For fans of Down that may have questioned their faith in the band at any point during their sometimes tumultuous and often uncertain history, let your faith be restored.
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Down
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 Entertainment
Art
House of Blues
Chicago, Ill.
October 10, 2007
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The band's new disc, Down III: Over the Under, is an inspirational ipod-pocket-bible of sorts. The band and its members are reborn, and they have reclaimed the stage as their throne. Tonight, that throne sits in Chicago's House of Blues, where a sold-out house of followers embrace their return and spent an evening with the band they love. To start things off, there was no opening band. Instead, the "opening act" consisted of a movie packed with archival footage of the band, cut together with performances from some of their influences (starting with Hendrix and ending with Sabbath). It was an atmosphere made for hanging out and drinking (both of which were done in abundance, but mostly the latter), while the anticipation increased for Down to take the stage.
The climax came when they not only took to the stage, but stormed it like...well let's just say it was somewhere between rabid dogs approaching their prey and enthusiastic children diving under the tree on Christmas morning, somewhere in that area. Inspiring, emotional and electric.
Devouring the stage, they did not let up for nearly 2 hours. The first half of the set was comprised of mostly newer songs from the band's last two discs, Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow, and the aforementioned Down III. Brand new songs like "Three Suns and One Star", "I Scream", "Mourn" and "N.O.D." were played with an intensity, precision, and genuine emotion that can be heard nowhere else but on the very disc they came from. Relatively older songs like "Lysergic Funeral Procession", "Ghosts Along the Mississippi" and "Learn From This Mistake" were equally impressive and, compared to the band's last performance in Chicago, more solid proof of the rebirth these NOLA boys have experienced; each member of the band looking 5 years younger these days.
The second half of the set consisted mostly of songs from the band's first disc, NOLA. "Losing All", "Stone the Crow" and the southern, psychedelic masterpiece not played live in Chicago before, "Jail", led up to the ultimate closer "Bury Me in Smoke".
In the end, it can (and really must) be said that an evening with Down is truly like an evening with no other band around today. If you don’t see them you’re only cheating yourself.
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