down_2008_07

» Down 2008 07 14

Reviewed by Thomas
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Headliner: Down
City: Gothenburg, Sweden
Venue: Trädgårn
Date: 14 July 2008
Down set length: 105 minutes

Down

An evening with Down, and what an evening it was. When starting with Underneath Everything from their debut album Nola, they set the mood for the evening directly, and immediate you were aware of the fact that this would be full-throttle without compromise. Down is of course the band with ex-Pantera members Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown, Crowbar member Kirk Weindstein, and Corrosion Of Conformity's current member Pepper Keenan and former member Jimmy Bower. All names that have earned respect in my book. As an old Pantera fan and long-time C.O.C. fan I almost felt honoured by their presence, especially since I never got to see Pantera and also because it has been a very long time since C.O.C. were here the least time.

Down entered the stage as a band that definitely was in a certainly good shape, and mood for that matter, and they offered a good blend of songs from all of their three albums. The beginning was great but it really took off for real with the track Lifer followed by Three Suns And One Star, and by then the intensity was just as high as you had hoped for. The heavy on-going pounding continued in a grand way and even the fact that Learn From This Mistake brought down the tempo, it did not disturb the momentum, rather enhance it with its powerful calmness.

The combination of sludge, southern rock and just the god damn pure and straight heavy metal which Down provides comes out well live and in my opinion, the songs from their latest album Over The Under (which Anselmo got wrong at one point when referring to it as Under The Over, although quickly realising his mistake) stood out as the better ones. NOD, On March The Saints and The Path became personal favourites in this set, and even the older excellent performed heavy southern sounding Stone The Crow must be reckoned as a definite highlight as well.

Phil Anselmo was in better shape than what I expected him to be considering how he has lived in the past, and he has a great way of connecting with the audience and to get the crowd to participate, and they did more than once. Anselmo praised the great crowd several times, and I do believe it was sincere and more honest directed than the times almost every band praise a crowd just for the sake of it. In conclusion, I don't think anyone left the well packed venue other than satisfied, spectators as well as band.

8,5 chalices of 10

SETLIST:

Underneath Everything
The Path
Hail The Leaf
Lysergic Funeral Procession
Lifer
Three Suns And One Star
On March The Saints
Ghost Along The Mississippi
Learn From This Mistake
N.O.D.
Eyes Of The South
Beneath The Tides
Eyes of The South
Doobinterlude
In The Thrall of it All
Jail
Stone The Crow
Bury Me In Smoke