Download 2010 Post Mortem - Sunday 13th June

All the action from the closing day of Download 2010

Headache. Ouch. The morning after the Rage Against The Machine totally broke us, we were all left feeling a little bit vulnerable on Sunday morning at Download
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No bother. After a pint of fizzy stuff and a bacon butty, the Download campers are back on fine form, gathering around the stages in the Arena and ready for another colossal day of rock.

With Ben Poole, White Wizzard and Nonpoint doing significant damage on various stages, Dommin took to the Maurice Jones Stage to open the final day at Download in style.

Goth rockers Dommin opening up the Maurice Jones Stage at Download 2010

This was the band's first Download appearance and they showcased their recently released second full length album Love is Gone. With songs such as My Heart, Your Hands, Tonight and One Feeling, the gothic rockers showed they could hold their own on the main stage.
 
Read our full review of when Dommin and FM opened up the Maurice Jones Stage here.

Backstage, the Artist Area was packed with some of rock’s greatest ambassadors, including Corey Taylor, Billy Idol, Scott Weiland and the living legend that is Slash.

Kylie from The Lowdown managed to grab a chat with the be-hatted hero. Watch the video now.

Meanwhile, the hilarious Steel Panther were busy entertaining the massive crowd that had assembled around the Ronnie James Dio Stage. The filthy foursome were up to their usual antics singing about sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. There was also plenty of banter between the band and the audience, and more boobs on display than a Dutch peep show.

Steel Panther played on of the biggest gigs of their lives at Download this year

Whist this was all going on, rock deities Motorhead swaggered on to the Maurice Jones Stage through a haze of smoke, opening up their Download set in traditionally blistering form with a raucous Iron Fist.

As the weather started to take a turn for the worse, Lemmy hollered "Fuck the rain," before Phil Campbells' guitar licks bursted into their most upbeat summer number of the night, Going To Brazil.

Read our full review of Motorhead live at Download 2010 here.

Adam from The Lowdown was busy catching up with a couple of his heroes, and wangled interviews with Stone Sour’s Corey Taylor and iconic Brit rocker Billy Idol.

Elsewhere, during Airbourne’s set, frontman Joel O’Keefe decided that standing in the centre of the stage wasn’t enough for him and climbed the rafters by the stage screens for a head-banging guitar solo.

He held is axe high above his head to an almighty cheer, which was followed by a villainous boo when security stopped the music and beaconed the cheeky Aussie back down to earth. It was most rock ‘n roll.

Following this, Stone Sour took their turn headlining the Ronnie James Dio Stage, lashing out plenty of classics as well as new tunes from their forthcoming album Audio Secrecy.

The show included an emotional tribute to Slipknot bassist Paul Gray, who sadly passed away a few weeks ago. “This is for my friend,” said Corey Taylor, before the band played a subdued rendition of Bother.

Stone Sour's Corey Taylor live on the Ronnie James Dio Stage

This touching moment was followed by a more light-heated one, with Corey referring to the adoring crowd stood out in the rain as “soggy motherfuckers”. No one cared. Stone Sour rocked.

We were also treated to a sublime set from the incredible Stone Temple Pilots, who were simply and utterly transcendent at Download.

The psychedelic hum beginning Vasoline gave way to an otherworldly rock show that saw the band reaching heights that only their heroes have attained.

Stone Temple Pilots rocked hard at Download

Wicked Garden rang out across the Arena on the coattails of Dean DeLeo's flawless riffing and Robert DeLeo's impenetrable bass.

Read our full review of STP at Download here.

It was finally time for the moment we all knew was coming, but pretended it wasn’t happening so soon – Aerosmith were about to take control of the Maurice Jones Stage and close Download 2010 in a way only they could.

Boom! With guitars cranked up to eleven, the opening chords to Love In An Elevator blast out of the speakers, a massive Aerosmtih flag drops to the floor and the stage lights up like a Christmas tree, revealing a sequin-robed Steven Tyler flanked by Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. The crowd goes wild. Hands are aloft.

"Britain have you missed us?" demands Tyler. Yes scream back the crowd. "Have you got your freak on?" he continues, before stripping the sequins and throwing then into the front row.

The inimitable Steven Tyler from Aerosmith was on fine form at Download 2010

The show had it all – incredible rock tunes. Funky blues jammin’. Pure live musicianship of the highest order. The Boston Bad Boys even managed to reduce grown men to tears during an emotional rendition of I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing, which was accompanied by reminiscent images of the film Armageddon in the background.

Closing the weekend in formidable style, Aerosmith climaxed with an encore which included the sublime Dream On and the one-and-only Walk This Way.

With the sun set and the rain softly falling on the crowd, 90,000 people made their way back to the campsites.

It had been one incredible Download weekend. Want to do it all again next year? You bet. See you in 2011.