A few days ago I went to see Down once again play at the House of Blues. They were just here about a year ago and put on a really good show, so i was excited at the chance to see them again. I also was a Pantera fan and since Down features Phil Anselmo among others, it was pretty much a no-brainer that I’d be interested in this band as well.
Danava
Danava
Danava
I got there a little late and walked in to find Danava were already playing. I missed about half their set, but what I did see was pretty entertaining. They played some Sabbath inspired stoner rock. The songs were pretty long and mid tempo and they had a similar guitar sound to Black Sabbath. I caught about three or four songs and found them all to be pretty good and it made me feel like I was a kid back in the 70’s again.
Down
Down
It didn’t take very long for them to clear the stage and finish setting up, so the crowd didn’t have to wait very long for Down to take the stage. When they took the stage, they wasted no time starting their first song and the crowd roared with approval. Heads were banging, fists were pumping and there was a mosh pit going all at the same time. I noticed tons of people singing along to nearly every word.
Down
Down
In between songs, Phil Anselmo, who I think is one of the best frontmen in heavy metal, would talk to the crowd and entertain them with his banter. At one point he asked the crowd what they wanted to hear, and th band starting goofing around by playing part of “We’re Not Going to Take it” and “Breaking the Law” which the crowd (and myself) really got a kick out of.
Down
Down
The band played a great selection of songs spanning their entire career including, “On March the Saints” (which got the biggest pop from the crowd), “Temptations Wings”, “N.O.D.”, and “Eyes of the South”. Their main set lasted an hour. They came back a few minutes later and started their encore with the song I hoped they would play, “Stone the Crow” which saw the entire crowd singing along to the chorus. They played for about another 20 minutes and one of the last songs they played was “Bury Me in Smoke”. The crowd still wanted more and the band wanted to keep playing, but since it was an all ages show and there was curfew law in effect, they had to call it a night.
Down
Down
As I was packing up my stuff to head to the train home, I noticed something about the people who were filing out of the club, they were almost all smiling and sweaty. It was quite evident that everyone in the room felt like they got their money’s worth out of the ticket price and I too went home with a smile having witnessed a really entertaining rock show.
Damn, soo pretty good pictures there. I’ve seen Down 4 times in concert, spanning from Oct 1995 (LA,Ca) till Nov 2007 (SD,Ca), you could say im an original BROES. I was even in the BROES fan club back in the days.LOL. Anyways what you said “I noticed something about the people who were filing out of the club, they were almost all smiling and sweaty. It was quite evident that everyone in the room felt like they got their money’s worth out of the ticket price and I too went home with a smile having witnessed a really entertaining rock show.” How very true that is from experience! I felt and saw the same thing. Down ROCKS big time and if anyone out there has never seen them in concert, I highly suggest that you go see them…SOON. It (for me) was a life changing experience!!
Melissa Mo(Southern Cali)