Down Prove They're The Hard Rock Deal

Kool Haus

Toronto, ON

on Sep 18 2009

Andre Mihsin (CHARTattack)

09/21/2009 2:54pm

Skeptics might tell you, with stupid grins on their faces, that the members of Down are on the downside of their careers, down and out even. Aside from being very lame puns, those statements were proven very wrong last Friday night at Toronto's Kool Haus.

Sure, it's true the members of Down probably have peaked already. After all, singer Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown were part of one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time in Pantera, while guitarist Pepper Keenan fronts one of the most underrated heavy metal bands in Corrosion Of Conformity. Drummer Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod and guitarist Kirk Windstein of Crowbar may not have reached the same level of mainstream popularity as those guys, but they remain beloved legends of the New Orleans underground.

It'd be pretty damn tough to top what any of these guys have done in the past. But despite their resumes hanging over them and despite that they're all in their forties now, Down aren't just out there trading on past glory.

Down (minus Brown, who is taking some personal time off) stormed the Kool Haus stage to loud reverberating guitars before kicking off the night with "Lysergik Funeral Procession." The boys were in top form as Anselmo sang with the passion and intensity of Cowboys From Hell-era Pantera. Heck, he even had the old haircut to match.

Windstein stood still for most of the night but regardless of his small stature, his poise and majestic facial hair gave him an epic presence while he kicked out monster riffs. Keenan was the perfect opposite, flailing his long hair and adding a more southern rock feel to Windstein's thick New Orleans sludge.

When Bower wasn't leading the charge with his rhythmic onslaught, he acknowledged fans in the crowd and held up his drum sticks to form an inverted crucifix in vintage Bower Power fashion. Brown's touring replacement was Danny Theriot, a friend from New Orleans who pretty much just laid back, played bass and let the rest of the guys do their thing.

Despite being together since the early '90s, commitments with their other bands have always relegated Down to side project status. But you can definitely forget about all those lame down jokes now. In fact, more appropriate double entendre would be words from "Losing All" — "being down has become my life."

With all the members now primarily focused on Down, you better believe the boys are out for more than one last run. They're out to top what they've done before and establish themselves as the best hard rock act today, and on Friday night, they were just that.

Here's what Down played:

"Lysergik Funeral Procession"
"New Orleans Is A Dying Whore"
"Lifer"
"The Path"
"Ghosts Along The Mississippi"
"Losing All"
"Hail The Leaf"
"N.O.D."
"Eyes Of The South"
"Nothing In Return (Walk Away)"

Encore:
"Pillars Of Eternity"
"Stone The Crow"
"Bury Me In Smoke"