Watch: DOWN performs ‘pop-up’ concert in Baton Rouge

DOWN played the second of two Louisiana “pop-up” shows last Friday evening (June 21) at Varsity Theater in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A fan-filmed video of the concert is available below (courtesy of Adam Lancaster YouTube channel)

The band’s set list was according to Setlist.fm:

01. Eyes of the south
02. Pillars of eternity
03. Very dangerous
04. Hail the leaf
05. The wings of temptation
06. Underneath it all
07. There’s something on my side
08. Lose everything
09. Rehabilitation
10. Swan song
11. New Orleans is a dying whore
12. Stone the Crow
13. Bury me in smoke

DOWN announced two pop-up shows in Louisiana last week after the band’s previously announced concert in Mescalero, New Mexico, was postponed due to a pair of fast-growing wildfires converging on a village on a tribal reservation in the state.

The long-running heavy metal supergroup, with lead singer Philip H. Anselmoguitarists Pepper Keenan And Kirk Windsteindrummer Jimmy Bower and bassist Pat Bruders, was scheduled to perform at Inn Of The Mountain Gods Resort And Casino in Mescalero, New Mexico on Thursday, June 20. But the show was canceled after thousands of residents in southern New Mexico were ordered to evacuate their homes and the fires prompted the partial closure of U.S. Highway 70 south of the village of Ruidoso.

The South Fork Fire started Monday on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, where President Thora Walsh Padilla declared a state of emergency.

$5 per ticket from each of the DOWN pop-up shows will go to the Mescalero Apache Nation – South Fork Fire relief fund.

The pop shows were announced in a video message: Keenan said, “Hey guys, this is it DOWN. We are in a strange situation right now and as we talk here we are adapting by the minute. But obviously our show at the Inn Of The Mountain Gods has been canceled because there’s a horrific wildfire raging through the entire Apache reservation, the South Fork fire. So we’ve had to adapt and jump ship and try to figure out another way to not only not postpone the show, but now we’re trying to help where we can. And being from Louisiana, we know how bad Mother Nature can be sometimes. That’s why we’re going to do two pop-up shows. One of these will be on Thursday, June 20 at the Southport Music Hall in New Orleans. The second will take place on the 21st at the Varsity Theater in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.”

When DOWNThe band’s concert at Inn Of The Mountain Gods Resort And Casino was first announced in April, the band said Windstein would sit out the show due to his commitments with CROWBOOT. Filling in for him at this week’s performances is a thing of the past DOWN guitarist Bobby Landgraf.

Ahead of the June 20 Southport Hall concert in New Orleans, DOWN‘s last concert took place in September 2022 in the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Alton, VA.

DOWN made a handful of rare live appearances in the spring and summer of 2022. The band launched a three-day US series of shows in May 2022 in the Welcome to Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida. After playing in Atlanta and Dallas immediately after Rockville, DOWN took a three-week break before regrouping for three European festival appearances in June. The aforementioned performance in that year Blue Ridge Rock Festival followed in September 2022.

In August 2021, DOWN took part in a very special personal live and virtual experience. “NOLA Town Throwdown” was held at the Fillmore in New Orleans, Louisiana and fans attended the show in person, watching it in real time from the comfort of their living rooms.

In August 2020, DOWN celebrated the 25th anniversary of “NOLA” with a special livestream event. Dubbed “The Quarter Century Throwdown”the productive multi-camera event took place using cutting-edge streaming technology to create a unique virtual concert experience.

One of the founders of DOWN, Windstein left the band in 2013 to focus on CROWBOOT and his family life. He was replaced by Bobby Landgraf, DOWN‘s former guitar tech who was previously in the band GAHDZILLA MOTOR COMPANYa 90s outfit also featured Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS, WATCHTOWER),And HONKY.

Windstein announced his return DOWN in 2019, with the band confirming a number of festival appearances for 2020 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of “NOLA”all of which were later canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic that swept the world.

Ahead of the August 2020 livestream, DOWN‘s last live performance took place in August 2016 at the Psycho Las Vegas party in Las Vegas.

The supergroup has not released anything since the arrival of the supergroup “Down IV – Part Two” EP in May 2014.

“Down IV – Part Two” It sold approximately 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release in May 2014, debuting at position number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The band’s previous EP, “Down IV Part I – The Purple EP”opened with approximately 12,000 units in September 2012, landing at number 35.

“Down IV – Part Two” was recorded on Nodferatu’s lair — Anselmo‘s home studio — and produced by Michael Thompson. It was released via Records down/ADA music.