AC/DC CONFIRMED AS HEADLINER FOR DOWNLOAD 2010

DOWNLOAD CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF DONINGTON WITH THEM CROOKED VULTURES, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, DEFTONES, MEGADETH, MOTÖRHEAD PLUS MORE!

After many rumours, gossip and speculation DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL organisers have today confirmed that the world’s greatest rock band AC/DC will be one of the headliners for this year’s festival, taking place at Donington Park 11-13 June.

There is no better band to help celebrate 30 years at Donington than AC/DC, who with all guns blazing (not to mention bells!) will be appearing at Donington for the fourth time. AC/DC first appeared at the second Monsters of Rock concert in 1981, and then 1984 and 1991. 2010 will mark three decades of AC/DC at Donington Park – and their debut Download performance.

Festival organisers have also announced that they are increasing the arena capacity this year to accommodate even more fans keen to experience Download at Donington Park and celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Monsters of Rock. Last year’s event sold out at 85,000 per day – the increased arena size this year will make Download the biggest UK music festival after Glastonbury. Established in 1980 by promoter Paul Loasby and the late Maurice Jones who died last year, the event was originally created as a day-long Summer festival dedicated to rock and heavy metal bands. Over the years it was quickly established as the annual event for the UK hard rock fraternity. It was destined to become a British music tradition - 30 years on and Download Festival has become the premiere rock festival.

Andy Copping, Download festival Promoter, commented, “Download 2010 will be one for the history books. It will see the return of the world’s greatest rock band to the most legendary and spiritual home of rock. We have been pushing for this moment for many years, but for this to become reality alongside the likes of Them Crooked Vultures, Motörhead and Megadeth is the best 30th Anniversary of the site we could have dreamed of, it’s also going to be a fantastic tribute to Maurice Jones who started this all off back in 1980.”

John Probyn, COO Live Nation explained, “The Donington site and its continuing flexibility should take some of the credit for the longevity and success of both Monsters of Rock and Download Festival. We are thrilled that our 30-year association with the site will be marked not only with a superb line-up, but also by the expansion of Download 2010 to accommodate more festival-goers than ever.”

Joining AC/DC and following two incredible shows at Hammersmith Apollo before Christmas are rock supergroup de jour THEM CROOKED VULTURES, which features rock legends Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones. Incredibly none of the band have ever played at Donington before either – making this Download performance even more exclusive.

Also confirmed will be reformed grunge-rock heroes STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, for their first UK show since getting back together for a massive North American tour in 2008. The band have NEVER played at Donington or Download before, although striking frontman Scott Weiland has of course performed twice, with previous band Velvet Revolver.

One of the ‘Big Four’ bands of thrash metal, MEGADETH, will be back at Donington for the fourth time, having played Monsters of Rock in 1988, and then two Download Festivals (2005 and 2007), alongside metal behemoths MOTÖRHEAD, also making their fourth appearance with one Monsters of Rock (1986) and two Download’s under their studded belts (2005 and 2008).

Returning for the third time will be Sacremento heavy rockers DEFTONES, with a new album slated for April. With an incredible four Download performances already – and with each year moving further and further up the bill – Welsh metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE return in 2010 bringing circle pits-a-plenty – lock up your daughters. WOLFMOTHER – also confirmed for London’s Hard Rock Calling – will be bringing their Australian rock to the Download stage for the second time and finally, making their second Download appearance will be Danish rockabillies VOLBEAT.

Weekend tickets for Download 2010 go on sale 9am Friday 29 January via http://www.downloadfestival.co.uk. R.I.P packages also available

‘The best festival weekend ever” – Kerrang! Magazine

‘A glorious weekend’ – Metal Hammer

‘The best weekend for getting rocked…a rite of passage for any self respecting rocker’ – NME

‘The Glyndbourne for loud guitars’ – The Times

‘For those who like their festivals with a harder edge, Download is the only one worth considering…hard rock heaven’ – The Sun

ABOUT THE DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL: The Download Festival is the UK’s premier Rock Festival. A mammoth 5 day rock event, based at the spiritual home of rock - Donington Park. Produced and promoted by Live Nation, The Download Festival is now in its eighth year. Previous heavy rock superstars headlining the event have included Slipknot, Faith No More, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, System of a Down, and Black Sabbath. With 3 days of incredible live music, across 3 stages and over 100 bands performing, Download Festival will be the ONLY festival to see some of the best heavy rock on the planet in 2010 - but of course the complete, now fully established Download experience (including camping facilities, 'RIP' packages and entertaining carnival atmosphere) is about far, far more than just the music – it’s simply not to be missed.

The Download Festival has received the following awards:

2003 – “Event of the Year” - Kerrang! Awards
2004 – “Best Event or Performance Site” - BT Digital Music Awards
2004 – “The Best Festival” - UK Festival Awards
2005 – “Best Official Website” - BT Digital Music Awards
2007 – “Best Music Community” - BT Digital Music Awards
2007 – “Top Festival” - Billboard Touring Awards
2008 – “Best Music Community” - BT Digital Music Awards
2009 – “Event Of The Year” – Metal Hammer Golden Gods
2009 – “Event Of The Year” – Classic Rock Roll of Honour

About Live Nation:

Live Nation’s mission is to maximize the live concert experience. Our core business is producing, marketing and selling live concerts for artists via our global concert pipe. Live Nation is the largest producer of live concerts in the world, annually producing over 22,000 concerts for 1,500 artists in 57 countries. During 2008, the company sold over 50 million concert tickets and drove over 70 million unique visitors to LiveNation.com. Live Nation is transforming the concert business by expanding its concert platform into ticketing and building the industry’s first artist-to-fan vertically integrated concert platform. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol “LYV”. Additional information about the company can be found at http://www.livenation.com/investors.