Photos by Dustin Schneider

Words by Matt Stubbs from the Jerry Jonestown Massacre Podcast

Last night was another amazing metal show at Amplified in Dallas, TX. In fact, it seems amazing metal shows are becoming pretty habitual at this venue. Down and iLL Niño rolled through town with locals Driven Below and Cutthroat Conspiracy opening things up. Driven Below immediately grabbed my attention. These dudes jam hard, and have a good time while doing it. Cutthroat Conspiracy played after them. They had a good sound and a lot of people were slamming with the band. It was pretty awesome seeing two local bands share the stage with ILL Niño and Down.

The most aerobic band Sunday was easily ILL Niño. I haven’t seen them since an Ozzfest a long time ago in a galaxy far away. Just like they did back then, it was a fun set with amazing energy. You have to take some spin classes or do HIIT training in order to be in their band. Lots of power kicks during their songs. Good stuff for everyone and their health. The last time I saw Down live was in the same Ozzfest galaxy, but I can’t remember if it was the same spacecraft trip, but man oh man it was good seeing them. They sounded amazon and seemed to be enjoying being on stage together again. You couldn’t help but smile seeing Phil Anselmo and his friends jamming. I saw an Instagram post of the band rehearsing a couple of weeks ago, and I told Dustin how good they sounded, so we knew Down was going to be monstrous Sunday night. This roster of Down consisted of Kirk Winstein, Pepper Keenan, Pat Bruders, and Jimmy Bower, and wow they brought it! It was a perfect night for a stoney show, the late evening air even kind of felt like New Orleans, which in turn made me really hungry. Really, really hungry.

Amplified has dialed it in on bringing good solid metal shows. I recommend you check one out!