King Buzzo and pals kicked off their fall tour in Sacramento on October 15th, and I, someone almost completely ignorant to the Melvins was in attendance. How was it? Good question.
The Melvins have always been a band that I respected from a distance. I love Fantomas and dug some of the tracks from that We Reach: The Music of the Melvins tribute, but then other stuff kept coming up to distract me from my exploration of the band. I only say this to preface that I'm a total Melvins noob and purposely avoided live videos to go in a clean(ish) slate. I seem to dig most cult bands, so I wanted to give them a real shot.
I sadly arrived late and completely missed the gloriously named opener Cornelius Asperger and the Bi-Curious Unicorns. From what I sampled post-show, they are are punk band with a tendency to experiment, so they were likely a perfect fit for the ever-experimenting Melvins.
Right as I walked through the doors "Pigs of the Roman Empire" was starting and this song was absolutely crushing. It was a simple but effective opener. When "The Water Glass" began, I was excited. This was what I expected from the band. Their albums that I encountered in passing had a lot of weird songs that made it difficult to describe what the band sounds like.
However, I was surprised to find how much of their set was grounded in stoner and sludge. Aside from the weirdness of "The Water Glass" and "Youth of America" the show was an endless assault of low-tuned chugging and riffs that felt like nods to Black Sabbath's Master of Reality. I was also surprised to only find three guys on stage. The Hold It In record featured two guys from Butthole Surfers and they seemed to have two drummers at other points, but that night it was Buzzo, Dale Crover on drums, and bassist JD Pinkus. These three are a tight powerful trio though.
Surprises aside, they were pretty amazing. While I had hoped for more of the weird experimental songs like "I Get Along (Hollow Moon)" or "Barcelonian Horseshoe Pit" (both from the latest album), I still enjoyed the absolute power of "We Are Doomed" and "A Growing Disgust." Post-show research makes this set seem like a pretty career comprehensive set while still pimping the latest record, which seemed impossible. The band has a thousand records, and some did get skipped, but milestones were addressed. Check the setlist below if you're a curious fan.
A new Melvins fan was made that night in this guy. Ever since then I have been slowly collection songs, and watching videos to re-experience songs that night. Hip me to good albums and/or songs I should check out in the comments.
Highlights: "The Water Glass," "The Bit," "The Bride of Crankenstein" and the Wipers cover "Youth Of America."
Catch the rest of this tour and see them if you haven't. Dates here.
Full setlist
Pigs of the Roman Empire (Melvins & Lustmord cover)
The Water Glass
Onions Make The Milk Taste Bad
Sesame Street Meat
FLA
Sweet Willy Rollbar
Bride Of Crankenstein
A Growing Disgust
We Are Doomed
Youth of America (Wipers cover)
The Bit
Your Blessened
Night Goat
Fascists Eat Donuts (Pop-O-Pies Cover)
Poster by Paul Allen at Hypno-Skull Comics.
