash metal, lots of hair and screaming, with Craig Locicero absolutely wailing on the guitar. The dinosaur meet-up on the EMP stage for today’s fancy dress theme, is somewhat of a distraction though. Especially when someone plays a metal version of the Jurassic Park theme.

© Anna Hyams

Mimi Barks is ripping up the Sophie stage with her unique brand of doomy rap over electronic metal beats. Wearing a plastic yellow two-piece with a zip around the entire crotch region, and some impressively scary white-out contact lenses, she looks like some kind of otherworldly futuristic voodoo doll. I dig it, and her music is memorably feral. There’s a huge crowd in here, all going as berserk as she is, which really is the measure of any act I feel.

© Anna Hyams

Unleash The Archers couldn’t be more of a whiplash change of pace, bringing Canadian power metal to the main stage. As you might imagine, they are extremely smiley and nice, but that doesn’t mean they can’t throw down. Frontwoman Brittney Hayes is capable of singing incredible highs AND windmilling her raven black hair at neck distorting speed. Joking about the weather here today, which has now become uncomfortably hot “We recently played rock en seine and it was 40 degrees… So I’ll take this any day” laughs Brittney, despite guitarist Andrew Kingsley being possibly the most sunburn prone ginger man I have ever seen.

© Anna Hyams

Anyhow, I know it isn’t cooool but I enjoy some melodic/symphonic metal and I’d like to see a bigger return to it on future BOA bills.

The chaotically fun Nottingham band Red Rum bring all the pirates to the yard, well tent, for a very silly set of drinking and yelling about drinking. A very sweaty “Open up a circle here bloodstock! No, not for a pit… for a heavy metal conga!” to you all.

© Anna Hyams

On the main stage, Deicide are hotly attended but I wish I could actually hear the guitars over the screaming, and I’m too hot. Whitechapel bring crowdsurfers galore over the barrier, including one lad dressed as a giant inflatable penis, but it’s Combichrist who really up the ante with a scorching electronic set of pure wild abandon. If you’re into NIN and Rob Zombie, Combichrist are gonna be one of your top bands this weekend – and I WISH they’d played the main stage because there wasn’t even an inch of space left unoccupied inside that tent.

Malevolence too go hard the minute they hit the stage, calling for the crowd to split into a giant wall of death, but they are also caught with some sound hijinks like a few other bands so far this weekend; “We are having some technical difficulties but I promise you we’re gonna have a good night together”. After the resolution, vocalist Alex Taylor yells that he wants everyone over the barrier, and the crowd surfers never stop coming.

“We are Malevolence and we’re from Sheffield, but we flew 300 miles to get here because we weren’t fucking missing this” is backed by a crowd-led chant of “Yoooorkshire, Yooorkshire” before an attempt is made at a very silly circle pit. “Show me the biggest fuckin circle pit Bloodstock has ever seen… Hold on make some space. I think I asked for it to go back around the sound desk. Push people out the way. I’m not leaving this stage until it happens”. At this point it occurs to me that they have no idea that there’s actually an ice-cream truck backed up to the sound desk, and very little real estate for any kind of interesting behaviour, but the people give it a go regardless. It looks a bit more like a goth fun-run than a circle-pit but I applaud the effort.

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“This is the third time we’ve played Bloodstock, It’s a dream come true to be up here. We hold this festival very close to our hearts” they shout, and leave us with a record breaking 901 count for crowd surfers. Manic.

Sylosis are beset by horrendous technical issues one song in, downing play for over 15 minutes and some very awkward calls for solos. Frontman Josh Middleton (who is rocking a Deicide tee) is visibly beside himself with annoyance as his guitar output goes completely kaput, and refuses to reboot despite several attempts from techies. Eventually he comes back sans guitar and they give us everything they’ve got without it. It’s heavy and the pit is boisterous, but I feel really sad for them to have done it this way.

© Anna Hyams

Main stage headliner Architects blow us all away with their heavy opener ‘Seeing Red’ and a heck-tonne of on stage pyro. “Malevolence earlier had a 901 final count of crowd surfers… we are going to give it shot. Do you have the energy in you? Get on your friends’ shoulders and get over this fucking barrier” shouts Dan Searle before calling Bloodstock “Hallowed ground”.

It’s a strong headline set, but there’s a bit of me that wishes it hadn’t been quite so clinical – a little nod to some of Bloodstock’s history is something we’ve come to expect from bands here, especially UK ones who know what BOA is to the scene, but this felt every bit like a stadium show to me. Regardless, they certainly play tight and the pyro/ticker tape always adds a bit of excitement to a set.

© Anna Hyams

“There’s a guy there with a sign that just says I love anal… I ain’t about to kink shame you brother that fuckin rules” laughs Dan, before some heartfelt shout outs “We would not be a band if it wasn’t for my brother Tom”, Dan’s twin and Architects founder, who sadly died in 2016. “Another person who has really helped this band… Make some noise for Josh from Sylosis” their ex-guitarist who performed earlier today.

‘Doomsday’, ‘Nihilist’ and ‘Animals’ finish up a very respectable set from the Brighton boys, and if you like that Enter Shikari type of sound, they’ve definitely scratched that itch tonight – but I’m hoping next time they’ll feel more woven into the BOA lore.

  1. Seeing Red
  2. Giving Blood
  3. deep fake
  4. Impermanence
  5. Black Lungs
  6. These Colours Don’t Run
  7. Hereafter
  8. Gravedigger
  9. a new moral low ground
  10. Curse
  11. Royal Beggars
  12. Doomsday
  13. Meteor
  14. when we were young

Encore:

  1. Nihilist
  2. Animals

Like any festival worth its salt, the night-time entertainment doesn’t stop at the headliner, but BOA goes one up and has a Sophie Stage headliner too. Finnish folk-metal heroes Korpiklaani take that top spot tonight to an absolutely rammed tent, for a night of Lappish cultural tales dressed up in some downright dirty heavy metal. Frontman Jonne Järvelä is dressed like a Saami Jack Sparrow in a hide-tophat and fringed clothing combo, and he reads as extremely cheeky and prone to hijinks. Ideal.

In a bid to get us grooving, their fiddle and accordion-led music is amped up for ‘A Man With A Plan’ and we can’t help but enthusiastically join in, the constant stream of crowd-surfers over the barrier tell me that everyone in here is having a ball. If all of that didn’t satisfy your needs tonight, Jonne also gets his arse out – so there’s that. 10/10 I love Korpiklaani.

© Anna Hyams

SUNDAY

Onto the final day of BOA and it’s another absolute scorcher out there, lots of extremely pink people are gathered at the main stage for the gorgeously melodic Soen. Billed as Swedish Prog metal, but definitively different to everything else I’d put in that category, Soen are captivatingly soft and sombre, as well as remaining heavy and singable. I’m not surprised they’ve had a big turn-out here, I really enjoyed their set.

© Anna Hyams

In a complete 180, Beast In Black are a gut-busting dose of fast and furious power-metal with an electronic edge. A massive neon Tokyo nights backdrop, retina-burning neon green and pink guitars that would look at home in any Goosebumps episode, and incredible themed outfits are the name of the game and I am here for all of it.

Sometimes you just need a band to come out and BE FUN. Beast In Black deliver across the board – I particularly like their choreographed headbanging/guitar swishing, but there’s no doubt about their musical talent either, the riffs are tight. Frontman Anton Kabanen (who looks like he’s ready to host the cyberpunk Crystal Maze), shouts “Are you ready to travel with us to a beautiful country called Japan? We’re gonna spend one night in Tokyo my friends!”  and we are treated to a very cheesy but ultimately very catchy afternoon of metal.

Warpstormer have filled the EMP tent to bursting for their low and slow thrash, and Septicflesh are throwing down the hair-swishing gauntlet in the fiercely strong sunshine. “We are Septicflesh from Athens Greece! Are You ready to move with us?” is met with sword-wielding enthusiasm from the front (no really, one guy actually has a sword) but there are a lot of heat-suffering people trying to muster up the energy around the arena.

Ankor in the Sophie tent bring us stunningly energetic punk-edged metalcore, and I sincerely hope that this is a band we see on a BOA stage again very soon – not least because their pocket-sized drummer is an incredible thrash-Queen and their lead singer can screeeeeam.

The Night Flight Orchestra are a Swedish classic rock band, who sound exactly like the montage part of every 80’s action film ever made. Like if you’re going to drive a sports car around winding roads to get to your next Roadhouse, or spend some time learning how to do a crane-kick – The Night Flight Orchestra have your back buddy. Lead singer Björn Strid (of Soilwork fame) is resplendent in an iridescent cape, his backing singers are dressed as retro air-hostesses and the drummer is wearing a full suit and cravat. I don’t know what to say, but I like it all very much.

“Did you bring your dancing shoes Bloodstock? Did you?” yells Björn, and the crowd screams back at him – it seems there are a lot of NFO fans in the BOA crowd today. Instant earworm ‘Satellite’ sees the entire arena start bouncing, and the band call for a group of people dressed as pilots to join them on stage – “Security we need our people on stage, our crew, get them up here”. After hugging everyone, the fans on stage are instructed to begin a conga line with the air-hostesses, as a matching conga takes up in the crowd.

© Anna Hyams

“This is the very last festival for us, make us proud!” he shouts as they hit ‘West Ruth Ave’ which sounds like it would be perfect for a 70’s cop show. I can’t overstate how much I have loved this entire set, and I love Bloodstock for being able to book something so ridiculously fun alongside the more doomy serious bands – what an epic choice.

I feel much the same about the main-stage placement of Irish celtic punk rockers Flogging Molly – a band I’ve been blessed to see a few times now, and every single time they have been utterly fantastic. Today is no outlier, between Dave King throwing out cans of Guinness into the crowd, and his chaotic running around the stage – it’s hard to scratch a moment to breathe amongst the revelry. ‘Drunken Lullabies’ is the perfect opener for a Bloodstock crowd and ‘Tobacco island’ with it’s piratey sound is very BOA coded. “Fuck I need a drink after that” giggles Dave, “I’m gonna look like a fuckin tomato after this I’ll tell you that. The most beautiful tomato you’ve ever seen”.

“You’re absolutely fuckin’ beautiful you really are”, “One of the great things about being in a band like Flogging Molly is, today we’re playing an amazing metal festival and in 2 weeks time we’re coming back to play Moseley folk festival in Birmingham” they joke, but they’re not wrong – some of the great appeal of Flogging Molly is their ability to genre-cross, and I’d wager most metal fans actually listen to a very wide range of music.

‘Devil’s Dance Floor’ features Bridget Regan on the tin whistle, and has the entire arena up and dancing in a way that sort of looks like Riverdance with cattle prods. In a tribute to Motorhead’s Lemmy, “…so this is a song of friendship, and it goes like this…” we get the soulfully beautiful

‘If I Ever Leave This World Alive’, one of my favourite songs of all time. Another truly epic show today, thanks for booking that one BOA.

© Anna Hyams

Carcass might not be my precise jam, but I did have to giggle at the Evil Nation/Live Nation t-shirt, and in their defence – and awful lot of people were having a thrashing good time with them. For my personal preference, Moldovan metal band Infected Rain over in the Sophie tent are the kind of wild I like. Lead vocalist Elena Cataraga (Lena Scissorhands) has a stunning voice alongside being able to scream like some sort of eldritch horror, their bassist is going absolutely berserk and the tent is a swarm of undulating limbs.

Closing the main stage tonight is the long-awaited return of Sweden’s finest – Amon Amarth. As the black curtain falls from the stage, we are immediately blasted in the face by ten tonnes of viking death metal and so much pyro it makes my eyes explode. ‘Guardians of Asgaard’ is powerfully, enormously fantastic – it’s quite hard to describe the frenetic energy of being right in the midst of it all.

I don’t know if you know the lore but I’m going to say it anyway… don’t worry about it it’s just the lead into the next song” frontman Johan Hegg (who I have affectionately termed ‘Fire Santa’) leads us into ‘As Loke Falls’ whilst standing directly over a raging smoke cannon. The effect is frankly cinematic, but I’m not sure entirely intended as he quickly disembarks the step.

© Anna Hyams

The giant Viking horn drum set, the towering Hnefatafl-like statues flanking the stage sides, the unrelenting blasts of golden orange flames… what an insanely iconic show, again.“Bloodstock have you had a great festival weekend?” is met with an almighty roar from the crowd, before the much anticipated call “Right bloodstock… bring out the epic viking row!”.

Now this, is a uniquely BOA experience (even commemorated on the back of an Amon Amarth tshirt available this weekend) as it was started here, in Derbyshire. If you ever went to a 90’s school disco, you’ll remember sitting on the floor for some inexplicable reason, to do oops upside your head dance moves in weird columns. So take that image and add it to your mental representation of row-row-row-your-boat; but everyone is grown-up, in varying stages of alcohol toxicity, sweaty, tattooed and wearing black.

Almost everyone in the whole arena complies, sits down in rows and begin to… well, row to the commanding calls from Johan, as an inflatable viking ship bobs happily on the stage. It’s surreal and kitschy and I adore it.

© Anna Hyams

For ‘Shield Wall’ they bring out a heap of Viking reenactment types to hit each other and provide a visual cue, and we all take the opportunity to drain our cups (or drinking horns) as they shout “You’re loud and you’re wild and we love that shit, so we thought we’d take this opportunity to raise our horns to you… bloods cheers… skol!”.

“I think we have enough energy for another one how bout you guys… do you wanna party? Well then I guess it’s time for you guys to raise your horns… sing along!” signals the beginning of the end, but the encore includes an inflatable sea serpent being vanquished by Johan wielding Thor’s hammer, under a curtain of pyro. Epic.

“Until next time, be safe, party on, but most important raise your horns”.

  1. Raven’s Flight
  2. Guardians of Asgaard
  3. The Pursuit of Vikings
  4. Deceiver of the Gods
  5. As Loke Falls
  6. Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags
  7. Heidrun
  8. War of the Gods
  9. Put Your Back Into the Oar
  10. Put Your Back Into the Oar
  11. The Way of Vikings
  12. Under the Northern Star
  13. First Kill
  14. Shield Wall
  15. Raise Your Horns

Encore:

  1. Crack the Sky
  2. Twilight of the Thunder God

Oh Bloodstock, there’s no easy way to explain to an outsider how much you feel like home. This might be a small festival on the scale of iconic metalfests, but you bet your ass everyone knows about it – because the community is impeccable here. I raise a glass of Iron Maiden’s darkest red wine to you all (which was for sale by the glass or bottle here), because every single year this festival exceeds my expectations. Next year is already off to a stellar start with the band announcements, and I’m unprecedently early in my preparedness to have my face melted off by Machine Head… once my currently melted face has recovered from Amon Amarth.

© Anna Hyams

All headliners for BLOODSTOCK 2025 & more announced….

With 2024’s event underway and already laying claim as one of the biggest and best BLOODSTOCK‘s ever, festival HQ have set the wheels in motion of 2025’s heavy metal juggernaut by announcing not one, not five, but nineteen bands for its hottest summer yet, including all headliners. BLOODSTOCK 2025 will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 7th-10th August.

Full info on how, when, and where to buy tickets – including cheapest options and when high demand VIP packages go on sale – can also be found below.
Are you sitting down?

BLOODSTOCK is thrilled to reveal Friday’s headliner are the UK’s adopted sons, gargantuan riff goliaths TRIVIUM. Matthew K Heafy declares, “We’ve always said that the UK is a second home to Trivium. It’s where our band really took root way back in 2005 and our relationship with it has only grown deeper over time. Our headline set will span our entire 20 year history and we’ll also celebrate ‘Ascendancy’ by bringing both the music and art to life. Bloodstock is the home of heavy metal in the UK and we’re thrilled to once again be called upon to headline it along with two long time friends. We promise you this will be the biggest and best Trivium set you have ever seen!”

Saturday’s headliners are none other than masters of metal and mayhem, MACHINE HEAD. Robb Flynn enthuses, “We honestly couldn’t be more stoked about hitting the stage at one of our favourite festivals to play. Bloodstock will forever hold a special place in our blackened hearts after our, now legendary, not-so-secret-secret-show on the Sophie Lancaster Stage back in 2022. That show, which marked our return to the live arena post-pandemic, was one of the hottest, wildest and most intense shows we’ve ever played on UK shores and we now want to recreate that magic again, and take it even higher in August 2025. Bloodstock, get ready because Machine F**ckin’ Head is coming to town and we want to see all you Head Cases lose it! BEERS UP!”

Sunday’s headliners dazzled the world with a gold-medal performance at the Olympics opening ceremony just two weeks ago…the almighty GOJIRA! Last headlining BLOODSTOCK with an all killer no filler, jaw-dropping spectacle back in 2018, when Metal Hammer called them “one of the best bands on the planet,” we can only dare imagine what the band will have in store for 2025. Keeping it succinct, Joe Duplantier states, “We are psyched to play Bloodstock again next year! Hold on to your socks, it’s gonna be brutal!!!” Of that there is surely no doubt.

Not content with unveiling the Ronnie James Dio stage headliners, BLOODSTOCK can also excitedly divulge all headliners for the Sophie Lancaster stage!! Wrapping up Thursday night will be Nergal’s bewitching side project, ME AND THAT MAN. Friday night concludes with impressive Canadian death metal beasts KATAKLYSM. Sure to set sparks flying as they close Saturday’s shenanigans, it’s STATIC-X! And there’s nothing like some seminal Floridian death metal to finish your neck off late on Sunday, so that can only mean the last band taking the stage at BLOODSTOCK 2025 will be the legendary OBITUARY.

Swooping in as special guests under TRIVIUM on Friday are influential black metal icons EMPEROR. Start your petition for a bonus Heafy x Ihsahn IBARAKI live track now.

Elsewhere on the RJD Friday bill you’ll be able to catch the ever glorious, gothic metal act LACUNA COIL and in their only UK festival slot for 2025, the unmissable ORANGE GOBLIN.

Shaking things up in the pit on Saturday’s RJD stage will be boisterous horror punks CREEPER and modern metal bruisers KUBLAI KHAN TX.

Joining the Ronnie James Dio line-up on Sunday will be melo-death squad THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, medieval metalheads FEUERSCHWANZ, theatrical dark rockers LORD OF THE LOST, and metalcore mainstays AUGUST BURNS RED.

BLOODSTOCK is also delighted to reveal special guests on the Sophie Lancaster stage will be Norse-inspired warriors ALL FOR METAL (Thursday), flamenco metal fusionists BREED 77 (Saturday) and NWOBHM-meets-power-metal kings 3 INCHES OF BLOOD (Sunday). Friday’s guest – and around another 100 bands across 2025’s heavy metal party of the year – are still to be announced! 
TICKETS FOR 2025
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 4 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. 

This is the cheapest way to buy a 2025 ticket, with no booking fee. 

From 09:00 on 12th August, early bird tickets will be available online in the 2025 Ticket Store with a booking fee. Once early birds sell out, adult standard weekend tickets will increase to £199 + fees (£224 + fees inc early access). Child weekend tix will rise to £59 + fees once early bird’s sell out. 

All Serpents Lair VIP and Campervan tickets will go on sale at 09:00 on 14th August.
Campervan tickets must be bought in addition to your festival ticket, and will be priced £120 without power / £240 with power. You do not need to buy these together, but must have both by the time of the festival.
VIP ticket pricing varies depending on the package. A limited number of VIP Patch Of Grass tickets will be available at the same time, 09:00 on 14th August, with a 6-month instalment plan to assist those who would prefer to spread out payments.

An instalment plan for standard weekend tickets will launch later in the year as usual.
Please note, early access on Wednesday is still under planning discussion for Serpents Lair VIP, accessible, and campervan campsites – stay tuned to socials for update at a later date.

These are expected to sell out very quickly, so if you want one, be ready!

Bloodstock 2024: FINAL BANDS ANNOUNCED!

So many cool things to share, with just over 3 weeks to go to BLOODSTOCK 2024! Read on and get excited!!
If you’re still planning your outfits for BLOODSTOCK and fancy something new, EMP are here to lend a hand with a 20% off discount code! Just enter the code BOA20 at the checkout, before 4th Aug (minimum order value £30, one use only). They’ve also got a competition running for free tickets which you can enter here or by clicking below. 
Have you been paying attention to Planet Rock Radio of late? BLOODSTOCK is pleased to share that their highly contested battle to open the Sophie Lancaster stage on Sunday morning has been won by triumphant Welsh headbangers BLACK | LAKES. Get up early and go show some support, they might be just what your ARCHITECTS bangover needs.

The riotous, hotly fought Metal 2 The Masses finals covering 28 regions have now concluded for another year and BLOODSTOCK is delighted to reveal the final group of winners earning their spot on the Hopical Storm New Blood stage. Do check out some grassroots metal while you’re at BLOODSTOCK, you might just discover your new favourite band! Friday’s line-up welcomes Stoke champions SMOTHER and ABSOLENCE who clinched first place in the Burnley final. Saturday adds Oxford hard rock victors STONE SOUP, Cheltenham’s nu-metal/hardcore conquerors CONVEY, and Brighton’s top pick CHUB. A bumper crop join Sunday’s fun, including South Wales winners ROOT ZERO, Hitchin deathcore chiefs DEAD FLESH, SPACE PISTOL who took the gold for Northants, plus Devon & Cornwall heroes ATOM SMASHER, Bristol defeaters FROGLORD, and last but not least CRUCIBLE, who claimed Coventry’s crown.



When the bands are done for the night, it doesn’t mean BLOODSTOCK is!  Late night ents kick off on both the Hopical Storm New Blood and Sophie Lancaster stages ‘til the early hours. 

On Thursday and Saturday night from 11pm – 2am, New Blood hosts BLOODSTOCK’s biggest silent disco to date, with 3 live channels from Little M, Rich Harris, and Lloyd playing club/dance bangers, rock & metal, or party cheese respectively. Just grab a headset and choose your vibe, or a bit of all three! Friday’s New Blood late night fun cranks it up with DJs Darren Smith (Deadsoul Promotions/Stahlsarg) and Dawn Debenham (Raise Your Horns) joining forces, for a full volume night of extreme, black, folk, and power metal. 

Over in the Sophie tent from 12am – 2am, on Thursday, DJ Pressplay mixes it up with an array of tunes from upcoming bands and other metal bangers, while Friday brings The Blood Rave with DJs Little M and Lloyd, offering a fine choice of  EBM, industrial, techno, and heavy beats.  The Sophie tent on Saturday is taken over by DJ Arockalypse and the mighty SEETHING AKIRA, fresh from their main stage demolition last year with an exclusive DJ set! Expect remixes, metal, and more. Sunday sees DJ Rich Harris (Desertfest) with the ultimate in closing parties to get you all fired up to do it all over again at BLOODSTOCK 2025!

If you’d rather have your fun back in the campsites, head over to Midgard for late night inflatable shenanigans and newly Official Bin Jousting from 11pm – 2am, Thu – Sun. If you’ve nabbed an early access ticket to arrive on Wednesday, expect DJs (from 2pm), inflatables, and a couple of movies! 

Speaking of movies, if you managed to get a VIP ticket, there’s also a family movie screening every day Fri – Sun at 9:30am in the Serpents Lair (The Never Ending Story, The Goonies, Hocus Pocus) and a metal comedy movie at 2:30pm on Fri & Sun (Wayne’s World 2, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure). VIPers can also look forward to exclusive bands & DJ sets, Pop Up Puppet Cinema, face painting from Alice Bizarre benefitting the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, Never Mind The Bloodstocks pub quiz, and more, in the Serpents Lair! Not to mention your own bar with more ales & ciders than you can count.


Need something to get your blood pumping again in the morning after your late night? Drag yourself into the arena’s battle area for 10:15am on Fri, Sat, and Sun, for a fun, friendly, free RockFit class! What’s RockFit? A heart-pumpin’,fist-bumpin’ combo of dance, cardio, and toning set to an all rock and metal soundtrack featuring iconic tracks that compel you to move! Designed for every level of ability, just turn up and join in.



For something a bit more intense, don’t miss the special War Master Class with UFC & combat sports titan JOSH BARNETT, taking place at the battle area on Sunday at 4:30pm. Join the legendary MMA champion for an exclusive fighting master class. Unleash your inner warrior and learn from the best in this unforgettable experience! The limited spots to join in have been instantly snaffled, but anyone is welcome to watch! There’s also some special War Materials x Bloodstock merch items, like these exclusive chain wraps which you can click & collect – see the full range here!

And don’t forget, the Vikings will also be back there twice a day Fri – Sun at 11:30am and 2:30pm delivering more full on contact body blows! The battle area is located near the fairground rides (let’s hope they don’t get the two areas confused).

 

When you’re not watching bands or battles, why not squeeze in a spot of axe-throwing with your mates (at the BattleAxe stand) or visit Firehound Forge, the local blacksmith stall, who may even forge your item right in front of you? There’s also the Rock And Metal Gallery (reputed to be the coolest place onsite, metaphorically and literally – look out for more details about exhibitors in this very soon) and the Nordic Spirit Gaming Arena with modern and retro video games to play! Don’t miss the awesome new VR gaming additions in there this year: Beat Saber, Space Pirate, and Richie’s Plank Experience! The Beat Saber game will run as a competition across the duration of the festival, with the Top 3 scores at the end of the weekend winning prizes and the top scoring player will land themselves a pair of tickets to BLOODSTOCK 2025! 

Plus there’s Planet Rock Signing Tent where you can meet your favourite bands (and Josh Barnett).
Situated right next door to the Planet Rock Signing Tent you’ll find this year’s new Kerrang! booth! If exclusive, limited merch drops are your thing, you’ll want to make a beeline for the Kerrang! x Bloodstock capsule collection plus other awesome pieces of K! apparel like tees, hoodies, caps and more.



Besides that, there’s all manner of shopping for heavy metal pirates who want some booty to go with their bands. You’ll be able to pick up patches and badges, CDs/vinyl, or official merch and alt clothing (leggings, tshirts, denim jackets, leather waistcoats, military surplus, belts, hats, wellies, onesies… you name it) to rock n roll home accessories (inc horror-themed drinkware from Planchette Place), wiccan wares, friendship bracelets, vegan beard oils, Wyldwood wood sculpture, all types of jewellery (visit the Guitarwrist for items benefiting charity made with used guitar strings and Black Feather Design to snap up the very last pieces of BLOODSTOCK’s official 925 silver jewellery range) and if you don’t have one already, surely a Viking drinking horn is an essential addition (available in sizes from 50 ml to 7.5 litres!).

Dead keen for a chunky vertebrae steel choker? Nicola Hebson’s Curiosity Shop has you covered (and any ethical taxidermy art desires).  Look out for the Canny Bonny stall for hair-braiding (with/without colour extensions – you can pre-book here), Viking warpaint, and henna! Camel’s Sheesha will be present, as will pro-mental health brand Radical, and don’t miss Charlie & Wilkie from MALEVOLENCE’s debut festival pop-up shop for their merch & music label MLVLTD! 



As part of BLOODSTOCK’s continuing sustainability/green efforts, the cup redemption scheme returns to help keep BLOODSTOCK litter-free!!  Open to those 18+, you can redeem prizes for collecting used cups!  Hand in your stash at Lemmy’s bar to get a stamp on your collector’s card for every 50 cups returned. This year’s prizes are:  50 cups – 1 free pint / spirit worth £6100 cups – 15% off Bloodstock merch or 1 meal voucher worth £12 (one transaction only)250 cups – 1 Bloodstock festival shirt (size subject to availability)

600 cups – Jump the queue to the signing tent for one whole day 750 cups – Access to Serpents Lair VIP hospitality area for 2 people1000 cups –  Watch a band from side of stage or in the pit for first 3 songs (subject to no closed stage or pyro restrictions. Other T&Cs apply.). Help BLOODSTOCK leave Catton Park as tidy as on departure as on arrival – campers, please take a free bin bag on entry. More bin bags can be picked up as needed from the tent info points throughout the weekend and there are recycling bins throughout the arena and campsites. 

In addition, there will now be tent donation points in every campsite on Monday morning! Look for the tent donation flag (shown below) for the drop off point and read details on how to win one of five pairs of weekend tickets for BLOODSTOCK 2025. Winners will be announced on socials a week later.  When you’re going home, if you can’t be bothered to lug your tent (or airbed, chair, mat, sleeping bag) with you, don’t abandon it for landfill!  Put it to good use by donating it for charitable benefit.



If you’ve already snapped up your ticket and want to square away your travel arrangements for BLOODSTOCK 2024, BIG GREEN COACH offer a great solution, taking you directly on to the festival site with all your camping gear, from a town near you. There are 35 pick-up locations this year! Get full details here.

If you’re coming by train maybe you want to book seats on a shuttle to & from the festival site! BIG GREEN COACH have now got their shuttle service available for purchase, running to/from Tamworth station. Click here to buy your tickets while space lasts – a round trip is £14. 
Standard weekend tickets for BLOODSTOCK, priced at £185 (+ booking fee) are available now in the 2024 ticket store. You can also snap up day tickets, child tickets (mini moshers under 4 yrs can come for free!), and if you want all the BLOODSTOCK you can get, add-on early arrival for an extra day of camping on Wednesday too – these are nearly sold out so don’t hang about! Early Bird, VIP, and campervan tickets are already sold out.    

BLOODSTOCK’s 2024 Ronnie James Dio main stage headliners are AMON AMARTH, OPETH, and ARCHITECTS. Across the weekend you can also expect to see CLUTCH, HATEBREED, CARCASS, ENSLAVED, MALEVOLENCE, SATYRICON, ROTTING CHRIST, SYLOSIS, WHITECHAPEL, DEICIDE, GRAND MAGUS, DESERT STORM, THE VINTAGE CARAVAN, SOEN, GREEN LUNG, COMBICHRIST, XENTRIX, EXIST IMMORTAL, ETERNAL CHAMPION, GROVE STREET, MIMI BARKS, CRYPTA, FORBIDDEN, NERVOSA, BEAST IN BLACK, KORPIKLAANI, UNLEASH THE ARCHERS, FLOGGING MOLLY, SEPTIC FLESH, IGORRR, GROVE STREET, UNPEOPLE, NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, HELLRIPPER, INFECTED RAIN, CULTURA TRES, SADUS, LUDOVICO TECHNIQUE, BURNER, RED RUM, EVERGREY, RAISED BY OWLS, TAILGUNNER, SOUTH OF SALEM, and ANKOR amongst many others! 

Get full festival information over at bloodstock.uk.com.  BLOODSTOCK will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 8th-11th August 2024.

BLOODSTOCK confirms official bin jousting (& some more bands)

There are just 44 days to go until BLOODSTOCK!! Actually, make that 43 days, if you’ve snapped up an early arrival add-on ticket for an extra day’s camping!

Did you ever think there’d be an announcement about bins? No, us neither. Knights of heavy metal, prepare your steeds… There’s also celebratory news about the latest group of winners from the Metal 2 The Masses finals, bagging themselves a coveted spot on the Hopical Storm New Blood stage, plus info on how to click & collect your fave merch items so the person in front on site doesn’t get the last one you wanted, travel help, fancy dress themes, and more.  Read on, fellow headbanger.

Perhaps you have heard of the infamous, illicit bin jousting, usually late night in the Midgard campsite? BLOODSTOCK frowned hard, wagged a finger, brought in more security, warned about safety, took bins away, and even tried chaining bins up, but to no avail. Bin jousting continued. The Midgarders were relentless and proud;  it’s become a tradition, a part of BLOODSTOCK lore. And you know what they say… if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!! BLOODSTOCK proudly confirms there will be Official Bin Jousting at this year’s event, running Thursday-Sunday from late evening to 2am, in Midgard. Do you dare to have a go?  There will be a marshal for safety but the true essence and rawness of BLOODSTOCK’s new official sport will continue. Do you have what it takes to be 2024’s champion!?



The Metal 2 The Masses finals continue across the UK (and Norway), with the best new talent smashing it out the park on stage every night, to win spots on the Hopical Storm New Blood stage. Friday’s bill now also welcomes Essex victors REVERENT SON, Nottingham hardcore winners ROGUE LIMBTIM WHYTE AND THE DEADBEATS who took first place for Somerset, and metalcore squad BY VIRTUE FALLS from the East Anglian final. Saturday adds alt-metallers THEM BLOODY KIDS from the London heat, Norway’s brutal top dogs SLAUGHTERHEAD, and North Wales death/thrash champs JUDGEMENT. On Sunday you’ll also be able to catch Kent’s conquerors CROWGOD and vanquishers from the Birmingham event, KENSEI

Unfortunately, Japanese metal maniacs RYUJIN have had to withdraw from this year’s event for health reasons. However, their spot has been swiftly grabbed by blackened doomsters MOON REAPER, who slide into the Sophie Lancaster stage line-up underneath OSIAH on Sunday.



For those who like a little fancy dress fun to liven up your festival weekend, why have one theme when you can have three?! Join in with just one, or all three, on whichever day(s) you like! How do you feel about horror movie charactersBLOODSTOCK cordially invites Freddy, Jason, Carrie, Chucky, Regan, Frankenstein and all their creeptastic pals for some frightfully good fun. Something a bit less OTT? Be part of the Motorhead tribute and wear something to commemorate Lemmy! This year’s final theme harks back to prehistoric times…. dinosaurs! We look forward to seeing a T-rex or two, and their mates, headbangin’ down the front. Please note, mini moshers are not on the dinner menu (though they can get in for free under the age of 4). For plant and meat-eating dinosaurs, there will be a wide range of food stalls available to sate your appetite. 



Want to make some new pals for BLOODSTOCK, or maybe you’re debating which campsite to stay in?! Every campsite has its own vibe, but if you’re looking for the designated quiet campsite, make a beeline for Ragnarok. Niflheim is the accessible campsite for those who have applied successfully in advance to camp there. Coming on your own and/or a bit anxious about that? Consider joining unofficial Bloodstock group Camp Loners & Newbies, who always camp in a corner of Valhalla. With Ironwood, Midgard, Jotunheim, Asgard, and Hel to choose from too (plus Vanaheim for our campervan friends & the Serpent’s Lair campsite for VIPers) you’re sure to find your home away from home!

Want to chat to fellow BLOODSTOCKers before you get there? There are a number of unofficial Facebook groups, including BMF666Bloodstock Festival Girls GroupLGBTQIA+ Bloodstock Fans, and more.



Did you know? You can also utilise BLOODSTOCK‘s ‘click & collect‘ service to pre-order your favourites online from the 2024 merchandise range! Pre-purchase your favourite t-shirt or grab the 2024 beer mug without fear of your size or design being already sold out on site. Pre-order here and simply collect at the arena merch stall on the weekend, knowing your item is guaranteed. All ‘click and collect’ items in the store will be clearly marked with a yellow C&C badge. Maybe you want that BOA hoodie for when the sun goes down, so order, then collect from the merch stall to save a trip back to your tent. In a ‘click & collect’ exclusive, if you order over £100 of items via this method, you get 10% off, and over £200 gets 15% off. 

BLOODSTOCK’s dedicated one-stop-shop with Preo is now up and running, featuring an array of festival essentials. From cold beers (and 4 pinters of mango cider) to merch, through to camping equipment and much more, you can secure all your must-have items in advance from one online shop, eradicating the need for last-minute scrambles, long queues or searching in multiple online stores. And then just collect on your arrival at BLOODSTOCK! For more info and to explore the online shop, visit the Bloodstock Festival Preo storeVISIT BLOODSTOCK’S PREO STORE



If you’ve already snapped up your ticket and want to square away your travel arrangements for BLOODSTOCK 2024, BIG GREEN COACH offer a great solution, taking you directly on to the festival site with all your camping gear, from a town near you. There are 35 pick-up locations this year! Full list includes: Birkenhead, Bournemouth, Bradford, Bridgend, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chester, Coventry, Crewe, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Gloucester, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newport, Nottingham, Norwich, Oxford, Plymouth, Preston, Sheffield, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Swansea, Taunton, Worcester and York. If you’ve not yet booked your festival ticket, you can also opt for a bundle that includes one. Get full details here.

If you’re coming by train maybe you want to book seats on a shuttle to & from the festival site! BIG GREEN COACH have now got their shuttle service available for purchase, running to/from Tamworth station.  Click here to buy your tickets while space lasts – a round trip is £14. If you’re looking for sold out tickets like VIP or campervan passes, BLOODSTOCK has a new exclusive secondary ticketing partner, Tixel, where you can maybe still find what you’re looking for. Simply set an alert for notification if your tickets of choice become available, or pre-authorise your card in advance, so no need for constant checking back. Tixel also allows you to safely re-sell tickets to a new home if plans have changed. You can sell ALL ticket types, including instalment plan purchases, plus any tickets sold via Ticketmaster or other third party ticket outlets.

The new deal helps BLOODSTOCK streamline all resale tickets into one place to guarantee the safety of the sale, avoiding social media scam bots and rip-off pricing. It’s a very simple process for the customer and most importantly, it’s a trusted platform. Click through to https://tixel.com/uk/bloodstock-tickets for more information on how it works.  
Standard weekend tickets for BLOODSTOCK, priced at £185 (+ booking fee) are available now in the 2024 ticket store. You can also snap up limited day tickets, child tickets (mini moshers under 4 yrs can come for free!), and if you want all the BLOODSTOCK you can get, add-on early arrival for an extra day of camping on Wednesday too. Early Bird, VIP, and campervan tickets are sold out.  

BLOODSTOCK’s 2024 Ronnie James Dio main stage headliners are AMON AMARTH, OPETH, and ARCHITECTS. Across the weekend you can also expect to see CLUTCH, HATEBREED, CARCASS, ENSLAVED, MALEVOLENCE, SATYRICON, ROTTING CHRIST, SYLOSIS, WHITECHAPEL, DEICIDE, GRAND MAGUS, DESERT STORM, THE VINTAGE CARAVAN, SOEN, GREEN LUNG, COMBICHRIST, XENTRIX, EXIST IMMORTAL, ETERNAL CHAMPION, GROVE STREET, MIMI BARKS, CRYPTA, FORBIDDEN, NERVOSA, BEAST IN BLACK, KORPIKLAANI, UNLEASH THE ARCHERS, FLOGGING MOLLY, SEPTIC FLESH, IGORRR, GROVE STREET, UNPEOPLE, NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, HELLRIPPER, INFECTED RAIN, CULTURA TRES, SADUS, LUDOVICO TECHNIQUE, BURNER, RED RUM, EVERGREY, RAISED BY OWLS, TAILGUNNER, SOUTH OF SALEM, and ANKOR amongst others with yet more still to be announced. 

Get full festival information over at bloodstock.uk.com.  BLOODSTOCK will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 8th-11th August 2024.

BLOODSTOCK announces EMP Stage Lineup

In a new partnership, BLOODSTOCK is excited to announce the line-up for its 2024 EMP Stage (formerly the Jagermeister Stage)!  

Friday’s bill will include tech/death squad LOST BRETHREN, thrash/death trio LETHAL EVIL, occult rockers CROWLEY, heavy blues rockers KING KRAKEN, and goth metal outfit MAB

Saturday’s line up features grindcore/hardcore outfit PUBLIC EXECUTION, metalcore beasts PARTING WITH ORIGIN, doom-fused heavyists FLAMEBEARER, high octane fusionists RUPCHA FARMS and alt metal band LURCHER.

Coming up on Sunday will be ‘fantasy space metal riff machine’ WARPSTORMER, celtic punk troupe THE CALLOWGATE MURDERS, fuzz-soaked riffmeisters of the Toad King GOBLIN SMOKER, the 3-man noise machine YERSIN and heavy blues rockers LOYDS TRIP.

Regarding the new collaboration, EMP tell us, “We are absolutely thrilled to announce our partnership with BLOODSTOCK 2024! As proud sponsors of the 4th stage, EMP is ready to rock alongside the best in metal. Stay tuned for exciting giveaways and exclusive content in the lead-up to the festival. As Europe’s #1 for music, films & TV, gaming merchandise & alt fashion, EMP is honoured to be part of the UK’s biggest independent Metal Festival and can’t wait to join forces with BLOODSTOCK to make history on the EMP STAGE!”

To celebrate, our friends at EMP want you to get BLOODSTOCK ready with a special discount at their online store. Grab your festival attire and any festival essentials you need at EMP here and get 20% off (minimum order £30)! Just use the code BOA20 at checkout.  

[T&Cs: MOV £30 . Valid until 07.06.2024. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotional codes. Only redeemable once per customer on emp.co.uk. After entering the code, the discount will be automatically deducted from your shopping basket. Books, media, tickets, Rammstein, Die Ärzte, Die Toten Hosen, Feine Sahne Fischfilet, Broilers, New Balance, Böhse Onkelz, Funko Pop!, vouchers & items that include a donation in the price are excluded from the promotion.



If you’re looking for sold out tickets like VIP or campervan passes, BLOODSTOCK has a new exclusive secondary ticketing partner, Tixel, where you can maybe still find what you’re looking for. Simply set an alert for notification if your tickets of choice become available, or pre-authorise your card in advance, so no need for constant checking back. Tixel also allows you to safely re-sell tickets to a new home if plans have changed. 

You can sell ALL ticket types, including instalment plan purchases, plus any tickets sold via Ticketmaster or other third party ticket outlets. The new deal helps BLOODSTOCK streamline all resale tickets into one place to guarantee the safety of the sale, avoiding social media scam bots and rip-off pricing. It’s a very simple process for the customer and most importantly, it’s a trusted platform. Click through to https://tixel.com/uk/bloodstock-tickets for more information on how it works.  

Also, if you’ve not yet checked out BLOODSTOCK’s new podcast, hosted by the inimitable Beez, head over to Spotify or Apple Podcasts and check out the episodes so far, including guests such as ClutchSylosisGreen Lung and more! You can also now find some of these episodes on the official BLOODSTOCK YouTube channel.
Standard weekend tickets for BLOODSTOCK, priced at £185 (+ booking fee) are available now in the 2024 ticket store.  You can also snap up limited day tickets, child tickets (mini moshers under 4 yrs can come for free!), and if you want all the BLOODSTOCK you can get, add-on early arrival for an extra day of camping on Wednesday too. Early Bird, VIP, and campervan tickets are sold out.   

BLOODSTOCK’s 2024 Ronnie James Dio main stage headliners are AMON AMARTH, OPETH, and ARCHITECTS. Across the weekend you can also expect to see CLUTCH, HATEBREED, CARCASS, ENSLAVED, MALEVOLENCE, SATYRICON, ROTTING CHRIST, SYLOSIS, WHITECHAPEL, DEICIDE, GRAND MAGUS, DESERT STORM, THE VINTAGE CARAVAN, SOEN, GREEN LUNG, COMBICHRIST, XENTRIX, EXIST IMMORTAL, ETERNAL CHAMPION, GROVE STREET, MIMI BARKS, CRYPTA, FORBIDDEN, NERVOSA, BEAST IN BLACK, KORPIKLAANI, UNLEASH THE ARCHERS, FLOGGING MOLLY, SEPTIC FLESH, IGORRR, RUIJIN, GROVE STREET, UNPEOPLE, NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, HELLRIPPER, INFECTED RAIN, CULTURA TRES, SADUS, LUDOVICO TECHNIQUE, BURNER, RED RUM, EVERGREY, RAISED BY OWLS, TAILGUNNER, SOUTH OF SALEM, and ANKOR amongst others with even more still to be announced. 

Get full festival information over at bloodstock.uk.com.  BLOODSTOCK will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 8th-11th August 2024.

BLOODSTOCK announce New Blood bands & M2TM finals kick off

The Metal 2 The Masses tour returns in 2024! BLOODSTOCK’s initiative to give emerging bands a step up and also support grassroots venues, kicks off on 10th May, with 30 regions and 6 countries participating. The fun begins in Belfast and rolls down through Dublin and back to England, Scotland, and Wales, taking in Norway and Poland along the way. The tour wraps up in Coventry on 15th July, with all the regional winners from the finals being revealed in due course. Check out the local events below and get along to your nearest event to support the headliners of tomorrow!

BLOODSTOCK is also thrilled to announce a collaboration with Timothy Taylor’s Hopical Storm as the official Metal 2 The Masses sponsor for 2024. Expect to see them on site and lend their name to the Hopical Storm New Blood Stage! To celebrate the new partnership, BLOODSTOCK’s very own S’tan popped by their brewery to greet the team… watch here.

Today also marks the first batch of bands selected to showcase their talent at 2024’s event, outside of the M2TM tour initiative. 

2023’s Northern Ireland victors and ‘war-jazz’ thrashers, ACID AGE will open Thursday’s Sophie Lancaster stage. They tell us “We love everything about M2TM. The exposure, photography, stage, lights and friends we made was more than satisfactory, but then we won and got to both attend and play BLOODSTOCK 2023! We couldn’t believe it, BLOODSTOCK is heavy metal Mecca. It’s where everyone comes together with a common goal, HEAVY FUCKING METAL! The sense of community at the festival is undeniable. Now that we have a chance to return and play the Sophie stage, we aim to show everyone why we are the best War-Jazz band in the world and we will do it for Sophie. See you in August.”  Check out their video for ‘Slave Girl’ and get up to speed.

Selected from 600 email submissions, on Friday’s Hopical Storm New Blood stage expect to see Scottish thrash squad DISPOSABLE, Leicester’s prog metal outfit FINAL COIL and Scottish rockers SHE BURNS RED
Saturday’s bill will feature London industrial noiseniks BIOMECHANIMAL, Herts heavyists PRAETORIAN and metalcore squad, LOST TO LIGHT

Sunday’s line up includes Brummie rockers STRAIGHT FOR THE SUN, Cambridge metallers AKKADIAN and Yorkshire blackened death outfit, SATHAMEL



In other 2024 BLOODSTOCK news, OPETH‘s headline set on Friday night will be a fan-voted set!  OPETH mainman, Mikael Akerfeldt explains in his inimitable dry humoured way: “This boils down to YOU voting for your favourite OPETH songs, culled from a list that we’ve put together (ie: songs that we know/believe/hope we can play fairly well). There are a few rarities in there, a few ”hits” and a few ”whatever” songs to choose from. Depending on our set length, we’ll put together a nice list of the top-voted songs that adds up to match the stage-time in question. Have fun! Be gentle! Thanks for participating!” 

 Check out OPETH‘s Spotify Playlist to remind yourself of the choices and vote for your Top 10 picks here. Voting ends 17th May. 



From 1st May, you can also utilise BLOODSTOCK‘s ‘click & collect’ service to pre-order your favourites online from the 2024 merchandise range! Pre-purchase your favourite t-shirt or grab the 2024 beer mug without fear of your size or design being already sold out on site. Pre-order here and simply collect at the arena merch stall on the weekend, knowing your item is guaranteed. All ‘click and collect’ items in the store will be clearly marked with a yellow C&C badge. Maybe you want that BOA hoodie for when the sun goes down, so order, then collect from the merch stall to save a trip back to your tent. In a ‘click & collect’ exclusive, if you order over £100 of items via this method, you get 10% off, and over £200 gets 15% off. Mark your calendar and head over on 1st May to grab your swag. 

Also, if you’ve not yet checked out BLOODSTOCK’s new podcast, hosted by the inimitable Beez, head over to Spotify or Apple Podcasts and check out the episodes so far, including guests such as Clutch, Sylosis, Green Lung and more! You can also now find some of these episodes on the official BLOODSTOCK YouTube channel.

BLOODSTOCK to open standard campsites 1 day early & announce club nights

ARRIVE ONE DAY EARLY FOR JUST £20 (+ booking fee).

BLOODSTOCK knows possible congestion and intended roadworks on the routes around Catton Park could cause delays sitting in traffic which no one likes. Plus, who doesn’t want a little more BLOODSTOCK?! So, after extensive review with the licensing council, to make your festival experience even better this year, all standard campsites will open one day earlier at midday on Wednesday 7th August for a limited number of spots, to help spread arrivals over two days. Of course, coming early also means more time to get settled & hang out with your mates for more fun too! 

To aid in that, there will be a cinema set up on the Midgard village green showing movies on Wednesday evening, a bar, food stalls, premium hand-crafted coffee (in the Ironwood campsite), plus some light evening entertainment via inflatables and DJ’s. The supermarket and Fat Frank’s camping shop will also be open in Midgard for anything you’ve forgotten and to blow up your airbed. 

You should only consider buying a Early Arrival add-on ticket if: You have or will be getting a standard weekend ticket (this includes those with a campervan ticket)You are NOT travelling via a Big Green Coach packageYou are NOT camping in the Serpents Lair VIP or Accessible campsites

Headbangers who have booked a Tangerine Fields pre-erected tent package (located in the Asgard campsite) can also arrive early on Wednesday from midday by purchasing the Early Arrival add-on ticket. 
Standard campsites include Asgard, Valhalla, Midgard, Ironwood, Jotunheim, and Hel, plus for families and those wanting a quieter camping experience, Ragnarok. Vanaheim will also be open for those with campervan tickets.

Please note, if you are arriving by train, the arrivals shuttle from Tamworth train station does not run on Wednesday. If you’ve already purchased your standard weekend ticket then you can purchase an Early Arrival add-on ticket for £20 + booking fee. If you haven’t yet purchased your standard weekend ticket then you can get both together priced at £205 + booking fee.

The limited Early Arrival add-on tickets will go on sale – on a first come first served basis – from the 2024 ticket store at 9am BST tomorrow, Friday 5th April. 

Accessible campsite patrons and Serpents Lair VIP patrons with VIP parking will still need to arrive from Thursday midday as normal. This is because BLOODSTOCK needs to contain the movement of traffic and patrons to one side of the festival whilst crew are busily completing the rest of the site, so these campsites cannot be open until then.

BLOODSTOCK is working closely with the licensing council and appreciates your understanding to help get everyone on site safely and efficiently.
CLUB NIGHTS!

Want to get the party started this month and meet some other BLOODSTOCKers? The first batch of this year’s riotously fun club nights are revealed! Kicking off as soon as this Friday, there are 24 opportunities for merriment all over the country, with Manchester’s event even boasting a guest DJ set from BURY TOMORROW. There will also be a competition at every club night to win a pair of standard weekend festival tickets! If none of these nights are near you, more events will be announced for June & July in due course. 

Fri 5th April – Reading – Face Bar, Schism
Sat 6th April – Torquay – The Attic, Party Hard!
Sat 6th April – Nottingham – Rock City, Alpha/Omega
Fri 12th April – Bristol – The Lanes, PHUCT
Sat 13th April – Manchester – The Bread Shed, Deadbolt (inc. Bury Tomorrow guest DJ set)
Fri 19th April – Exeter – The Cavern, Altern8
Fri 19th April – Guildford – The Star, Schism
Fri 19th April – Plymouth – The Junction, Pretty Fly
Sat 20th April – Liverpool – The Shipping Forecast, Boneyard
Fri 26th April – London – Electrowerkz, Voodoo
Sat 27th April – Stoke-on-Trent – The Sugarmill, Devil’s Night
Sat 27th April – York – Bluebox, Deadbolt

Fri 3rd May – Cardiff – Metros, Doomsday
Sat 4th May – Brighton – Above, Apocalypse
Sat 4th May – Torquay – The Attic, Party Hard!
Fri 10th May – Bristol – The Lanes, PHUCT
Sat 11th May – Isle of Wight – Strings, Apocalypse
Sat 18th May – Nottingham – The Sal, Hexx
Sat 18th May – Newcastle – Think Tank, Grindhouse
Sat 25th May – Southampton – Sobar, Apocalypse
Sat 25th May – Camberley – Agincourt
Sat 25th May – Stoke-on-Trent – The Sugarmill, Devil’s Night
Sat 25th May – Norwich – The Waterfront, MeltdownFri 31st May – Warrington – Eden, Asylum

All club nights are subject to change. Please check specific details with venues.

LEMMY’s ashes to live at BLOODSTOCK in 2024

BLOODSTOCK, by arrangement with Motörhead management, have announced that the legendary, late, great Lemmy Kilmister will be permanently memorialised at the heavy metal festival.  Some of Lemmy’s ashes will be housed at BLOODSTOCK – one of only a few places globally – in a unique urn, with the festival commissioning a Bust of Lemmy to incorporate the ashes.  Fans will be able to view the installation and pay tribute to Lemmy and his legacy in the RAM Gallery on site.  Once the festival is over, the Bust of Lemmy will move to Nottingham’s Rock City venue, where fans will have access to the ashes; they will return each and every year to their primary home on the hallowed turf of BLOODSTOCK at Catton Park. 

Motörhead’s manager, Todd Singerman comments: “BLOODSTOCK has always been a special place for Motörhead and for Lemmy. The people and the energy matched Lemmy’s values perfectly. Alan and Vicky were also great friends, and basically family of Lemmy, as he was the reason that they originally got together. This is definitely a fitting honor in the continuing series of enshrinements of Lemmy’s ashes in his most loved places.”

BLOODSTOCK’s Vicky Hungerford adds “We were humbled and honoured to be approached by Motörhead management to have Lemmy’s ashes at BLOODSTOCK. Lemmy holds a very special place in everybody’s heart, but to myself and my husband he was the reason we met and fell in love. Nothing will mean more to us and the BLOODSTOCK family than to honour his legacy  and have Lemmy forever at BLOODSTOCK “
The memorial will be part of a bigger picture theme for the festival this year to commemorate this special news and celebrate the remarkable legacy of Lemmy and Motörhead. 

The RAM Gallery on site will be extended this year to accommodate an expanded Motörhead theme, including a full wall of Motörhead artwork, as well as archive memorabilia, plus you can relive a moment in time by visiting a recreation of Lemmy’s touring dressing room (attached on to the gallery, accessible from within the gallery marquee).  On site this year,  BLOODSTOCKers will see the Motörhead Bomber in the arena, witness various bands paying tribute to Motörhead in their live sets, and the opening and closing of the festival will be marked with a sounding of the famous Motörhead air raid siren.  

BLOODSTOCK will also welcome Motörhead’s Phil Campbell to the festival this year and are thrilled to have his participation in these special celebrations. Even more Motörhead themed activations are still in the works, so stay tuned as this exciting development continues coming together. 

Standard weekend tickets to BLOODSTOCK, priced at £185 (+ bkg fee) are available now in the 2024 ticket store. Early Bird, VIP and campervan tickets are already sold out.   BLOODSTOCK’s 2024 Ronnie James Dio main stage headliners are AMON AMARTH, OPETH, and ARCHITECTS. Across the weekend you can also expect to see CLUTCH, HATEBREED, CARCASS, ENSLAVED, MALEVOLENCE, SATYRICON, ROTTING CHRIST, SYLOSIS, WHITECHAPEL, DEICIDE, GRAND MAGUS, DESERT STORM, THE VINTAGE CARAVAN, SOEN, GREEN LUNG, COMBICHRIST, XENTRIX, EXIST IMMORTAL, ETERNAL CHAMPION, GROVE STREET, MIMI BARKS, CRYPTA, FORBIDDEN, NERVOSA, BEAST IN BLACK, KORPIKLAANI, UNLEASH THE ARCHERS, FLOGGING MOLLY, SEPTIC FLESH, IGORRR, RUIJIN, GROVE STREET, UNPEOPLE, NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, HELLRIPPER, INFECTED RAIN, CULTURA TRES, SADUS, LUDOVICO TECHNIQUE, BURNER, RED RUM, EVERGREY, RAISED BY OWLS, TAILGUNNER, SOUTH OF SALEM, and ANKOR with more still to be announced. 

Get full festival information over at bloodstock.uk.com.  BLOODSTOCK will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 8th-11th August 2024.

BLOODSTOCK REVEALS NINETEEN MORE CRUSHING BANDS

BLOODSTOCK has two true loves…heavy and metal. This Valentine’s, let BLOODSTOCK sweep you off your feet with 18 more crushing bands for August’s best metal weekender.  And, with the line-up now complete for the two biggest stages, day tickets have gone on sale in the ticket store. 

With SOEN, COMBICHRIST, XENTRIX, RYUJIN, IGNEA, UNPEOPLE, BURNER and many more all joining the bill, there’s something this year for everyone on Catton Park’s hallowed turf!  If you’re still hungry for more, why not get involved in your local Metal 2 The Masses heats, and be part of shaping the line-up for the Hopical Storm New Blood stage, with lots of lower card bands still to be confirmed in the coming months.   

Joining Sunday’s Ronnie James Dio main stage bill are Swedish progressive metallers, SOEN.  The band recently released their sixth studio album, ‘Memorial’, via Spinefarm Records.  Check out the lead single, ‘Unbreakable’, taken from that album here.  And opening Sunday’s main stage are extreme metal comedians RAISED BY OWLS, who will be bringing their unique brand of mirth and revelry, as well as beefy riffs to kick off your Sunday morning. Watch their latest video effort here, ahead of their new album dropping in May.

Joining Saturday’s main stage bill are Ukrainian melodic metal storytellers, IGNEA, who are surely bound to play some fresh tracks off their latest record, ‘Dreams Of Lands Unseen’, released by Napalm Records last year.  Perhaps including its lead single, ‘Dunes’? 

Also landing a Saturday slot are British black metal outfit, DEITUS. Investigate ‘Irreversible’, the title track of their latest album released by Candlelight Records, here, if you’ve not yet discovered them.

That’s not all!  Over on the Sophie Lancaster stage on Friday, expect to see atmospheric heavyists DARKEST ERA, death hardcore fusionists BURNER, symphonic black metallers HALIPHRON, Irish death squad DEATHCOLLECTOR, Swedish metal stalwarts WOLF, and opening proceedings that day will be powerhouse rock trio, HAXAN

Saturday’s Sophie bill now features Las Vegas industrial squad COMBICHRIST, hot new alt rock collective UNPEOPLE, Brit hardcore newcomers CAULDRON, classic rock n’ rollers ASOMVEL, and Finnish deathcore outfit, ENEMIES EVERYWHERE.

And on the Sophie line-up on Sunday, BLOODSTOCK welcomes thrash icons XENTRIX, Japanese samurai metal warriors RYUJIN, Brit deathcore bruisers OSIAH, and melodic metal six-piece, AWAKE BY DESIGN.

BLOODSTOCK’S 11 BANDS OF CHRISTMAS



As December extends its frosty fingers, BLOODSTOCK is getting in the festive spirit with some early Xmas gifts by way of another chunky 2024 announcement.  If you’re hoping for some heavy metal next summer, BLOODSTOCK’s got your presents wrapped up with a bow on top!  And if you want to give the gift of heavy metal (yes, we mean a ticket for BLOODSTOCK 2024), you can now download a special festive card when you order at the ticket store to help present it to the lucky recipient! 

Don’t miss BLOODSTOCK’s Festive Facebook Live at 7pm on Dec 7th  for some seasonal fun & oh maybe some prizes… and we suggest you keep your eyes (and your sprouts) peeled for who knows what other treats might be in store across the festival’s socials later this month… 



On the Ronnie James Dio main stage, grindcore & melodic death metal pioneers CARCASS land Sunday’s special guest slot.  The “most influential band out of Merseyside since The Beatles” released their current studio album, ‘Torn Arteries’ in 2021 via Nuclear Blast to colossal acclaim. 

Also appearing Sunday on the RJD main stage are South American progressive sludge metal project, CULTURA TRES.  Last year, the 4-piece, featuring Sepultura’s Paolo Pinto Jr on bass, released their 5th studio album, ‘Camino De Brujos’. 

Black metal icons, SATYRICON will return to the stage for the first time in 5 years to headline Sunday’s Sophie Lancaster stage.  In what are becoming increasingly rare appearances, frontman Satyr informs us: “The way SATYRICON’s attitude has resonated with English fans throughout our journey as a band, has made us feel that playing there isn’t so much a visit, but rather a homecoming. Having decided to do only a few select shows, we can’t go everywhere, but fortunately there are a few places our hearts seem to take us, one way or the other. Like England.”  

The mighty SYLOSIS steam into a Saturday slot on the Sophie stage.  Their latest album, ‘A Sign Of Things To Come’ landed in September and the Brit metal heavyweights told us, “We can’t wait to be back at BLOODSTOCK!  We’ve had some amazing shows over the years, but it feels like next year is going to be really special!”  We can’t wait either!  In the meantime, get a load of new song ‘Descent’ taken from that brand new release. 

Also appearing on Saturday’s Sophie stage are American goth metal project, LUDOVICO TECHNIQUE.  Fronted by enigmatic songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ben V, they released their most recent album ‘Haunted People’ in 2022.  Check out their epic video for ‘Live As Myself’, taken from that album, here
Ahoy!  Metal pirates RED RUM also grab a Saturday Sophie slot.  If you like your pirate tunes laden with riffs and melodies, RED RUM aren’t to be missed.  Sing along with ‘We Pirates’ taken from their current album, ‘Book of Legends’ out now on Trollzorn Records.  

SADUS bring their death/thrash sounds to BLOODSTOCK’s Sophie stage for the first time ever on Sunday.  The band came off an extended hiatus in 2017 and signed to Nuclear Blast for the recent release of new studio album, ‘The Shadow Inside’.  Check out the lyric video for album track, ‘Ride The Knife’
On Sunday’s Sophie stage bill, expect to see Spanish alt metal collective, ANKOR.  Fronted by Jessie Williams (who hails from Bristol, UK), the band blend metalcore with progressive and electro elements, creating a sound of their very own. 

If you’re a weekend ticket holder, the party starts early for you on Thursday.  Once you’ve set up camp and had your first cold one, prog metal Swedes EVERGREY are set to headline Thursday’s Sophie stage, with earlier evening sets from classic heavy metallers TAILGUNNER and Bournemouth rock n’ roll squad, SOUTH OF SALEM.