I’ve loved Down since the very moment I got my hands on their debut, NOLA, and through subsequent releases and stellar live performances, my infatuation with the band has grown exponentially. Comprised of five of metal’s most talented men, Down is the super-group of all super-groups. And almost 20 years since their inception, they’ve finally gotten around to releasing their first live DVD offering, Diary of a Mad Band.
Filmed over the course of six weeks in the summer of 2006, Diary of a Mad Band follows Down through their first ever European tour. And while playing in a new territory is a daunting task for any band, Down set forth on this particular journey without any tour promotion, a record label, or even a new CD (their previous record, Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow, was released four years earlier). With the odds against them on all accounts, Down traveled across the pond to find out exactly where they stood in the modern music scene.
Starting out in Hamburg, Germany, Diary of a Mad Band opens up with Down’s performance of “Lysergic Funeral Procession” at Grosse Freiheit 36. The band played to an exhilarated audience, hanging onto frontman Phil Anselmo’s every word. As the song ends, the footage quickly moves to the band and their backstage banter, recapping the set of their thrilling performance.
Each successive performance follows the same format, with bits of random footage interspliced throughout. Instead of filming an entire set in one city, the band chose to showcase specific songs in different cities throughout Europe and the UK. The final performance, “Bury Me in Smoke,” comes from the band’s unannounced main stage appearance at the Download Festival in Donnington.
Some of the outing’s funniest moments come in the form of Phil Anselmo’s ramblings, something that any fan of the vocalist should be accustomed to at this point in the game. Perhaps the greatest “Phil-ism” offered follows an appearance in London where Anselmo somewhat threatens a fan in the audience. Following the live footage, the cameras move to Anselmo in the dressing room, where he goes on to lament one of his many facetious speeches
“We executed. Of course, there was a little controversy out of my mouth; my name is Philip Anselmo and that’s what happens. However, I have that special mother-fucking talent to make everything turn out fucking beautiful, and I come smelling like a fucking goddamn fucking tulip. Or a fucking rose.”
Our friends at Metal Injection were so inspired by Anselmo’s ubiquitous outbursts that they’ve actually spotlighted this particular rant in a new video series, appropriately entitled “Shit Phil Says”:
The song selection offered on Diary of a Mad Band plays like a greatest hits list of the band’s first two recordings. Each song hits hard and offers insight of the influences that helped shape the band, including Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, and Trouble. And although the mix of the songs is far from polished, it sounds the way that Down is supposed to sound–raw and unrefined.
An additional ten minutes of “Tirades and Shenanigans” are included as bonus footage, as well as a two-disc live CD to accompany the documentary.
Diary of a Mad Band is a must-have for any fan of the band and for any fan of heavy music in general. It offers an exciting glimpse into the world of one of metal’s most illustrious bands, proving that their place in the modern music scene still ranks among the top.
Diary of a Mad Band DVD Track Listing:
- “Lysergic Funeral Procession”
- “Lifer”
- “Losing All”
- “Rehab”
- “New Orleans Is A Dying Whore”
- “Ghosts Along The Mississippi”
- “Learn From This Mistake”
- “Underneath Everything”
- “Temptation’s Wings”
- “There’s Something On My Side”
- “Hail The Leaf”
- “Lies”
- “The Seed”
- “Eyes Of The South”
- “Jail”
- “Stone The Crows”
- “Bury Me In Smoke”
Diary of a Mad Band CD Track Listing:
- “Losing All”
- “Lifer”
- “Lysergic Funeral Procession”
- “Rehab”
- “Temptation’s Wings”
- “Ghosts Along The Mississippi”
- “Learn From This Mistake”
- “Hail The Leaf”
- “New Orleans Is A Dying Whore”
- “Lies, I Don’t Know What They Say But…”
- “Underneath Everything”
- “The Seed”
- “Eyes Of The South”
- “Jail”
- “Stone The Crows”
- “Bury Me In Smoke”
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