The big review: Bludfest 2024

What a weekend it’s been, with Bloodstock hosting its usual party of metal mania, and Korn laying waste to Gunnersbury Park. But there’s something extra special about Bludfest. Created by the ever-jaunty YUNGBLUD, its tickets are half the price of a regular festival (yet artists are still paid fairly by the headliner), it’s got its own mini version of Camden complete with The Hawley Arms pub, and inclusivity and acceptance is at the root of the day's vibe. This is, indeed, Dominic Harrison in festival form.

Such positive, fan-first attributes seem almost like a fairytale of sorts in today’s struggling live music industry. Can this thing really be pulled off? Yes, it bluddy well can.

Admittedly, the party doesn't get off to the best start, with tight security checks meaning fans queuing for hours in sweltering August heat to get into Milton Keynes Bowl (for which YUNGBLUD, to his credit, almost immediately took to Instagram to explain and apologise). Once inside, though, it's a back-to-back, full day run of pop-rock, punk, rap and all else in between. It all sums up the feeling of being an outcast in today’s world, all from the same soil that’s seen historic shows from David Bowie, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi and Metallica.

So, come along with us as we catch all the action at the festival designed for the fans, and for the fans only…

Jazmin Bean is making history today, being the first artist to play the first-ever Bludfest. No big stress for them, though, as they swish out onstage in a pink prom-like get-up, with the synth melody of Favourite Toy blaring out to kick this festival into “fookin” action (as YUNGBLUD would say). It’s early doors and The Bowl is just warming up, but there’s already a cluster of eager fans in attendance, and Jazmin breezes through the serene, sassy alt.pop of Traumatic Livelihood and new song, It’s Not My Fault It’s Yours with star power you can feel.

Things are heating up and it’s not just the weather – someone’s flirting with Nessa Barrett. “Marry me!” they yell, and with a chuckle she says yes. Working the stage in sparkling rose platform boots and leopard-print shorts, today Nessa is Lana Del Rey meets Kesha.

She softly serenades her way through American Jesus, which receives a swathe of cheers for those opening swooned lines. Between tracks she sighs with something approaching relief, as if being here today is like a trip to the spa. We’re even treated to a completely unheard new song called Dirty Little Secret, seeing Nessa take on bass guitar. Elsewhere, Club Heaven feels particularly poignant, with Nessa dedicating the song to her late best friend, and allowing us to share a moment over how much grief sucks. By show of hands, so many of us have lost loved ones and are not alone in the pain. That’s part of what today is all about, right?

Landon Barker wants to tell us something, but the music flares up without him. “I’ll tell you guys later,” he says casually. After his version of Freaks by Surf Curse, we find out Landon actually has fear of nobody turning up to his gigs. On Stage 2, however, he’s met with a packed-out corner of The Bowl, and he’s pretty damned stoked about it. His patch of Bludfest offers a mix of pop-punk boppers and slower, sulky ballads. Though he funnily keeps addressing MK as London throughout, he makes the time to chat with the growing crowd, reassuring that he feels grateful, and at times emotional. Landon’s show is laid-back and chill, a set that rides whatever wave comes.

There are people out there that would wrongly assume fans of YUNGBLUD wouldn’t be all that into classic punk, but the Bludfesters have done their homework. Before a mix of Gen Z-ers revelling in the magic of the legend slot, and those a little older parading their unwavering loyalty, The Damned mesh together the best of all that's here. Effortlessly proving just why they’ve been branded as today’s icons, it's nothing less than pure style, with suave singer Dave Vanian and his band coming across as uber cool during timeless bangers Neat Neat Neat and Smash It Up. Because they are.

Jesse Jo Stark is even better live than she is on record. On Stage 2, her force of nature vocals smack the crowd right in the face, in a good way. Her voice is beautifully controlled and vicious, accenting her lyrics with growls right from the belly, and she swaggers around to her meandering classic rock guitar melodies. She dedicates Lipstick to those who “love really fucking hard”, and Skeleton takes a rageful approach to battling with your own body image as she lets it all out here. What better place to leave your rage onstage than at Bludfest?

Everyone’s favourite two-man boyband SOFT PLAY arrive as the day is only just finally starting to grow cooler. After their intro of The Vengaboys’ We Like To Party, the Tunbridge Wells duo come pelting right in with Punk’s Dead. The band continue to chew up the punk rulebook and spit it right back at you at each live set. It's fresh, fun and, well, funny. “This is a song about spilling bin juice all over your kitchen floor, for fuck’s sake,” Isaac Holman says, introducing HEAVY JELLY belter Bin Juice Disaster. He later leads The Bowl into chanting “fuck the hi-hat” in protest to his absence of one. “But never fuck the tambourine,” guitarist Laurie Vincent interjects. Oh God no, the pair agree. One could never.

Their banter never wavers, especially when they take a trip into the crowd. But while they’re excellent at providing great music and great laughs, they’re also good at winding it down to remind us all to kiss our friends, and tell those next to us how much they mean to us, to the ever-bittersweet mandolin-led Everything And Nothing. They won’t leave on a solemn note, though, so of course they pull out The Hunter to say goodbye with a bang.

Ears are pricking up as NOAHFINNCE prepares to make his entrance onstage, as the nostalgically jarring sounds of internet dial up play out across the Stage 2 area, where folks are leaking out onto the main pathway already. This of course, introduces GROWING UP ON THE INTERNET, the anthem of online-trauma from Noah’s latest album of the same title.

His set is a mighty one as he gets to close out this stage for the day, and going into I Know Better, with its kooky introduction, he declares it his favourite song ever – a fairly justified opinion. The song never goes amiss on a live crowd, and today is no different, with a pit breaking out at front.

Just as much as people are here for Noah’s usual vibe of joyful chaos, things also get political with his between-song chats. Many centre around transphobia and the fact that as such a hate-filled planet right now, we are completely fucked. But it’s okay – Bludfest is its own world, and transphobia is not welcome here, most definitely not at Noah’s set. SCUMBAG rightly addresses this, and later closing out with WORMS (In My Brain), Noah’s time here feels brilliantly executed from start to finish.

YUNGBLUD tells us we will probably remember this day for the rest of our lives, and that he will too. The man of the moment is about to take centre stage and headline his very own festival, but before he does he’s playing out a message on the big screens. It’s one of him talking about the appreciation he has for his fans, and all that has led up to this historic day for the 27-year-old.

And what he says is true: nobody here will forget what today has been, and all that it has stood for. As the show kicks off and pyro sends whooshes of heat for opener superdeadfriends, it's clear there's a ‘no messing’ precedent set.

This might be Dom’s night of shining glory, but not one bit of his chat between songs goes without reminding Bludfest that today is a shared victory. This festival is ours, collectively.

“Bludfest this is fuckin’ history, this is our movement,” he declares before going into Fleabag, where – as those of the Black Heart Club will know – he pulls his usual tactic of getting a fan to come up and play guitar with him, letting them keep it, because “this is what YUNGBLUD’s all about, motherfuckers!”

The moment that sums YUNGBLUD more than any speech tonight, is one entirely unplanned. “Hello. Who the fuck are you?” laughs Dom, looking to his left where some random guy in a hoodie somehow makes it onstage. Security comes rushing to tackle the intruder away, but Dom assures he’s alright in his calm, Doncaster drawl. He lets the crasher take a selfie with him, and stands beaming as the unknown man wraps his arms around his shoulders. The message is clear: no-one here is bigger or smaller than anyone else.

The set rocks to and fro from this ecstatic version of Dom, to one that is in pure awe at what he is looking out on, and what has finally come to fruition. In fact, he fucking bawls his eyes out with a performance of Breakdown. The tears are contagious. ’Express yourself with your friends, they’ll save your life, you know / Everything’s about connection, you don’t have to be alone,’ he chants through this emotional ecstasy.

Job bluddy well done.

Get your Kerrang! x YUNGBLUD football shirt now.

Read this next:

• YUNGBLUD: “The world is ready for rock music and the world is ready for f*cking rock stars”
  
• SOFT PLAY: “We need to do this together… the magic of our band is both of us”
• Jazmin Bean: “I don’t think this is a healed album, or a wounded one. It’s a healing album”