While the thought of another Down tour saddens me because it means we’re that much less likely to see a new Crowbar or (gawd forbid) C.O.C. album anytime soon, I’m glad long-running North Carolina dirtball sludgers Weedeater are going to get the exposure of a major corporate tour. Should be pretty funny to see how the dudes in the denim BLS vests react when Dixie Dave starts puking all over the stage. Not to mention what’ll happen if some gets on Danava’s $400 shoes. Yeah, they should fit in just fine. Here’s the PR wire news and the dates:

That is right, sound the alarms: North Carolina’s sludge pillagers Weedeater have been confirmed as support for a full-on North American Down tour! The lineup changes throughout the routing; The Canadian dates feature secondary support from Voivod, while the bulk of the American dates feature The Melvins. Other opening support for the tour will be Danava for the first half and Evil Army for the latter half of the dates.

Weedeater will play several shows in North Carolina and Tennessee on the way to the opening and after the closing of the tour, and will headline sporadically in chunks throughout the main tour. And of course they will do what they do best: sonically reduce every venue they enter to a resin-coated heap of rubble.

Weedeater live:

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Say what you will about the new era of New Orleans supergroup Down — I know I will; that last album blew goat ass — but when these five dudes get on a stage and start blasting out their old tunes, it’s worth taking notice. To wit: the following live video from the Download Festival that Blabbermouth put up with a story about how they’re getting ready to record a fourth LP. Can’t say I’m looking forward to that since it means we won’t get new Crowbar anytime soon, but even with Phil Anselmo’s yowling clean vocals and weak-ass screams, “Lifer” rules all.

Blabbermouth posted an update from Down/Crowbar?guitarist/vocalist Kirk Windstein, in which he had the following to say:

“Got a good bit of good news to announce. Crowbar?will be rereleasing the majority of the back catalog through Housecore Records?[Philip Anselmo's record label]. These releases will be the only official rereleases that myself and the band have agreed to.

“There are countless unauthorized rereleases out there [Metal Mind?walks by and waves]. These were never OK’ed by me and are basically screwing the band. Most of these will be released on vinyl for the first time. We will also be putting out a limited-edition box set as well as a new live record and a CD of new material. Please check TheHousecoreRecords.com for frequent updates. Also,?Crowbar?and Goatwhore?will be playing a show Friday, May 29 at Grant Street in Lafayette, Louisiana.”

Quick question: is a “CD of new material” the same thing as a new album? I sure as hell hope so, because if there’s one thing that wasn’t at all worth trading time that could have been spent making a new?Crowbar?record?for, it was Down, Over the Under. Hate to be the one to say it, but it’s true. I still get a headache every time I think about how dumb “Pillamyd” was.