June 11, 2011 22:53

Avenged Sevenfold pay tribute to their 'brother upstairs' at Download

Band make their first UK festival appearance since drummer's death

Photo: Tom Martin/NME

Avenged Sevenfold paid tribute to their late drummer bandmate Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan during their show at Download Festival this evening (June 11).

The California metallers performed on the Main Stage ahead headliners of System Of A Down, marking their first festival appearance in the UK since The Rev's 2009 death and their UK debut with new drummer Arin Illejay.

Drawing one of the largest crowds of the weekend, the metalcore act took to a stage equipped with pillars that shot bursts of flames and red smoke. Kicking off the night by inviting the crowd to join their “fucked up goddamn family”, M Shadows and his band performed a set of tracks heavily drawn from their last two albums 'Avenged Sevenfold' and 'Nightmare'.

Review: Avenged Sevenfold at Download

They namechecked "our brother upstairs", M Shadows declaring that he wanted to use today to celebrate the late drummer’s life, as a large image of The Rev dropped down as the backdrop on the stage.

Avenged Sevenfold played:

'Nightmare'
'Critical Acclaim'
'Welcome to the Family'
'Almost Easy'
'Buried Alive '
'Afterlife'
'God Hates Us'
'Bat Country'
'A Little Piece Of Heaven'
'Unholy Confessions'
'Save Me'

NME.COM is coming live from the Isle Of Wight Festival and Download this weekend. Stay tuned to NME.COM/festivals/isle-of-wight and NME.COM/festivals/download for news, blogs, photo galleries and video interviews from both sites.