PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Avenged Sevenfold brought the pyros. Linkin Park brought the classic album. And Aerosmith? They brought the film crew for a live recording that will hopefully surface as a live DVD in the near future. One thing is certain though – they filmed on the right night.
Starting off with a live feed from backstage was cool enough – especially when the camera enters Steven Tyler’s dressing room and several women walked out in little clothing – but as the band take the stage and launch into ‘Train Kept A-Rollin’ it becomes very clear that they’re here to do more than show Download that they’ve still got it in every aspect. No, they’re here to blow us away. When they closed the festival in 2010 a huge criticism of their set was how many ballads there were. Here there were three in the entire 19 song set; the rest was pure, fast classic rock that has defied the generations to be as catchy and brilliant now as it was then. Tyler may need to rely on pre-recorded backing vocals on some of the lines to keep his voice in check but he continues to ooze charisma and charm. Joe Perry doesn’t have a bad set of pipes on him either as he proves during ‘Freedom Fighter’, a song from the band’s last album that showcases the guitarist on lead vocals. Elsewhere, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer keep themselves to themselves and do their very best to ignore Tyler’s flamboyant displays of arm swinging and strutting. There’s enough here for everyone to recognise – the sleazy stomp of ‘Love in an Elevator’ to the great sing-a-long of ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’, the power and pace of ‘Toys in the Attic’ to a quite phenomenal cover of the Beatle’s ‘Come Together’. All through it, the big screen at the back displays the band from all angles and lightings – sometimes bringing up scarier sights than usual! The only time the tempo is lost is when the two outer screens freeze for a few minutes of ‘No More No More’, but once the fix happens they’re straight back into it.
The encore sees a piano brought on stage and Tyler sits down to play ‘Dream On’…and promptly messes it up right at the beginning. But a quick laugh with the rest of us and the song is flawless, with Joe Perry climbing on top to belt out his solo across Donington Park. ‘Sweet Emotion’ is supposedly the last song of the night – that is, until Tyler leads everyone in a chant of ‘Fuck curfew!’ and the band give us Mama Kin before calling it quits for good. The general consensus is that they closed Download Festival with style, panache and punch. They’re probably just thinking it was a job well done.
Setlist
Train Kept-A Rollin’
East the Rich
Love in an Elevator
Cryin’
Jaded
Livin’ on the Edge
Last Child
Freedom Fighter
Same Old Song and Dance
Janie’s Got a Gun
Toys in the Attic
I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing
No More Mo More
Come Together
Dude (Looks Like A Lady)
Walk This Way
—–ENCORE—–
Dream On
Sweet Emotion
Mama Kin.
