One growing trend in live music today is the mix of different styles of music on one bill, rather than 3 or 4 bands that are alike. This was definitely the case when Down played the Fillmore Silver Spring on Sunday.
The night opened with Columbus, Ohio’s, Mount Carmel. This trio quickly won over the crowd, belting out heavy blues that brought to mind old Mountain, ZZ Top, or Allman Brothers, yet making it appealing enough for a 2012 audience. The monstrous riffs and soulful vocals of Matthew Reed brought the crowd back to the ’70s for a little while, and everyone seemed happier for it.
Next on the bill was Texas thrashers, Warbeast. Armed with Dimebag Darrell Dean guitars and spiked bracelets, Warbeast is all about pure old-school thrash, and proud of it. The crowd responded in turn, with a mosh pit that grew with every song. As they charged through songs like “Birth of a Psycho” and “Egotistical Bastard,” they were being praised from behind the amps by Down singer Philip Anselmo, who took the stage and joined them for “Scorched Earth Policy.”
After a brief break, DC doom legends Pentagram took the stage. Victor Griffin’s huge trademark guitar tone set the mood, accompanied by thundering rhythm from bassist Greg Turley and drummer Sean Saley, the newest addition to the band following the departure of Tim Tomaselli.
Chugging through a career-spanning setlist of tracks like “Wolf’s Blood,” “Review Your Choices,” “Relentless,” and “Wartime,” the only down note of their performance were technical issues, which started with singer Bobby Leibling not being able to hear out of his monitor, and continued when his microphone died altogether, prompting another stage visit from Philip Anselmo, “strongly urging” the venue’s sound crew to set things straight. Otherwise, Bobby was in fine form, showing his usual array of bizarre facial expressions, and even going through an on-stage costume change, when he took off his jeans to show off tights covered in eyeballs. The crowd was enthusiastic and enthralled, roaring their approval for the local heroes.
In the continuing story of audio woes, “supergroup” Down (featuring members of metal greats Pantera, Crowbar, Corrosion of Conformity, and Eyehategod) got off to a somewhat late start, going through a lengthy sound check in between sets, trying to remedy monitors plagued with feedback problems.
Once they did begin, they were firing on all cylinders, full speed ahead. Singer Anselmo had the crowd in the palm of his hand from start to finish, with the audience hanging on every word he said. A great performance from Phil, although his voice sounded a bit road-weary and strained at times. The dual-guitar monstrosity of Kirk Windstein and Pepper Keenan was synchronicity at its’ finest, and these guys genuinely enjoy sharing a stage together.
Opening with “Eyes of the South,” and playing songs like “Witchtripper,” “Lifer” (which Phil dedicated to Dimebag Darrell), “Lysurgic Funeral Procession,” and “Ghosts Along the Mississippi,” Down was a tight, well-oiled machine. One highpoint was when Phil asked the crowd “What was the first song Down ever wrote?” and he got a quick answer from a young fan maybe 13 or 14 years old. He loved the kids look and his fro, so the lucky fan got to rock out with him onstage for the whole of “Temptation’s Wings” much to the approval of the crowd. Seeing him after the show, the kid was still glowing—definitely a night he won’t soon forget.
For the encore, The stage was awash in green lights, and as Anselmo passionately extolled the virtues of smoking marijuana, the band went into “Hail the Leaf,” followed by “Stone the Crow.” As they prepared to draw to a close, Anselmo jibed “Thank you for witnessing THE most professional rock show EVER…” followed by their traditional show closer, the crushingly heavy, “Bury Me in Smoke.”
As per tradition, they were joined by members of Pentagram, Mount Carmel, and other assorted friends to help join in the closing jam session that has become ritual at Down shows. A huge evening of metal drew to a close, with Down showing the true meaning of term supergroup.
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Photos: Julia Lofstrand
