themelvins.net bbs

Brindabella Airlines, the airline that flew me from Newcastle to Canberra two days ago, has just had most of its fleet grounded by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority over lax maintenance.  :?

So I'm getting the bus back to Sydney in an hour. Neil Hamburger might be at the gig.......

More later. @grimreaper: mine is the one in the middle:

(http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad93/AKV126C/brindy_zps662e34f5.jpg) (http://s925.photobucket.com/user/AKV126C/media/brindy_zps662e34f5.jpg.html)

 :shock:

Jules, you are only doing this to poke nose to us Melvins-dads who are stuck with 2-4 kids, you Brightonian warlord! Have a blast in Aussie-land!

(http://www.flightglobal.com/airspace/media/galleries/images/57576/500x400/bae-jetstream-32-vh-otf.jpg)

Quote from: Schnabster on December 14, 2013, 03:41:38 AM
Jules, you are only doing this to poke nose to us Melvins-dads who are stuck with 2-4 kids, you Brightonian warlord! Have a blast in Aussie-land!

just don't have a blast while in the plane!

I find the name "Aeropelican" hysterical for some reason  :lol:

Quote from: GrimReaper on December 14, 2013, 04:17:30 AM
(http://www.flightglobal.com/airspace/media/galleries/images/57576/500x400/bae-jetstream-32-vh-otf.jpg)

Brindabella are no more. I must have been one of their last passengers  :shock:

Review of the show coming up, but The Fool could just as easily write one, I gotta dash for the flight home. Suffice to say Melvins tore shit up last night.

@glen:  the few tickets still available on the door last night were priced at $80. Beer was $10 a bottle behind the bar, though, which puts it into some kind of perspective.......

Quote from: jules on December 16, 2013, 01:59:09 AM

@glen:  the few tickets still available on the door last night were priced at $80. Beer was $10 a bottle behind the bar, though, which puts it into some kind of perspective.......

well I guess as long as you tell me the minimum wage in Australia is $65.00 per hour I'm ok with that.

Quote from: glen on December 16, 2013, 03:45:57 PM

Quote from: jules on December 16, 2013, 01:59:09 AM

@glen:  the few tickets still available on the door last night were priced at $80. Beer was $10 a bottle behind the bar, though, which puts it into some kind of perspective.......

well I guess as long as you tell me the minimum wage in Australia is $65.00 per hour I'm ok with that.

Is Australia the most expensive place on Earth!?...

Australia, Norway, Switzerland. Isn't Canada also pretty rich, with high prices?

Norway 4th, Aussie 11th and Canada 14th.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethgreenfield/2012/02/22/the-worlds-richest-countries/ (http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethgreenfield/2012/02/22/the-worlds-richest-countries/)

So, after cheating death on Aeropelican to Canberra, I decided to hitch to Sydney. Unfortunately it was pissing down with rain and the bus was only $20, so I chickened out and opted for that. It was a three-hour drive through kangaroo-infested countryside and I discovered that I burst out laughing and point every time I see one. Much to the annoyance of my fellow passengers.

The venue was in an 'entertainment zone', which comprised cinemas, restaurants, a football stadium, pubs, venues, that kind of thing. It would have been on the last of my lists of things to visit if it hadn't been for the ibises. So I sat under a 'Please do not feed the ibises' sign and fed the ibises. They're like badly put-together pterodactyls and incredibly entertaining. In fact all the birds out there are weird. Even the pigeons have crests like members of Discharge.

The sun came out so I went to see Carrie at one of the cinemas. It cost $20. Sydney isn't cheap.

Said hi to Dave Curran and Clifford Meyer over pints before the show, and met The Fool again and The Fool's friend.

There were a few tickets remaining on the door, priced $80. The venue is part of a small chain, capacity 1400 with a balcony. It felt pretty rammed and the atmos was great. Only criticism would be the price of the beer. Meh. So I stayed dry.

First up were Nunchukka Superfly from Sydney. It's Peter Black and Ray Ahn's band (ex-Hard-Ons) and there was a small but determined following of one person dancing idiotically in a sea of otherwise motionless people. Always funny to watch.

Helmet's set was slightly different from Newcastle and Canberra. I didn't recognise the song they started with and there was no Wilma's Rainbow. The PA was right for the job and it sounded pretty loud in there. Dan Beeman had to put up with problems from his pedals all set so he mostly played with none. That made the whole sound completely different from where I was standing; Page was making faces but I don't think he minded.

Melvins sounded loud as fuck and pretty bass heavy here. The show finished with the usual drum-off after Lysol (there was no Shevil) and with Jared hugging as many as he could in the crowd.  :D

Found a pub that was still open after the show, so made up for the dry gig and caught up with the day's cricket. Marvellous!

thanks for the cool review!

Quote from: jules on December 18, 2013, 03:57:36 AM
It was a three-hour drive through kangaroo-infested countryside and I discovered that I burst out laughing and point every time I see one. Much to the annoyance of my fellow passengers.

:lol:

Quote from: jules on December 18, 2013, 03:57:36 AM
Clifford Meyer

is that the guy from Isis? must be the same guy who introduced Buzz into those aluminum guitar

http://lifemusicmedia.com/live-review-melvins-helmet-nunchukka-superfly-hi-fi-bar-sydney-december-15-2013/


We were shocked to see no line up for tonight's show, just moments before opening time. There were literally 15 people waiting patiently in front of Sydney's HiFi, with crowds of soccer fans streaming past at from Allianz Stadium wondering what these scruffy metal heads were doing out in public on a Sunday evening. Thankfully though, all this lack of early enthusiasm proved to be was a more mature, clever kind of music fan that clearly hates waiting in lines.

By the time Sydney's own Nunchukka Superfly were around half way through their crunching set of jam-room super grooves the HiFi was more than half full – as if a couple of busloads of punters had miraculously all arrived at once. Their insistent, explosive riffing got the early crowd moving, with spasmodic, jagged physical contortions on stage reinforcing the powerful movements of the music. Be sure to look for the band's forthcoming album "Open Your Eyes to Smoke" being launched at Valve on December 21 – their first since 2008.

We were lucky enough to be in attendance for Helmet's last Sydney show at the Manning Bar in 2011. Tonight's show sees the band improve upon its last showing – despite a few niggling technical issues for guitarist Dan Beeman – if improving upon the Helmet formula was even possible.

Frontman and sole remaining original member from the band's classic line-up Page Hamilton took to the stage without much fanfare before launching into 'Bored'. Their set went on to include tracks from their entire catalogue, delighting fans of every stage of Helmet's career. They're characteristically tight tonight, but the live Helmet experience is always a little more raw than their recorded output – which is in keeping with what Hamilton has previously talked about in interviews, particularly in the 1990s when he considered Helmet an antithesis of bands like Def Lepard et al. As a result, despite the fish-arse tight drop-D riffing, there's all the noise and rawness you'd expect from a live band that's into what they're doing.

As the band works its way through their set, they segue into Betty tracks 'Wilma's Rainbow' and 'Milquetoast' at the audience's request and their knowing smiles to one another show their awareness that classic material like 'Rollo' still gets the audience pumping. To be frank, we haven't seen a band with as much on-stage communication in years. Page and the rest of the group are constantly watching for signals as bridge and solo sections get extended or tricky Helmet-isms scream toward them rapid fire.

With vintage songs like 'Rude' and more obscure Helmet songs like 'Just Another Victim' washing over the eager crowd, they bring their hour-long set to a close and literally give the crowd the shirts of their backs. Truly awesome.

Despite Helmet's history and loyal fan base, as the Melvins take to the stage, it's clear that the majority of people in attendance are here to see them tonight. Boasting a line-up as close to their 1983 vintage as possible, tonight's a special night with a set list including material from new release 'Tres Carbones' – and two drummers.

It's a mystery how frontman Buzz Osborne can withstand the heat that's sure to build up under that muumuu, complete with long socks and his brilliant shock of grey hair – but he powers through the headlining set, rarely in the one place long enough to catch a breath. Even with his turban, bassist Jared Warren doesn't stand a chance in the attention-grabbing stakes. It's all about Buzz, as he stalks from one side of the stage to the other, erratically jerking his large frame as the band jolts out extended slabs of seismic riffage.

By this stage, the crowd almost fills the HiFi and the majority sing along to almost every word Buzz has to sing for the duration of the set. The Melvins have a singular presence and it's easy to affirm that no other band around looks or sounds quite like them. Tonight's crushing performance does nothing to hurt their reputation as a live band, with more smiling faces in the crowd than we've seen in a while – unashamed man-hugs and uninhibited dancing included.

Sunday nights don't come much better than this!

      -  Ben Hosking

Can't believe this tour is already one year old. :(

Hope it's not another 5 years before they come back.

Quote from: (the) Razor on December 12, 2014, 01:41:51 AM
Can't believe this tour is already one year old. :(

Hope it's not another 5 years before they come back.

Tell me about it. Exactly this time last year I was having lunch with Buzz on the campus in Canberra. Where did the year go?

Quote from: jules on December 12, 2014, 10:14:01 AM

Quote from: (the) Razor on December 12, 2014, 01:41:51 AM
Can't believe this tour is already one year old. :(

Hope it's not another 5 years before they come back.

Exactly this time last year I was having lunch with Buzz on the campus in Canberra. Where did the year go?

luckiest man ever