Graham Finney, Planet-Loud.com Just before their recent show at the Brixton Academy, Planet Loud sat down with Rex from Down to talk about the band, life in metal giants Pantera, touring the world, drugs, music and much more. Planet Loud - Thanks for your time Rex, how's it going? Down - It's going pretty good thanks. A little tired. Ha! We've had to change bus about four or five times and we've been broken down on days off but we're doing okay. We got to sleep last night which was nice. Planet Loud - How has the tour been upto now? Down - Amazing. As usual. We've been playing three nights on, a night off, three nights on and it's been getting better every night. We've just been feeding off the crowds and the vibe and it's been good. With Pantera I used to hate coming over here and playing these big places and then we'd be done and all you'd do is drink yourself to death and I don't remember a whole lot from those days. It seemed like we didn't enjoy coming over but, this time, and, I think, even the last time when I was still drinking, coming over here was really enjoyable. Planet Loud - Brixton must hold some interesting memories for you because it was one of the last UK venues, if not these last, to ever see a Pantera show. How does it feel being back here? Down - I think we played two nights here, yeah. It's kinda funny being back here because I was walking up the stairs and I can't remember what room it was in but it was one of these rooms and Brian May from Queen showed up and it just fucking floored me. It knocked me out. Some good memories of this place but I haven't been down on the stage yet so I'm sure I'll have another flashback then. Planet Loud - That would have been one of the last ever Pantera shows right? Down - Yeah, shit, it probably was. Man, we toured so much that everything is just a haze for about twenty years. Planet Loud - You're going to Europe after this, are you looking forward to that? Down - Yeah, we're going to Spain which I'm really looking forward to. I'm going to spend another week over there after we've done Spain, just me and the wife. I love Spain man. I've never seen the whole of it. We're going to spend a bit of time just doing a tour around Spain so, hopefully, it should be good weather. I wanna get out of this cold weather. Read the complete interview HERE...

Graham Finney, Planet-Loud.com Last time I saw Phil Anselmo on this stage, it was the night that one of the biggest metal bands on the planet, Pantera, imploded in a drunken shambles. For every metal fan in attendance that night, including this one, it was a heartbreaking night that left a nasty taste in the mouth. We can roll the clocks forward to 2008 as any self-respecting metal fans knows how history sadly panned out and, unsurprisingly, aside from the not-so-secret Download gig and the odd tour here and there, very little has been seen of Phil Anselmo in the UK in a long time. As you can expect, anticipation is high tonight as hundreds upon hundreds of punters, many of them clad in faded Pantera shirts, stream to the Academy ready for the return of this true heavy metal legend and his brothers in arms, the mighty Down. The band warm up the crowd with a short film documenting the history of Down and, as the lights dim and the band stride out onto the stage, the crowd are almost at a frenzy. For the next two hours the quintet play one of the best heavy metal shows that this venue and this crowd will ever have born witness to. Lifer is dedicated to the sorely missed Dimebag Darrell while 3 Suns And 1 Star turns the heaving crowd into one big grooving, sweating mass. To an outsider, it will be hard to understand the appeal of Down but, for those in the know, the music Down make is about more than just great songs you can sing along to as the poignant Learn From My Mistakes illustrates. This song in particular shows the beauty and honesty of the music these five friends create but it has to be said that there is undoubtedly one star tonight. Step forward Mr.Anselmo who, midway through the gargantuan On March The Saints, notices a scuffle break out in the pit. “This is my show, you will not fight at a Down show..” he growls from the stage and the two kids quickly forget what they’re fighting about as the colossal sound quickly swallows them up again. While, underneath it all, Down may not be about rock stars or one particular person, it has to be said that, tonight, Anselmo simply commands the attention of this entire venue. Read the complete review HERE...

Check out the Past Tour section for details.

Click HERE to check out the live pics from Paris on Spirit-Of-Metal.com!

Click HERE to check out the live pics from Moscow on TheMetallist.com!

March 18, Year of VIII. A message to the children of extremes from Philip--- From the very beginning, ‘till the well-oiled end of the American leg of the tour, supporting our latest offering ‘Over the Under’, from my viewpoint, ‘An Evening with Down’ was an absolute unique success, and a tremendous wake-up call for the disenchanted music fans out there. I cannot remember 1 bad show. There wasn’t 1 uneventful audience. It’s that fucking simple. I’ve been thinking, and I figure that I ought to blog you awesome folks more often, because every crowd, at every show, in every town, had it’s own vibe and life, and personality!!! There were always memorable characters in the audience that would stick out in my memory every show. Christ! I need to address you fuckers via the Down-NOLA.com web site, because you deserve to be recognized! When we play live, and the lights are up, I mean it when I tell you that I can really see all of you standing in the crowd! (I strain my weary old eyes to see all the people way in the back or on the sides, but I do see you!). As for the masses I can lay my eyes on, face-to-face…I can truly feel, and feed from your energy! I stare directly into your eyes and see your addictive fire, and it’s hard to put into words the spiritual surge it sends through me! All of your voices singing every song, night after night is the only true payoff!!! I take it to heart. When we walk out on stage, and spend that designated, intimate night with our most loyal horde, that’s notoriously jamming side-by-side with us, in a floor-quaking frenzy… It’s the ONLY realistic reward! It’s all about the music! Our music is your music, so in turn, it’s all about you! As I’ve stated many times before… without you, we’d be nothing. Read the complete blog HERE...

Down is playing this years Roadburn Festival! For up to date information, check out the festival's MySpace HERE.

Read Philip's blog entries on the making of Down III. Installment I Installment II Installment III Installment IV  

Down III: Over The Under has hit the shelves.