Report

Down Goes Down Under and Rocks Perth's Metropolis

A good turnout for a small city like Perth is unfortunately about the size of a bad turnout somewhere larger, however, the streets of Fremantle were buzzing with anticipation on this particular Tuesday night (October 10th) as black-clad metal fans clogged pub doorways along the main drag. Inside Metropolis, the venue for the last date of Down's Australian tour, the feeling was even more intense despite the ridiculous $10 beers.

The opening act for Down was... Down. Instead of suffering the audience to impatiently wait through a band that was clearly not Down, the southern supergroup instead decided to warm the room up with a selection of their favourite old-school video clips - AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Lyrnd Skynrd - interspersed with footage of their own live shows and backstage antics.

Some might applaud the tactic. Others, particularly members of those local bands who missed an opportunity to get their names a little better known, might not. At any rate, this night was all about Down and when the makeshift video screen was pulled away to reveal Pepper Keenan (guitar), Kirk Windstein (guitar), Rex Brown (bass) and Jimmy Bower (drums) and Phil Anselmo (vocals) launching into "Hail the Leaf" through a cloud of smoke, there was no doubt the crowd knew what they were here for.

With the release of "Down III: Over the Under" last year, the band certainly has enough material to put together a varied set, and that's exactly what they did, playing new tracks - "On March the Saints," "Three Suns and One Star" - intermingled with material from "Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow" - "Lysergik Funeral Procession," "There's Something On My Side," "Ghosts Along the Mississippi," "Beautifully Depressed" - and 1995 release "NOLA" - "Lifer" (dedicated to slain Pantera guitarist Dimebag), and "Temptation's Wings."

While each of the members of this supergroup has a distinguished playing history, the star of the show is undoubtedly ex-Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo. This man feeds off the adoration of his fans - the more they yelled, they more he encouraged them; when he reached out you got the feeling he wanted to touch the hand of every person in the room; when he spoke to the crowd, he picked out individuals to point at, nod to, wink at. It's no wonder that Pantera and Down fans are so fiercely loyal.

"New Orleans Is a Dying Whore" - where Keenan and Windstein surrendered guitars to techs and Brown handed his bass over to Anselmo to jam through the last minutes while the axemen wandered around and had a drink - signalled the end of the set. But the band was back after barely a minute for an marathon encore that started with their first big hit "Stone The Crow," meandered through the down-tempo "Never Try," amped up with "Bury Me In Smoke," and finished with "Nothing in Return."

After cheers and thanks, fists and horns held skyward, the band finally left the stage - but even then, Anselmo couldn't tear himself away, getting the crowd to help him sing a line from "Whole Lotta Love." Yep, that's what we got for you, Phil. Come back soon.

Kay Smoljak is an Aussie photographer, geek, metalhead and goat aficioado who is currently hiding out in Berlin. She blogs sometimes at enter the goatlady.