#366 Down Helmet STRAP IT DOWN TOUR Concert Review

“On a scale of 1 to 5 Honks, how many Honks would you give it…for their performance at the show?”

The STRAP IT DOWN TOUR (featuring Spirit In The Room, Helmet, and Down) kicked off in relentlessly heavy fashion on Saturday, August 15, 2026, at The Eastern in Atlanta, Georgia, and we made our way down into the heart of the city to experience opening night firsthand, in the flesh.

“I don’t wanna say anything off-putting…”

The turnout was incredible, the venue was awesome, and the whole vibe of the entire evening was perfectly dialed in, with merch lines resembling what one might see at an amusement park and well-rehearsed, tight performances from each of the bands that were delivered loud and crystal clear (yet “not necessacelery” so loud that we were all “screaming at each other and not listening”), with the final crescendo of the evening being a massive jam that can only be described as “controlled chaos” as EVERYONE in the first two bands took the stage and proceeded to jam with Down on the outro to “Bury Me In Smoke” until the riffs and the grooves left everyone with a contact high.

“Man, I hate those things!”

Get ready for a taste of the brand-new DOWN tune, Blood Oath, remember why you should NEVER put your concert shirts in the dryer after you wash them, discover why being ultra “relaxed” is the only way to EVER travel in a Waymo, and get ready for some BONUS concert reflections worth its weight in Honks when you JOIN US as we share our post-game wrap-up of the first night of the STRAP IT DOWN TOUR!

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(00:01): “Getting more exercise in one night than I’ve had in 5 years…”/ #TheEastern /

“Dude, I was really, really concerned…bro turned so red…” / #HailTheLeaf /

“The cop and the Waymo thing was probably my favorite part of the night…” /

***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised *** / “That is dericious…” /

“We are 6 days after…almost a week to the day…” / “Hey…note where the letters start and stop…these are my nips…perfectly engineered shirt…that’s what we’re talking about today…”

***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST IN THE BUNKERPOON CENTER FOR METAL EXCELLENCE!!!***

“Someone saw this shirt and thought it said ‘Doom’…and I’m like ‘Well you’re not wrong…’…” / “I think I have too many hats…but hats are a good thing to have…”/ #snapback /

“I asked for both of them in 2XL…” / #dontdryconcertshirts / “It’s not the washing, it’s the drying…” / “That (Down) long sleeve…that thing’s roomy…”/ “We don’t do the beer of the episode much anymore...but this is the Allagash Haunted House Hoppy Dark Ale, 6.6%ABV and there’s a 6-pack of cans in there… #666

(06:43): ***PATREON US AT patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast *** /

“Or they get sick of you talking about June…”/ “I’d like to stuff June Cleaver’s beaver…”/

“Bring the hair back…we miss it.” / #TheScience /

***SOCIAL MEDIA US at #metalnerderypodcast on #Facebook #TikTok #Instagram & #YouTube / EMAIL US at metalnerdery@gmail.com and VOICEMAIL US at 980-666-8182!!!***

(12:00): “In the spirit of this show, this particular episode…” / “It’s tuned down to C standard…” / #Down #VolumeV #DownV BLOOD OATH (Volume V – 2026) /

“You know that rehearsal space is LOUD!”/

“There’s one part there, right before the chorus…it reminded me of ‘The Small Hours’…”

(from Garage Days Re-Revisited)

(18:51): #TheDocket / STRAP IT DOWN TOUR – (First show of the Tour) in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, August 15, 2026, at The Eastern (Spirit In The Room, Helmet, & DOWN) / “We did get a lot of goodness…basically we got the first album…and then Lyrsergik and Ghosts Along The Mississippi…”/

“To kick off a tour, that’s not a bad way to warm up…since that’s where it all started… (with NOLA)” / The rooftop bar and stage TV & viewing area at #TheEastern /

“It’s like super ultra surround sound…”/

“We were upstairs initially when #SpiritInTheRoom started…”/ “I don’t wanna say anything off-putting…”/ “Okay, well then maybe it was a dude with tits…that’s totally fine.”/

“Uh, dude, I don’t know if you’ve noticed…we ALL have tits, dude…women just have the best ones…”/ “I think (Spirit In The Room) were playing through Helmet’s rigs…”/

#FryetteAmps #VHT / “It’s just one lady, bro…” /

“The drummer looked like he just got out of highschool…”

“Everything (Spirit In The Room) played that night fit in the pocket of the #Down and #Helmet stuff…”/ “We’re all interneting at the same time…” / #recordscratch / “Apparently they’re on #HousecoreRecords (Phil’s record label)…”/ “Here’s the setlist…none of those songs are on this list…”/ #SpiritInTheRoom U R MY RELIGION

(31:42): “Let’s dive into the Helmet…”/

“They opened with Holiday (from LEFT)…I think (Page) changed the lyrics…”/

“He mentioned he was 7 months sober (to the day, on the day of the concert) …”/

“They played 14 songs…”/ “I think the magic and the power is in that fuchsia-colored ESP…he’s been playing that guitar for 30 years!”

(37:00): “I didn’t really know DOWN until the podcast…” /

“We need to do a Melvins show…they’ve got 29 albums…”/ “Pot brownies got me into Melvins…”/ “I think that was my 3rd DOWN show…”/

“I feel like The Eastern and the new Masquerade…they’ve perfected it (the soundcheck and changeover between bands).”/ “You guys didn’t wear protection…”/

“I never got one warning…every time I’m in an environment that’s over 90 decibels, my watch will tell me…I have no idea what they’re doing…even though we were there and we felt the music, it didn’t seem too loud…”/ “We’re screaming at each other and not listening…”/ “Collectively, I think we all enjoyed the Helmet…”

(42:00): “Let’s move on to ‘The Down’…the set by…DOWN…”/ “Why do they keep saying ‘The’?” / “I knew it wasn’t NOT gonna be good…I knew automatically it was NOT gonna suck.”/ #markthetime / “Bro, I was exhausted when I got home…”/

“If you had to pick 2 or 3 favorite moments of the Down set, what do you think?”/

#BuryMeInSmoke #killercloser /

***Go check out the #Doomsicle version of Bury Me In Smoke on Patreon***

“Not necessacelery…”/ “As a first show experience, how would you rate it, on a 1 to 10?” /

“Look at it this way…what you basically, essentially got was the Live Undead/Origin of the Feces version of NOLA…” / “If you like any of these bands, go see them!”/ #moneywellspent

“I was just gonna say…I’ve never seen Waymos before in my life… #Waymos are like #Ubers that drive themselves…”/ “Man, I hate those things!” / “The person freaked it out…”/

#NoMoWaymo

(54:23): “I don’t wanna let this one go…I also went to another concert last week…”

#RussellsReflections #MotleyCrue #Tesla #Extreme / “I didn’t buy tickets…”/

“Wand seats…”/ “I’ve seen the videos…of your honk…”/

“We got there right before Extreme starts…”/ #VanHalenIII / “It’s better than St. Anger…”/

“Whoa! So, it was Extreme, Tesla, AND Motley Crue!? Damn, and you got free tickets to THAT!? Even Bill might have gone to that show…that’s pretty awesome!”

“I’m not a Tesla guy…”/ “If you’ve heard Mechanical Resonance, you know most of that album…we’re gonna do a dive on that at some point…we totally are.”/ #noteven /

“Because I’ve decided not to shit on singers anymore… (he just pees on ‘em now…)” /

“So, Vince Neil and his Honk…” / “I’m gonna read the (Motley Crue) setlist…” / #AISlop / #CarnivalOfSins / “But then…they bring the grand piano out…and Tommy starts playing the piano (with his dick) …”/

“On a scale of 1 to 5 Honks, how many Honks would you give it…for their performance at the show?” / #untilthenext #untilnext #outroreel