A crowd of 5,000 fans rocked out in the Gibson/My Space tent at Leicestershire, England’s Download Festival. An eclectic mix of metal favorites including Louie, Ginger & the Sonic Circus, Lauren Harris, Voodoo Six, and Sick Of It All were just some of the bands who performed over the three-day event. Finnish Euorovision song contest-winners Lordi entertained the capacity crowd with their performance and jaw-dropping costumes.

At the main stage in Donington Park, 80,000 fans braved temperatures in the high 80s to attend Europe’s largest metal festival, now in its fourth year. A highlight of the event was Metallica’s performance of their 1986 multi-platinum selling album Master of Puppets in its entirety. Other headliners on the main stage included Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, Alice in Chains, Bullet For My Valentine, Funeral For A Friend, and Trivium. Fans were especially enthusiastic for the highly anticipated return of Guns N’ Roses. The legendary band did not disappoint, with original Guns’ guitarist Izzy Stradlin and Sebastian Bach from Skid Row joining Axl Rose onstage for the band’s finale.

In its first year as an official sponsor of the popular festival, Gibson provided instruments to many of the bands to use during their sets. Gibson also provided backline support, including amps and a set of Slingerland drums. An Epiphone Les Paul Standard was awarded to the high-score winners of the Guitar Hero game, which was held on the Gibson/My Space Stage. Several of the musicians dropped by the tent throughout the festival to sign a pair of guitars—an Epiphone SG Special and Les Paul Standard—that will be given away during Kerrang TV’s weeklong telecast of the event, June 19-24.