Down, heavy metal’s one and only super-group came through Berlin last night, and first off, I think that was definitely a gig that will go into my all time top 5. One gripe, thanks Warner Bros. for not pulling your finger out of your asshole and not hooking up an interview.

Anyway. those that know me know how much I like Down. “like” might be the wrong word, I positively and with all my heart geek the fuck out when it comes to Down, seriously, so much in fact, that one night at my local watering hole, they had to take their first album out of the jukebox, you catch my drift. As you might you know, Down is really a full time band, but rather a side project that came about when Phil Anselmo of Pantera hooked up with his life long friend Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity and Kirk Windstein of Crowbar, as well as Jim Bower of Eye Hate God and Rex Brown  of Pantera in New Orleans back in 1991 and recorded a three song demo, for themselves with no intention of releasing it. Now, all the above mentioned bands are legends in their own right, critically as well as commercially acclaimed, I mean Pantera’s “Far beyond driven” did enter the Billboard charts in 1994 at #1, and we all don’t need to talk about COC, Crowbar or Eye Hate God. To keep it short, Down is the best metal band on the planet and has been since their first album came out 1995. Period and there is no discussion on that point.

The gig last night was mind blowing. I had seen Down a few times before hand, as well as their individual respective bands and it’s always a touch and go affair with Phil Anselmo. On a good day he quite literally is the best front man in rock since maybe early Ozzy or Ronny Van Zant, unfortunately on a bad, he can also be a fucking nightmare. However, last nights performance of him was unreal, I haven’t seen or heard him that well in decades, he managed to stay on top or Pepper’s and Kirk’s ear destroying guitars ( literally, I still can’t hear shit ) as well as Bower’s primeval drumming. Also, and something that was super stoked on was the fact they played songs from all three albums. Now if only I had eaten something I wouldn’t feel as shitty as I do thanks to the gallons of nasty concert beer but whatever, it was well worth it. Down are, by a long shot not only the best metal band but also an amazing band to catch life.

I went with my new-to-Berlin-buddy Caine, all the way from Vancouver. I thought I should at least try and give him an audio alternative to the dismal audio offering in this electro techno wacko city. I think he liked it.

bow down to the brotherhood of eternal sleep.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 12:24 and is filed under Common stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.