Down @ The Kia Forum w/ Danzig, Abbath, & Cro-Mags

The term “supergroup” is an overused term in the music world, but in the case of the band Down, the term is absolutely applicable. When you take Phil Anselmo from Pantera, Kirk Windstein from Crowbar, Pepper Keenan from Corrosion of Conformity, and Jimmy Bower from Eyehategod and throw in Pat Bruders, formerly of Goatwhore and listen to the resulting music created, there is no other term to describe this than supergroup.

Any time Down plays live, it is super special as with all these musicians having “day jobs” in their primary bands, any type of touring is extremely limited. When it was announced that Down would be playing six West Coast shows opening for Danzig, this instantly became one of the most anticipated tours of 2025. throw in Cro-Mags and Abbath, and this tour was sure to be a total banger.

Playing the fifth of six shows on Saturday night, March 29, at the fabulous KIA Forum in Los Angeles, this was destined to be the standout performance of this mini-tour. The night kicked off at 6:00pm with some serious New York hardcore angst from Cro-Mags as they opened the show with the upbeat “We Gotta Know” as the legendary vocalist/bassist Harley Flanagan, who is the last man standing from the Cro-Mags classic era, worked up the early crowd.

While hardcore punk shows are best experienced in small clubs, that did not take away from Flanagan’s high energy, vein-bulging performance as he sang and hit his bass with animalistic mannerisms, the same as he did 40 years ago.

The setlist focused on the band’s first two albums, 1986’s The Age of Quarrel and 1989’s Best Wishes, with the set closer being the short but angry anthem “Hard Times.” Harley Flanagan continues to carry the NYHC flag and delivers timeless, unapologetic hardcore music in 2025.

Cro-Mags

Photo Credit: Chris Loomis

The mix of heavy metal on this tour is interesting and that’s one thing that makes metal so much fun is mixing sub-genres. Following the authentic New York Hardcore of Cro-Mags, Abbath played a full set of dark, genuine Norwegian Black Metal honoring his previous band Immortal. All seven songs on this night were from the Immortal albums, and “Sons of Northern Darkness,” “Tyrant,” and “In My Kingdom Cold” were from one of the greatest Black Metal albums ever made, 2002’s Sons of Northern Darkness.

Abbath’s croaking voice pierced the walls of the Forum. The crowd had grown in size, and the head-banging and circle pit was in full force. Immortal is such an important band in the evolution of Black Metal and it was incredible to hear these Immortal classics live.

A large video screen backdrop showed Abbath’s face throughout, showcasing his trademark black and white corpse paint, but on the video screen was really the only opportunity there was to see Abbath’s face as the band played in complete darkness as there was no front lights on the band, you could only see black silhouettes against the bright video screen background. Abbath ended his time onstage with the breakneck song “The Sun No Longer Rises.”

Abbath

Photo Credit: Chris Loomis

Still early in the night, Down hit the stage at 7:55 pm with Jimmy Bower saluting the crowd behind his drumkit, holding his drumsticks to make a cross. At the same time, Kirk Windstein and Pat Bruders took their spots on stage right, and Pepper Keenan took stage left. The band launched into “Lysergik Funeral Procession” and then Phil Anselmo appeared to a loud roar from the crowd.

The night kicked into high gear for the next 60 minutes as Down delivered a heavy, down tuned, bludgeoning of Southern Sludge as only they can do. Anselmo looks fantastic and sounds incredible on vocals. Interestingly, once Anselmo hit the stage, he slipped off his shoes and played the set barefoot – hey, whatever works for you.

This band is super tight and includes two of the premier guitarists in metal with Keenan and Windstein both being total riff lords in their own respective bands but when these two get together in Down, look out . . . then add in the thumping bass of Bruder’s Rickenbacker with Jimmy Bower’s hard-hitting drum mastery with Anselmo’s raspy vocals layered on top and Down delivers the ideal sermon of doom-laden riffs, thundering grooves, and swampy heaviness like no other.

The majority of the set was taken from their 1995 debut, NOLA, which with all due respect to all their music, remains the finest collection of songs in their catalog. Eight songs of the ten played were from NOLA, including the slower, more melodic “Stone the Crow” as well as the mid-tempo banger “Tempation’s Wings.”

Anselmo randomly addressed the crowd in between songs and mentioned that Down has a new album coming out but did not mention any timeframe or dates, so all are eagerly anticipating a release date. The band ended their time onstage in the most EPIC way, with two of their heaviest, sludgiest tunes, “Eyes of the South,” followed by “Bury Me In Smoke.”

About three-quarters into “Bury Me in Smoke,” members of Danzig, Cro-Mags, and Abbath come out onstage, and Keenan, Windstein, and Bruders handed their instruments to them and played the last two minutes of the song as the members of Down grabbed a beer, high-fived each other and saluted the crowd.

Great to see such comradery between bands. Once the music stopped, all left the stage except Anselmo, who grabbed the microphone and said, let’s end this properly and sang, “And she’s buying a stair-fucking-way to Heaven,” and walked off stage. WOW – what a SUPER performance from a true supergroup!

Down

Photo Credit: Chris Loomis

Danzig hit the stage with some serious energy as Glenn, guitarist Tommy Victor, bass player Steve Zing, and drummer Karl Rosqvist opened the show with “Skin Carver,” and the band delivered a dark, heavy, and commanding set to the Los Angeles die-hards. Danzig has one of the coolest stage sets as the drum riser sits about 10 feet in the air on top of the trademark Danzig skull and for this tour, Danzig is using a large video screen backdrop that shows the various album artwork from the song they are playing.

The circle pit in the GA pit area was nonstop as the OG Misfits and Danzig era fans never let up as Danzig constantly punched into the air and raised those devil horns. His voice was dripping with dark energy on this night, sounding fantastic, once again proving he is the Evil Elvis.

“Twist of Cain,” “How the Gods Kill,” and, of course, “Mother” were all present in the setlist, and a killer setlist it was. The black mass ended with a three-song encore of “She Rides,” “Dirty Black Summer,” and finally, “Do You Wear the Mark.” Danzig shows are few and far between these days, so this was certainly a night to remember in Los Angeles.

Danzig Set List:

Down Set List:

Chris Loomis

See Full Bio