How do the Stonedead Festival organisers keep getting it right? Taking place on Saturday, the 24th of August 2024, Stonedead is officially a one-day one-stage event. However the fun began with the Stonedead Friday party. With unexpected tornado level wins, the festival organisers had a huge challenge on their hands to erect the stage in time for show. In the interests of safety this meant not being able to use the big screens and also having an open back to the stage, but this in the way detracted from the fans enjoyment. Kicking things off this year were Scarlet Rebels whose joy for playing this incredible festival was massively enhanced as they learned only hours before that their new album Where The Colours Meet had just entered the UK charts at number 15. Original Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno was up next. As expected, and to the crowd’s massive satisfaction, Paul played a number of hits from Iron Maiden’s self titled debut and their Killers album. It was heartwarming to see the Paul receive so much love from the fans and it was evident that he did not expect this to be given so passionately from the entire arena. The Quireboys headlining set was absolutely outstanding and this was reinforced through the addition to tonight‘s lineup of Thunder’s Luke Morley on guitar and Harry James on drums. Another amazing quality about Stonedead is the opportunity that fans had to meet the artists themselves and today all three acts took the time to hold meet and greets, and I don’t think you can underestimate what a difference this really does make. Saturday got underway with the ever entertaining Krusher compering the event. The line up for this year‘s festival has been absolutely incredible. The Hot One Two kick things off at 11:30 am with a near capacity crowd already in attendance. Tailgunner brought their old-school Iron Maiden and Dio inspired music and Hollywood rockers The Bites proved to be one of the biggest successes of the day with their Sunset Strip inspired music and a performance which was sheer fun! Swedish charms Bonafide lit up the crowd with their booze-soaked brand of rock that would make any fan of AC/DC happy, and fellow Swedes Eclipse brought perhaps the most metal of all the bands and for some fans it was a surprise to learn that they have been going for 25 years. Perhaps the best band you’d never heard?  Next up we had the Queen of Metal herself Doro take to the stage. It was wonderful to see fans of all ages attending Stonedead this year but it was of course the older generation who especially appreciated what this fine artist brought to the festival, and with Doro closing her set with 1984’s All We Are, I don’t think there was any better way to mark this classic’s 40th anniversary. Ugly Kid Joe prove themselves to be one of the absolute highlights of Stonedead. Whitfield Crane is an absolute master of working the crowd and it was wonderful to hear fans show a strong appreciation for what the band are all about as this goes far beyond their classic track Everything About You. Special guests KK’s Priest were absolutely incendiary. Tracks from their two albums Sermons of the Sinner and The Sinner Rides Again are welcomed in equal measure to the classic Judas Priest tracks such as Breaking The Law and Green Manalishi. KK’s Priest  could’ve easily headlined today and the widespread view amongst the fans is that the lineup of this year’s festival would’ve been complete at this point. It’s therefore absolutely astounding that the festival organisers were able add Saxon as the band that would close the show this year. Biff Byford belies his 73 years, giving an active metal performance and with vocals that have aged like a fine wine. Together with Diamond Head’s Brian Tatler joining Saxon for his 80th show with the band, it’s a very special gift of a performance to the Stonedead crowd. As the fireworks mark the end of standard 2024 it’s with a massive sense of contentment and pride that we reflect on what a very, very special event it has been.