Southern sludge supergroup Down have been chugging along at a staggered pace for the better part of 30 years now, but this decade has seen the Philip Anselmo- and Pepper Keenan-led act remain relatively quiet with only a pair of Down IV EPs dropped in 2012 and 2014, respectively, and no shows played since 2016’s Psycho Las Vegas festival. That silence will end once the band reunites in 2020, however — the group just confirmed their first show of the year, which will go down at Dessel, Belgium’s Graspop Metal Meeting, set for June 18th to 21st.
2020 will mark the 25th anniversary of Down’s explosive debut LP, Nola, which peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the group’s only top 40 hit on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, “Stone the Crow.” The current lineup has changed a bit since the album’s release in 1995, with founding members Anselmo, Keenan and Eyehategod’s Jimmy Bower being joined by Honky’s Bobby Landgraf, playing guitar in place of original guitarist and Crowbar main man Kirk Windstein, and ex-Goatwhore bassist Pat Bruders, playing in place of Crowbar’s longtime four-stringer Todd Strange.
Rumors abound that Windstein, at least, will be rejoining Down for any and all NOLA 25th anniversary shows. Anselmo hinted at that this spring when asked about possible Down shows in an interview with Metal Nexus at the Louder Than Life festival in Kentucky. “I know that we’ve been offered some shows … And that’s all I know! You know?” he said. “Pepper’s still on tour, Crowbar’s always on tour, and Eyehategod — they’re on tour for a long time. People ask me about it all the time. We owe that. We owe them.” The official Graspop website notably features an older photo of Down, including Windstein. Stay tuned for updates.
