Hell Yeah! Another stellar show ... first Detroit, now this ... Rochester tommorrow ... good shit my friends ... good shit. Mabey not as smokin' as Detroit but still fantastic. The venue was nice but sucked ... huh?
First off everyone overheated at Smalls would loved this place. Nice and air conditioned. The place reminded me of a lecture hall; semi circle floor w/ a semi circle of acending stands w/ a few tables an' chairs ... nice an' clean, no smokin' & the place was too big for the crowd that showed. All these conspired to kinda give the proceedings a sterile vibe ... crowd wise anyhow ... I mean people (not me) were gettin' off an slaming an shit down on floor but ... I donno it just seemed sedate ... lacked that vibe & magic a small, sweaty, reeking of weed room conjures up. An' I donno if Melvins have their own sound guy this time ... seemed to be 2 of 'em at Smalls' ... didn't recognize them ... tonight's seemed to be a different dude ... but yeah, it was too loud ... by the time Melvins hit it seemed all good, they sounded great but still a little too loud, but the Biz sounded terrible way loud & muddy mix , couldn't hear Toshi & everything else was just "BBBRRGGAAARRWWWAAAA!!" Like I said Melvins sounded decent but my ears are ringng fierce now an' that never happens to my damaged ears anymore after years of seeing concerts ... so yeah, musta been loud!
I dug Moss & Co. a little more tonight ... w/ the minamilism & drone of it the volume actually worked well ... you could "feel" it ... Cool
At least BB seemed to be getting into it ... as Armo pointed out Toshi's got some retardedly great guitar faces ... I'm sure they played great ... but ya really couldn't tell through the mud.
Melvins were great and I was happy it actual sounded decent by this point ... I was up center on the first set of stands ... could see perfectly, heaps of room to jump around an' shit ... that was nice ... an' I guess the fact I didn't sweat my balls off was kinda cool ... sterile vibe or not I still lost my shit! And the band didn't seem to fuckin sterile ... but I mean their pros, ya know? They still kicked out the jams an' all but things definatly seemed more "ON" in Detroit (I'll have a better idea when I hear the recordings of each). But still they tore shit up ... Always a blast to just watch those double drums (I really dig what they've been doing in Tipping the Lion). Buzz was doing alota "Billy Idol" sneering and shit ... an' some cool abrasive string scraping & scratching in various numbers ... pretty much the same highlights as Detroit ... an' again Civilized Worm got the biggest response ... the crowd went more bannanas for that than Honey Bucket? Weird. I mean if either of those songs screams: lose your shit! SLAM ! its' not Civilized Worm. Of course Boris stole the show ... killer lurching madness ... it was great! Again the outro was chilling ... Jared's wale sounds and singing was a swirling trip out! He was singing along throat up to bass making this deep drone mirror of Buzz words ... Awesome ... mabey he was doin' it last time too but it really came through here ...
Shot the shit with Walsby a little more tonight ... nice dude. There was like no one at merch virtually all night ... until the end of the show ... it was weird not seeing people all through the crowd with arms full of poster an' shit. Sucked though, it Detroit he said other then the Grumpys' their were no old posters ... An' I had my heart set on grabbing the ones from Mangy Moose & Portland ... as I'm walking out at the end I notice a freakin' Mangy Moose poster behin the table ... as I'm trying to get Walsby's attention through the throngs of people now invading the merch some kid gets it! I was gonna corner him an' offer him a $10 profit if he sold it to me ... but lost him in the crowd ... Damn!
But yeah, Melvins definatly gotta get up here to Canada ... As BB was starting Jared asked how many Canadians here tonight ... and like 3/4 of the people there throw their arms up!
I got there just in time for Big Biz after Zappa Plays Zappa ended early due to lightning. That was great & ended at a perfect time. Was worried I'd miss all of Big Biz and part of the Melvins set. I was one of the ones that came in looking like a drowned rat. Yeah, the sound was muddy alright for Big Biz. Sounded pretty shitty compared to the last time I saw them @ Peabody's last year which was perfect. What else can you say about the Melvins? Every time I see them I think this is the best they can get and they can't ever top this, but they do it every time. It was great being up front, having space and not getting slammed into once. I don't give a shit how much the crowd gets "into it" and I'm sure the band doesn't either. They seem to play with the same energy every night no matter the crowd size.
I've seen alot of shows at this place - some completely packed like Ween & Dethklok, and some sparse like Dinosaur Jr. & Clutch. I like it there mainly for the location and the overall setup is nice. The place they played last time -Showplace Theater- is pretty run down and up on the north side away from everything downtown.
About Buffalo vs. Detroit. The Melvins have probably played Detroit every tour since the beginning, so of course there's a more hardcore audience there. The Melvins are more underground in Buffalo. They didn't play here at all in the Rutmanis years, 11 years between Stoner Witch & Senile Animal tour. Rochester should be interesting tonight. I'm still surprised they got booked there. I don't even know of the last time Melvins played Rochester.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to Rochester too ... wondering how big the crowd'll be? I went on the ASA tour to Toledeo and it was freakin' empty! I'd say 30-40 people is a generous estimated ... totally cool ... right up on the side of the stage ... it was fantastic! Much looser too ... they even took a request! I've never seen that happen! But it also sucked, cut like 4 or so songs from the set ... ??? I donno I hear bands say crowd doesn't matter but ... why'd they cut 4 songs? I mean how could the difference between say an idifferent (thou I'm not saying that was the case in Buffalo) crowd & an apeshit crowd not somehow registar w/ the band and somehow effect the proceedings? Saw C.O.C do the same thing back in 1989 ... no show crowd ... they seemed a little bummed ... fuck, I had to smoke a hash dube w/ 'em just to get them to play a coule more songs
But yeah, the years of Melvins absence I imagine plays a huge part ... definatly seemed like the curious rather than converted for the most part ... hopefully they were converted! Glad ya had a blast Cheif ... how was the Zappa Plays Zappa ... I've missed that show twice now ... dammit!
another great one! waay too fucking loud but if it's any consolation for any in attendance and hoping for a recording to surface, the tape turned out better than I could have hoped. Had a few technical issues in the first song of BB set and the Melvins sets but otherwise NICE! Couple more hours and off to Rochester. Woo-hoo! Let's hope for a good showing there.
Overall I didn't have as much fun as Detroit but I had my mics in my hat vs. mounted on the wall which always limits my enjoyment. Well worth it in the years to come though...
If any of you remember grabbing the Detroit show last year, that was probably my recording, I will have them all up (Detroit, Buffalo, Rochester) on my blog sometime hopefully in near future. No guarantees but I wanna get'em up soon otherwise it will be a while.
nice venue, too bad no good grub in the area. melvins rocked it as expected. their rendition of the star spangled banner almost made me want to become a citizen. i saw anti-gay protesters on their way to the block party that was happening on washington. off to rochester tonight, yippeee!
Was it Westboro Baptist protesters?
it's possible. maybe it was a stopover on their way to toronto (they're protesting a play being put on here spoofing on good old fred)
Quote from: MisterBear on August 08, 2008, 12:06:30 PM
If any of you remember grabbing the Detroit show last year, that was probably my recording, I will have them all up (Detroit, Buffalo, Rochester) on my blog sometime hopefully in near future. No guarantees but I wanna get'em up soon otherwise it will be a while.
are you ambulance's friend that I met?
I got your recording of last year's detroit show. top notch.
can't wait to hear this year's take. remember me come dispursement day.
Quoteremember me come dispursement day.
I'm not sure what's more depressing; the fact that you carry a purse or that you want it stolen.
watch it or I'll go ruth buzzy on your ass and bust you over the head with it.
(http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/cgo0246l.jpg)
bi the waye, eye ar a gewd speler.
A Ruth Buzzy reference?!? What is this, the 1900s?!? :P
Quote from: Mount Ambulance on August 08, 2008, 11:53:50 AM
how was the Zappa Plays Zappa ... I've missed that show twice now ... dammit!
Fucking awesome, except that the lightning made it end early a little after 9PM during the King Kong solos. DZ said they had to stop, and see if the lightning would go away. They didn't come back out. I knew it was over, so I hauled ass down Main St. to the Ballroom.
The setlist was:
Approximate>Imaginary Diseases
City of Tiny Lights
Sharleena
Uncle Remus
Willie the Pimp
Peaches En Regalia
Echidna's Arf
G-Spot Tornado
Flakes
Broken Hearts are for Assholes
Bamboozled by Love
King Kong
That's a pretty sweet set list ... know if it varies much show to show?
Quote from: Mount Ambulance on August 08, 2008, 02:57:21 PM
That's a pretty sweet set list ... know if it varies much show to show?
Yes and no. They mix up the setlists every night, but not drastically. I think I missed out on alot of Joe's Garage material, that would have been the end of the set. That was my fourth time seeing them. DZ's sounding better than ever. Got there really early and caught them doing soundcheck while it was nice and sunny out. The Whigs were the opening band. They were alright, but I couldn't wait for them to be done.
One more thing about the venue in Buffalo, I'm glad it was there. Yeah, the crowd was small but not embarassing like under 100 people. I wouldn't want to see them in a bar like the Mohawk Place or Soundlab. There it would have been packed and uncomfortable. I saw Mudhoney and High On Fire at the Mohawk recently. Amazing shows, but a little too cramped in there. The Tralf might have worked too. That's where Boris & Torche just played.
The Ballroom show was great. Its been since May 2000 since the last time I saw The Melvins. They were great and the times before that I saw then, but last night it was just so incredibly tight.
Caught the soundcheck at Zappa, but left to go find a place to eat which seemed pretty fucking hard to do as most of downtown Buffalo seemed vacant. I honestly have never been to a city or small town ever that had so many empty business spaces.
I'm totally glad I made my way down there, and went to work today running on 4 hours sleep. Might have to do it again next tour.
Quote from: glen on August 08, 2008, 01:28:23 PM
Quote from: MisterBear on August 08, 2008, 12:06:30 PM
If any of you remember grabbing the Detroit show last year, that was probably my recording, I will have them all up (Detroit, Buffalo, Rochester) on my blog sometime hopefully in near future. No guarantees but I wanna get'em up soon otherwise it will be a while.
are you ambulance's friend that I met?
I got your recording of last year's detroit show. top notch.
can't wait to hear this year's take. remember me come dispursement day.
yeah that's me....was nice to meet you. been so used to having all these virtual friends and never actually meeting any of them. i'm gonna up the shows over at dime-a-dozen and post them on my blog for those who do not have an account. almost identical spot for taping this time 'round. the guitars came through a little better but that kick drum is a little punchy. Still sounds good to my ears...there's something about that hot sweaty place that I really like even if it makes my whole body feel a giant grimy scrotum.
Quote from: Dudbean on August 08, 2008, 06:38:50 PMThat's sounds like a cool show. Was Sharleena played like the Chunga's Revenge version or the long, killer solo version from The Lost Episodes? King Kong would've been great, too. Can't wait to see them again.
Sharleena was similar to Chunga's version. City Of Tiny Lights had the "Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression". Imaginary Diseases started with a bang. Perfect guitar tones (on a hollow body Gibson 335?), crazy that Frank never played that on later tours. I recognized Thomas Nordegg(seen on Video From Hell), FZ's old guitar tech now working for ZPZ. He's a little grayer now. He's sort of the wizard of oz with all the vintage gear.
Peaches>Echidna's>G Spot were played as a complete medley. DZ called it the "trifecta" of instrumentals from different decades. Bamboozled was like the original version, but the solo was uptempo, as on the '84 version w/ the Owner Of A Lonely Heart vamp, then back to the standard tempo. The head of King Kong was like the original too, the solos were ripping. During Sheilas solo, it mutated into a few minutes of Fifty-Fifty with her playing Duke's clavinet solo on sax. :shock: Broken Hearts was awesome. Good wholesome fun seeing everybody sing along the "ram it" section with families and cops around.
Sorry to turn this Melvins review page into a Zappa review, but it was a dream come true seeing my two favorite musical entities in one night. :D
Quote from: Dudbean on August 09, 2008, 06:04:00 PM
Quote from: Chief Ten Beers on August 09, 2008, 10:10:38 AM
Sorry to turn this Melvins review page into a Zappa review, but it was a dream come true seeing my two favorite musical entities in one night. :D
I can't see it happening in my neck of the woods, so don't mind me if I'm extremely jealous. Glad you enjoyed it!
Uncle Remus & Willie The Pimp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omzmksqQZxw
Bamboozled By Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-am-QwhDt8
this was my first melvins show and i was completely blown away.
i hope they live 50 more years to I'm able to see them at
least that many more time.
Quote from: blewis on August 15, 2008, 01:06:30 PM
this was my first melvins show and i was completely blown away.
i hope they live 50 more years to I'm able to see them at
least that many more time.
Woah! How did you first hear about the melvins?
Quote from: Chief Ten Beers on August 08, 2008, 02:54:20 PM
Quote from: Mount Ambulance on August 08, 2008, 11:53:50 AM
how was the Zappa Plays Zappa ... I've missed that show twice now ... dammit!
Fucking awesome, except that the lightning made it end early a little after 9PM during the King Kong solos. DZ said they had to stop, and see if the lightning would go away. They didn't come back out. I knew it was over, so I hauled ass down Main St. to the Ballroom.
The setlist was:
Approximate>Imaginary Diseases
City of Tiny Lights
Sharleena
Uncle Remus
Willie the Pimp
Peaches En Regalia
Echidna's Arf
G-Spot Tornado
Flakes
Broken Hearts are for Assholes
Bamboozled by Love
King Kong
ha. busy night. I like how Dweezil varies his setlist from night to night within the staples.
It's amazing how he evolved as a musician. One his first tour he was overly careful, now he's mastered the songs so well he appears to be playing effortlessly. I really loved the show I saw back in July.
buttholeman, you're a douche.
I've known about the Melvins for a long long time...
just haven't been into them like I have been in recent years.
I wanted to see them in 06 when they came through
Buffalo, but was too broke.
so, fuck you buddy.
oh....
and Boris live at my first Melvins show
was about as cool as it can get.
Quote from: blewis on August 21, 2008, 10:59:10 AM
buttholeman, you're a douche.
I've known about the Melvins for a long long time...
just haven't been into them like I have been in recent years.
I wanted to see them in 06 when they came through
Buffalo, but was too broke.
so, fuck you buddy.
Hey, calm down man. He was just asking you a simple question, why such an attitude?
Quote from: blewis on August 21, 2008, 10:59:10 AM
buttholeman, you're a douche.
I've known about the Melvins for a long long time...
just haven't been into them like I have been in recent years.
I wanted to see them in 06 when they came through
Buffalo, but was too broke.
so, fuck you buddy.
:?
wasn't really an attitude, but a south park reference..
buttholeman I'm sure is a real swell guy.