Exclaim.ca
Down / Voivod / Danava / Weedeater
Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC August 10
By Greg Pratt
Although New Orleans
stoner metallers Down were headlining this bill, in a way the night
belonged to Canuck metal heroes Voivod, not to mention pot.
Starting things off
were Weedeater, whose excellent set may have been a bit too aggressive
for many in the crowd, with their feedback-laden slow-mo sludge bringing
to mind Eyehategod in all the right ways. The night's next act, Danava,
were a throwback to the '70s in more ways than one: the noodling songs,
the love of drawn-out proto-doom, the geeky vocals and the even more
geeky appearance. Props, though, for a Running Wild shirt and a bassist
who looks like a young Cliff Burton.
With Blacky on bass and
new guy Dan Mongrain kicking ass on guitar, Voivod kicked off their set
with "Voivod," "The Unknown Knows," "The Prow," "Ravenous Medicine" and
"Tribal Convictions," and it was obvious these guys are back in top
form. It wasn't just the crowd who thought so: Down's Jimmy Bower was
watching in admiration at the side of the stage and his front-man Phil
Anselmo came out for a duet of "Nothingface," yelling "Voivod!" into the
mic and bowing to the band like a teenage fan. The Canadian metal heroes
played a set of classics and even threw in one tune off their new disc,
Infini, which fit in the set perfectly.
By the time Down came
on, the sold-out venue was a haze of smoke as the touring bands partook
in the BC bud experience. The headliners tore through their set, drawing
from all their albums and proving that tunes like "Ghosts of the
Mississippi" and "On March the Saints," as we all suspected, do sound
really fucking good live. |
