Stonedead Festival Announce First Bands for 2024 Edition
With five triumphant festivals under their belts, Stonedeaf Productions Ltd are aiming even higher for 2024 and this promises to be the best yet. The annual home for the very best one day hard rock and metal festival in the country, Newark Showground opens it’s doors once more to Stonedead next August for an event of monster proportions. The team are thrilled to reveal the following line-up. With the headline act still to be announced and the contest for the openers yet to be revealed, the already stellar list of bands playing ensure another sold out show, well in advance.
In the special guest slot, Stonedead are thrilled to announce the incredible K.K.s Priest, featuring the legendary K.K. Downing and Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens. With two critically acclaimed albums under their studded belts, the outfit have truly brought their own British steel firepower, capturing all the freshness and full-throttle power of Heavy Metal. Soaked in tradition yet decidedly cutting edge, the two former Judas Priest stars have proven to be titans of their craft and the juggernaut of K.K.s Priest came out of the gate running and looks like there’s no intention of slowing down. With their incendiary live shows and killer material, there’s no doubt that they’re a thrilling addition to the bill and will lay waste to all those worshiping at this temple of metal.
With a reputation as one of the best hard rockin’ party bands on the planet, Ugly Kid Joe are guaranteed to make you smile while you dance and punch the air. Originally formed in 1989 in California, the quintet has countless tours under their belts, opening for the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard alongside numerous headline jaunts. With the worldwide hits ‘Everything About You’ and Harry Chapin cover ‘Cats in the Cradle’ thrusting them fully into the public consciousness, it was a non-stop rock ride for the quintet as they played all over the globe. With a string of much-loved albums packed with barnstorming rockers and a reputation as one of the best live acts out there, Ugly Kid Joe are going to be a band that everyone will love.
Famous as the first female lead singer to grace the stage of Monsters of Rock in 1986 with Warlock, Doro is THE Metal Queen, her passion for the music we all love never diminishing. Always groundbreaking, her band performed the first drive-in Heavy Metal show during the pandemic in 2020 and it’s this determination to get out to rock as many people as she can that has seen her held in such high esteem. Having released a dizzying number of albums in her career and spent her life on the road, the reputation she has built up is a formidable one and her list of admirers and collaborators in the business includes Lemmy, Slash, Blaze Bailey, Eric Singer, Biff Byford, Gene Simmons and Udo Dirkschneider amongst many others. With anthems such as ‘Love Me in Black’, ‘All for Metal’ and ‘Raise Your Fist in the Air’ she certainly knows how to bring the thunder and Stonedeaders are sure to be blown away. All hail the Queen.
Bringing some hook-filled Swedish hard rock, Eclipse will be celebrating their twenty-fifth year as a band in 2024 so their appearance at Stonedead is bound to be a celebration of all they’ve achieved thus far. With the Scandi ability to write songs with massive riffs and even bigger choruses, the combo has been bringing stadium sounds and tonnes of energy everywhere they go, their latest album ‘Megalomanium’ having received rave reviews this year. Promising to play a set full of numbers that will stick in your head for days, Eclipse are bound to be one of THE bands of the day.
Playing the sort of dirty, bluesy hard rock that AC/DC have made their own, Bonafide bring the feel of the best bar room band in the world to the stage at Stonedead. Boogie merchants with a truck load of soul, the Swedish quartet know how to write songs that can transport the listener to those thrilling and primal times when they first discovered the joy of loud electric guitars and a swinging groove. With a dedicated fan base in the UK that’s bound to grow after this appearance, make sure you’re down the front to soak up the atmosphere and feel those joyously filthy riffs.
Thrillingly rough-edged, new American heroes The Bites have tapped into the sleazy garage hard rock that saw bands filling the Sunset Strip in the 80’s but updating it with a modern bite. Much more grit than glam, they’ve none-the-less managed to blend sugar rush melodies with uncontrolled nitro-fuelled edginess that marks them out as one of the emerging bands who have a vision of the past whilst decidedly aiming forward. With their newly released debut album ‘Squeeze’ setting pulses racing for even the most jaded veteran music critics, these megastars in waiting are destined for the stratosphere.
Totally in love with the music that built the original New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Tailgunner have seemingly jumped in Doc Brown’s DeLorean and jumped from 1981 right to the present. With the blistering ‘Guns for Hire’ debut released this year, the quintet has already seen themselves growing an immediate fanbase that spans generations, tours selling out and countless articles written about them. With material that kicks up dust and provides the adrenaline rush of early Saxon and their ilk, those heady, nascent days of the first Monsters of Rock will be reborn when Tailgunner hit the stage and it’s something not to be missed.
Stonedead 2024 is an outdoor, one day, one stage, monster of a festival where rock music reigns eternal. Stonedead is firmly placed on the rock festival map and places the rock fan experience at its core. Come and see it for yourself!
Stonedead aims to excite both classic and new rock fans in providing a unique one day, one stage festival where the music is the focus, the beer and food are priced competitively and you can camp / park 5 minutes from the level ground arena.
The festival is solely organised by volunteers and created for music fans,
Prices for arena only tickets are just £55 for adults and £40 for under 14s. Camping and arena tickets are £70 for adults and £45 for under 14s. Then with family and Adult 4 pack ticket offers from as little as £210, you really can’t beat Stonedead for value. For the full range of ticket options visit:
Tickets: www.stonedeadfestival.co.uk/tickets
