Down in Concert Review
by Mark Hensch
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Time stands still when it comes to New Orleans heavy metal supergroup Down. I don't know what it is, but the gradual decay of ticking seconds holds no sway over the legendary collective. Take this evening at the Orbit Room of Grand Rapids, Michigan; it has taken five years for the band to even get here. Now, with a new album in tow and a fresh perspective on their craft, the towering outfit stands tall before me as if they have never gone away. And in many ways, they haven't. They've been there from the start.
The spirit of Down lies solely in the power of rock 'n roll. Though heavier than many of their forebears and even their contemporaries, the raw spirit of joyous aggression Down always has had and always will have has existed long before the band's physical birth. Warming up the crowd with a collection of classic rock clips interspersed with recent touring footage, one can see what I'm speaking of. Down was there with Iggy and the Stooges, Black Sabbath, CCR, KISS. Down jammed with Hendrix and flew the Stars 'n Bars with Lynrd Skynrd. Down toured the seedy underground scene of the South with Crowbar and Eyehategod and Corrosion of Conformity and blew the whole thing wide open with Pantera. In short, Down is rock 'n roll.
As the supposed five mortal men of Down take the stage this fantastic night, I am struck by just how true the above sentiments are. Yes, too many years have passed since Down has done much of anything at all. But I'll be damned if they don't have more energy, soul, and passion than every single band from the meantime combined. This is the best concert I've ever seen!
And, on paper, it had better be. Calling this night "An Evening with Down," the band plans on rocking out all three of their albums with little recent activity behind them and no other musical support. To be frank, the approach works f*cking wonders!
The band kicks things off with "Temptation's Wings," the song that starts full-length 1995 debut Nola and wrote a whole new chapter in the sludge realm. The performance is visceral, intense, and honestly heart-wrenching. Nothing is left standing when all is said and done.
What follows this is a rollercoaster ride through the entire gamut of human emotion. No album is ignored, no choice cut left unearthed. Besides "Wings," Nola gets the lion's share of the evening, and provides the best moments. Breakthrough single "Stone the Crow" provides a breathless but ripping blitzkrieg through joy, while "Pillars of Eternity" has a capacity crowd violently moshing and headbanging to the churning riffage and pounding percussion. "Rehab" turns into a fully-fleshed monster of sonic brutality and "Hail the Leaf" ignites both equal parts slam-dancing mania and clouds of noxious gas. Buried underneath all this epic and memorable goodness comes to the haymaker combination of "Lifer," "Eyes of the South," and "Jail." Frontman Phil Anselmo dedicates "Lifer" to murdered Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbot, and then proceeds to lead a furious melee unlike any other pit I've ever seen. Simply put, it transcends simple concert aggression. "Jail," meanwhile, chilled sh*t out, drummer Jimmy Bower's hypnotic rolls providing a mesmerizing backdrop to Anselmo's wounded coyote crooning. Finally, "Eyes of the South" perfectly balanced fluid jamming with fierce breakdowns and pummeling sections that bordered on riot conditions.
This isn't to say, however, that the non-Nola material was any less fantastic. II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow, for example, provided a surprisingly large amount of kickass anthems. Be it the slamming intensity of "There's Something on My Side" or the ethereal fireworks of "Ghosts Along Mississippi," the whole album became a kaleidoscope jam-packed into a crushing package of songs. Add on the chest-caving "The Seed" and an alcoholic sing-along to "New Orleans is a Dying Whore" and you've got middle-period Down every bit as grand as the other eras.
It must be said though that the material off new album III: Over the Under came across as absolutely killer here as well. There was the incendiary rumble of "3 Suns 1 Star," the psychedelic fuzz festival of "Beneath the Tides," and the doom-laden anthem that is "The Path." Current single "On March the Saints" whipped things back into a fever pitch and from there rabble-rousing "N.O.D." and "Mourn" finished throwing the salt into the Earth.
Even after all this, the show was not over. The band came back out and busted a violent rendition of Nola's "Bury Me in Smoke," the likes of which created the most punch-happy mosh pit I have ever been in. The whole thing crushed with all the weight of a skyscraper, and never let up. After this, the band cued up the cathartic "Nothing in Return (Walk Away)" off the new album and left to thunderous applause.
There is something primal and atavistic to real rock, a kind of balls-to-the-wall integrity that can't be found anywhere else. I can without doubt say Down has more of this quality than anyone else. This is the best concert I've ever seen, so go catch the Brotherhood of Eternal Sleep if you get so much as a semblance of a chance.
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Down in Concert Rating:10.00
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