DOWN
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THE mantra of metal supergroup Down is “the power of the riff compels you.” They say it aloud, the crowd chants it back and it’s on the backs of the T-shirts they sell to the true believers.
At the Roseland Ballroom on Wednesday, Down took their swampy New Orleans sludge riffs and were compelled to pound them into Manhattan’s concrete.
If you wandered into Roseland for just a minute, you might wonder about this brutish assault of volume – but over the course of the band’s two-hour performance, the appeal of the hooks camouflaged beneath the hard shell revealed themselves.
Down is a quintet featuring members from Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar and Pantera with Philip Anselmo at the mike. They are a stoner band who believe what Dylan proclaimed in “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” – and not only lit up onstage, they accepted baggied gifts of ganja tossed from the churning mosh to the stage.
Indulging in reefer madness turns some musicians into shoe-gazing imbeciles – but it seemed to invigorate Anselmo. He sang forcefully and remarkably clearly for a metal vocalist, yet at the show’s end, he apologized to the full house, saying his voice wasn’t at its best.
That didn’t matter to the fans, who appreciated just seeing these guys back playing together – it’s been more than seven years since the last Down concert tour.
While the Downers all headbang, whip their hair and dodge gig-neck, the focus stays on Anselmo, whose goofy but charming stage presence carried the concert. He’s scruffy, rough – and yet polite.
At the end of every tune, he’d say with sincerity, “Thank you very f – – – ing much.”
It may sound crass, but if you were there, it was heartfelt and very f – – – ing gracious.
Early in the performance, Down offered acid- etched steel on “Lysergik Funeral Procession,” but the best of the concert was in the surging metal blues on “Ghosts Along the Mississippi” and “Learn From This Mistake.”
In all, this was a tight concert of Southern metal where bludgeoning riff repetitions were indeed compelling.