While we’re waiting on Down to drop its first proper studio album in …*checks calendar*… almost two decades (!!!), the heavy metal supergroup is celebrating its collective New Orleans heritage by paying homage to one of the Crescent City’s favorite sons, Dr. John, and his 1973 hit “Right Place, Wrong Time.” The funk-boogie track is the last thing one would expect from the band fronted by Pantera’s Phil Anselmo, while at the same time, of course that’s what they would do to celebrate Mardi Gras, which happens to be today (February 17).
“Dr. John’s ‘Right Place, Wrong Time’ is probably one of the first songs I ever learned or knew of as a kid,” Anselmo says. “We grew up in the French Quarter, and Dr. John’s music was everywhere. Recording this song was something that I always wanted to do, and I’m happy that I did it with Down. The video was an absolute blast to make. Even my mom is in it! Because of her, I know Dr. John’s music very well.”
The video is a nod to the festive, pre-Lent holiday with the entire group, including Corrosion of Conformity’s Pepper Keenan, Crowbar’s Kirk Windstein and Pat Bruders, Eyehategod’s Jimmy Bower, and a host of backup singers and other characters pulled from Nola dance troupes, all dressed in traditional Mardi Gras garb. Full of the swampy blues riffs synonymous with Down, the clip quickly plummets into a fever dream of glorious proportions.