The Boston artist line up includes 311, Dropkick Murphys, G. Love & Special Sauce, Jurassic 5, The Wailers, Pepper and more. The San Francisco line up is to be announced shortly and will include some of today’s biggest breakout bands.

Leading live event and venue company, Live Nation, which owns 27 festivals around the world, is producing Download in the UK, United States and for the first time this year, in Dublin, Ireland.

“Live Nation is a world leader in festival ownership,” said Charlie Walker, Live Nation’s President of Music. “Our goal is to import the skill set and successful festival brands we currently own in Europe into our venues in the United States. Expanding Download into another market here in the States is a great step in that direction.”

Following the successful launch of Download in the US in San Francisco in 2005 with an artist lineup that included top talent featuring The Killers, Modest Mouse, The Arcade Fire, Doves, H.I.M., Mindless Self Indulgence and more, along with innovative technology and media experiences, Download is poised to take the fan experience to another level in 2006 with increased fan and artist interaction and exciting digital content features.

Headlining Download 2006 in Boston is 311 who were formed by five self-described “friends for life” — singer/guitarist Nick Hexum, singer S.A. Martinez, guitarist Tim Mahoney, drummer Chad Sexton and the bassist known only as P-Nut. An exceptional live band, 311, manages to smartly combine elements of funk, hip-hop, reggae and rock into a contagious sound with a positive message.

Irish punk rock band the Dropkick Murphys will be making their much anticipated, first ever Tweeter Center appearance at Boston’s Download this year. The Dropkicks recently sold out an unprecedented 5 shows (10,000 tickets) at Avalon Ballroom in Boston. Known for their raucous, energetic live performances, the Dropkicks are sure to rock the stage!

Also featured in Boston, G. Love & Special Sauce, who sets front man G. Love’s blues-laced raps and back-porch vocal stylings to semi-acoustic accompaniment — a unique fusion that is the perfect theme for summer.

Joining these amazing artists are Jurassic 5 whose innovative old school style hip hop sound is made up of four MC’s and two DJ’s, the legendary Wailers featuring original members of Bob Marley’s band playing all the Bob Marley classics, and Pepper with their mix of Hawaiian dub, reggae, punk, hip hop and rock. With all of these incredible artists and more to come, Download 2006 in Boston is sure to be a mind blowing festival of rock and reggae under the summer sky!

Festival details can be found at www.downloadfestival.com including talent news, mobile features, priority ticket info, special offers and more. Tickets for Boston go on sale Saturday, June 10th at 10AM EST and on Sunday, July 16th at 10AM PST for San Francisco.

About Live Nation

Live Nation is a leading live event, venue and digital distribution company focused on creating superior experiences for artists, performers, corporations and fans. Live Nation owns, operates or has booking rights for 153 venues worldwide and produced more than 29,500 events in 2005. Live Nation operates more than 60 websites globally. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol “LYV.” For more information regarding Live Nation and its businesses, please visit the company’s website at www.livenation.com.

SOURCE: Live Nation