Mindblowing is an adjective that does not even begin to describe this show.
First off, the crowd was packed full of musicians. I sat right behind Thurston Moore & Kim Gordon. I also saw Lee Ranaldo, David Byrne, Steven O'Malley & Greg Anderson. In a theater that seats maybe 500 people. I was in the 5th row, right in front of Dale's drumkit. It was loud as fuck, and completely chaotic & dark. None of the people on stage were illuminated at any point during the show (which I liked, actually).
The show starts out in complete blackness with Haino singing a sweet melody without a mic. I had seen him before & had never heard a melodic side to him. He goes on for about 5-10 minutes in darkness, and then the first film (JO) starts. It's a pretty fucked up film (all of them are, but they were all really good too). JO visually compares a Joan of Arc festival in France with a hot dog eating contest in Coney Island. By the time the film had started, Haino picked up his guitar & turned on his 4 Marshall Amps. He starts to accompany the film with guitar. Haino was off to the side of the stage & had his own monitor so he could sync his playing with the film. My favorite part was when he added the vocals to his playing. The music really fit the film quite well. Mournful at times, chaotic at others. Really hard for me to describe, but very much in the style of his playing. I think it was about a half hour or so long. Then there was an intermission.
Then the Melvins came on & Kranky Klaus played. Fuckin' GREAT movie. The Melvins did their modified version of Pigs of the Roman Empire. There was a different drum intro, and they also slipped in parts of Lysol into it, along with other bits of noise & chaos. Without a pause, the next film started & I was amazed to see Haino return to the stage. From what the program said, it seemed that both Haino & the Melvins would be playing seperately.
Spook House & BB were the next films. All of Janie's movies have to do with cultural rituals, and Spook House is about Halloween in Detroit. I grew up in Detroit, so this movie really hit home for me. Scary as hell music. Chaotic noise that eventually turned rhythmic. Dave Scott Stone did a fantastic noise intro at the begining, and then walked around the audience crashing a cymbal. The music for this one was basically a noise fan's wet dream. The visuals were wonderful & reminded me of my childhood & Devil's Night in Detroit. BB was the final film. It was about boys wrestling in their back yard. This was the proper start of Lysol. They had been teasing us with bits and pieces of it all night, but this was when Buzz started in with the vocals. Haino was doing a noise guitar over the Melvins, which was both unnerving because it was so unusual & unexpected, but it really fit the music. The visuals of these boys bashing each other with chairs and jumping off the roof of a house got a bit much after a while & I was just digging the music. It ended abruptly & unceremonieously.
whew. that's it.
Hello to the board. As my name implies, I am relatively new to the Melvins, and last night was my first live experience. I'd have to agree with BK's Finest that it was mind blowing. I was in the 16th row or so, center, and everything was vibrating. I saw a bunch of unprepared folks running out of the theater and coming back with toilet paper to stuff in their ears.
The films were all amazing, but Kranky Klaus made my jaw drop. I loved when the music stopped and the "creatures" were listening to "Black Betty" while taking a beer/cig break.
I saw S. O'Malley and D. Byrne, didn't see Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon though. Bummer.
Can't wait for Sunn 0))) and Boris on the 30th.
Cheers.
great review...but if I may go into detail a little bit about the very beginning. when the house lights went down and Keiji came out on stage and you could just make out a vague silhouette while he was singing this operatic feminine chant...walking around on stage a little bit...and still no one really knew what to expect...the whole place was still and quite as he carried on with his soothing, eerie vocals....as he paced and sang he went over to the 4 fender twins sitting behind him in a row...and again in complete darkness and near silence leaned over and turned on the first one and that little light in the far right appeared along with a light hum...he moved on to the second and the hum got a bit louder...this was really great because for me not knowing anything about this dude I was just bursting with anticipation...and by the time he made over to that 4th amp...and it was so quiet in the theater the hum seemed to be so huge at this point....you could just make out that he was picking up his guitar and the curiosity was so great at this point I could hear the thoughts of the strangers sitting next me wondering the same, "What the fuck is going to happen????" and instead of bursting into a noisy ruckus as one would hope from the piles of potential energy waiting behind him... soft delayed notes were gently plucked here and there which eased into the beginning of the first film...this theatrical foreplay was just as satisfying as the multiple climax performance that went on throughout the rest of the night...
yeah, the whole evening was really dense with moments of anticipation and/or possibilities.
to find out more about Haino, click here: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:3fq8g4kbtvjz
He's actually quite legendary, and I believe this was the first time the Melvins & Haino have played together. I would LOVE to see them collaborate ona record together.
Great review! That sounds amazing. Melvins w/films was awesome enough but with Haino it sounds even better. They should definitely do a record.
That bit about him singing and gradually turning the amps on...amazing :D
(http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c278/burntbride/DSC02932.jpg)
this is all I got...but there are a few shots of the stage inside over on sr.com ...I'll post the link
I need to move out of Ohio and go to a state that actually has concerts.
I thought the whole thing was pretty cool. "Kranky Klaus" ruled. The film would be cool all by itself, but with live Melvins it totally kicked ass. I want to get one of those costumes now and go wrestle with people.
I didn't like Keiji so much. The opening bit he did with the vocals and first guitar stuff was really cool, but soon it just turned brutal and not the good kind of brutal. Just my opinion. Not my thing. Melvins ruled.
It was really cool to see the other amazing musicians in the audience.
I'd definately see it again, if it was possible. I want a copy of Kranky Klaus on DVD with a Melvins soundtrack.
Quote from: Pelican on May 18, 2006, 01:55:55 PM
I thought the whole thing was pretty cool. "Kranky Klaus" ruled. The film would be cool all by itself, but with live Melvins it totally kicked ass. I want to get one of those costumes now and go wrestle with people.
Ha, this is Great! :P
I flew in from Jacksonville FL to Laguardia, and caught a cab to Symphony Space in the nick of time (7:40), even had time to enjoy a $6 Heineken at the charming Key Wesy Cafe before hand-
I was in row G, right on the isle in front of Dale and Buzz.
Buzz was sporting a Marshall Full-Stack, JCM800.
A trip to the concession area landed me a one on one with Sir David Scott Stone - he says his solo project is coming out soon.
Back in front where Keiji does his thing - it was it was, Japanese Noise Music - incredibly orchestrated. Jo was equally entertaining.
Brooklyn's Finest was right on with the Melvins review, except for that was Dale who walked around in a modified grim reaper outfit during Spook House with a Paiste crash - DSS followed a few minutes later with a small black round box with a crank - he put it right in my ear - this moment was worth the $284 plane ticket, $28 admission fee, and $6 Heineken - the movies and live show crosses a 3 dimensional barrier and makes you part of the show.
The highlight was of course an original version of Lysol - (Roman Bird Dog?) that was off the scale -
I did not see TM and K Gordon, but am stoked to tell people they were there.
I did see O' Malley and talked at length with hip hop duo DALEK - who were present and representing Jersey.
I talked with Dale after the show who was kicking it with the Dalek boys - they dissappeared backstage together.
Then I ate Rays Pizza (86th and Broadway) while watching Conan O Brien til I puked - A night to remember.
some people have all the luck!
great review. this is the type of melvins release I am waiting on.
I actually have some Haino solo stuff, I'll have to dig it out. I haven't touched them in years.
I was at this show too in the fourth row. Holy Fuck. It was one of the best I've ever been to. The only thing I would have taken out was Keiji playing on the Lysol song. From where I was seated I could hear him, but barely hear the entire band playing one of my favorite songs. And it went perfectly to young kids mock? beating the shit out of one another. The anonymous quality to the performances was also cool. It made it more powerful and sinister. Over 24 hours later and my ears are still ringing.
sooooooooooooooooooooooooo
did anyone record this? if so, please contact me for a swap, I gotta lotta Melv's and the Jainer's shows to trade
thanks!