Down, Marquee Theatre, 1/14/13

Jim Louvau

See more photos of Down in the complete New Times slideshow.

By the time Down came on stage, the crowd was fully pumped up. Fans chanted slowly: "Down. Down. Down. Down!" and fist-pumped in the air. The band is stacked with New Orleans' top hard rock talents, including Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Confomity and Kirk Windstein of Crowbar. But Phil Anselmo always garners the biggest cheers. A smoky intensity just seems to resonate from him -- although that could've been the smoldering joints burning throughout the crowd. But there's not doubt about it: Down defines the "stoner" rock genre.

Anselmo shouted out a greeting to the crowd ("It's great to be here tonight, Temmmpeee!"), and the band kicked off its set with "Eyes South" before rolling into crowd favorites "Witchtripper" and "Open Coffin," from the newest album, Down IV Part I: The Purple EP. The mosh pit continued to be sluggish as hell, to the point that guys roaming around the circle were able to carry their own beers without spilling a drop. (Marquee's credit card machines were down, rendering the bar cash-only, which might account for the tame nature of the crowd.)

Right before catapulting into a personal favorite of mine, "Lifer," Anselmo did his usual dedication of the number to the late Dimebag Darrell, and included recently deceased Mike Scaccia as well. The two Texas metalheads were represented boldly in the song, and the crowd went crazy, screaming out everything from "I miss you Dimebag!" to "You're awesome, Phil!"

As he launched into "Losing All," Anselmo surveyed the crowd with a foot upon an amp, leaning over the edge of the stage as Jimmy Bower rumbled the bass drum in the background.

"Does anyone know the first song that Down wrote? Damn, man, 10 years of friendship. 20 years on stage of commitment . . . I'll take that! I don't give two fucks, just show me something!" His invocation finally prompted some action in the mosh pit.

By the time Down got to "Temptation's Wings," Anselmo seemed like he was having a blast. Here and there throughout the songs, you could hear his voice wavering a bit, so let's hope that it has nothing to do with the illness going around the tour.

"Tempe, Arizona," he preached. "Don't grow up to be a suit and a guy that just watches the evening news. The world is wide open! Do something good, you stupid bastards! Do something great!" The crowd welcomed his words, arms stretched toward the stage to slap high-fives with the singer.

"Now, this song is called Tempe . . . tations," he added before bursting into giggles, along with Kennan and Windstein who nodded and smiled the crowd. It was the only attempt at a joke during the evening.