Melvins Webster Hall, NYC May 15, 2009

[Idlehanz]

Just to hit a few minor points.

That was Dale, not Matt.

This was the best Melvins show I have witnessed. (Boston was right there too)

I'll have vid and pics up later, but for now I will leave you with this:







I'll put up a proper review and comments and such after a bit.  Just got home, lot's to do.

[bUTTHOLEmAN]

 
Holy crap that picture is AWESOME!

[the ether bunny]

photo evidence! the elusive gibby was there!

sounds like an awesome night, much unlike any melvins evening i have ever encountered. (with the exception of HOUDINI live.)

[black stallion]

  AMAZING!!who is that guy with glasses right next to Buzz?
edit:the guy from Butthole Surfers?

[the ether bunny]

AMAZING!!who is that guy with glasses right next to Buzz?

gibby haynes of butthole surfers fame.

[black stallion]

AMAZING!!who is that guy with glasses right next to Buzz?

gibby haynes of butthole surfers fame.

yeah,thanks ether!awesome,Idle in that pic looks like the third Melvins

[bathroom creep]

And more importantly... who's that fella on the left with short hair??    Damn Crover.


Nice pic Idle.

[Idlehanz]

I was grinning so big my eyes were almost shut.  Didn't help that Gibby said something inane right before the pic.  Don't remember what it was.  But it made me and Dillard crack a smile.

[Uncle Fester]

Nice pic, Idle!
is that guy on the right chugging to beers at once?

[the ether bunny]

Nice pic, Idle!
is that guy on the right chugging to beers at once?

it looks like trevor? i cant tell without the face shot. or baseball hat. or any of his other signifiers. that ol' drunk.

[Idlehanz]

Nice pic, Idle!
is that guy on the right chugging to beers at once?

Yes, that's Trevor.  And yea, he probably was.

[Idlehanz]

The cover that was unknown is now known.

"Let Me Roll It"

by Paul McCartney & Wings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P2MOrWrsk8

I'll post their version later.  Doing the transfers now.

[glen]

jesus hanzy... you sicken me. and I mean that with the utmost respect and adoration.  you are a god.  its as simple as that.    how do you pull this shit off???

[Idlehanz]

Ok,

So I'm going to put my trip details right in with this review through Saturday morning when I left for Boston.

I was awake at 6:30 am PT for work Thursday morning.  I did my shit, got home, packed, got dropped off, and tried to sleep on the red eye to JFK.  Didn't happen.  To much was going through my head.  I probably got a total of 45 minutes sleep between the time I left Portland, landed in Atlanta at 6am ET, and connected to land in NY at 10am ET.  

I landed in NY, got myself a bus to drop me off at Grand Central Station, and it was game on from there.  Took a taxi to the hotel Grim had set up and gave him a call.  He, Bad Ronald, and Ron's lady Margaret were still sleeping somewhere in NY.  I left my bags with the desk at the hotel and set out.  I walked 30 seconds down the block and found myself in Times Square.  I had no idea we were staying that close.  Saw the naked cowboy dude and people watched for a while and did the normal touristy bullshit.  Namely taking pics and standing like a slack jawed tard looking straight up ath the purty lights.



After a few hours, Grim and the rest of the posse showed up at the hotel.  We went down the street to the Pig & Whistle for some Irish chow and beer.  After that we got our room and they took off to let me get some needed shut eye.  At that point I had been up for 30 some hours.  I took a quick nap and grabbed a taxi to the venue.  


I met up with Dillard and he took me inside.  Webster Hall reminded me a bit of the GAMH, but without the ornate woodwork.  




I took some pics, watched Mike sign the evening's posters, and hung out for the show to start.  

Totally caught off guard.




While the venue filled up I made phone contact and waved at  DyTM and Vin down on the floor.  

On to the show..........

    I've seen the Melvins83 a few times now.  Mike's been nervous before every show.  Was tonight too.  But he doesn't show it out on the stage.  For anybody going to see the show, don't treat Melvins83 like an opening band.   I don't know if we'd have the Melvins we have now if Mike hadn't been around to play drums, but I do know that this is the birth of the Melvins  you'd be a fool of a fan to not witness what it was like 25 years ago..  The 83 songs are really fucking good, loud, fast Melvins punk.  Mike's not Dale.  I think to many people are expecting him to be.  He would tell you he's not.  Take the Melvins83 songs for what they are.  Buzz, Mike, and Matt playing songs as teenagers.  I think if you listen to it in that regard, you'll have a much bigger appreciation for what they wrote and played, especially for it being 1983.  They ran through the setlist like normal, except for Buzz doing inroductions at the beginning, instead of partway through the set.  Buzz into'd Mike as having recently gotten out of jail and needing something to do, and after the show while standing around the upstairs and the dressing room, I caught a guy who was also in the VIP section ask Buzz if Dillard had really gotten released recently.  Made me laugh.  

Anyway..........after the Melvins83 set Mike gets up off the kit and walks over to a snare drum set up next to a tom by themselves on the side and all mic'd up and starts the "Dwight Fry" drum intro.  Just Mike playing it.  After a minute Dale starts in with HEAVY kick drum beats and then they perfectly match the snare intro.  Goes on and on and Buzz starts the guitar part and right at the end of that intro guitar part Mike walks offstage and Buzz and Dale play Dwight Fry to a huge applause.  After that comes Dale doing a fast and furious intro to "It's Shoved", then the Wings cover "Let Me Roll It", "SIP", "Black Bock", and finally "Let God Be Your Gardener".  I thought it was really fucking cool that they did this career run through as just a duo.  I was just grinning ear to ear and not missing bass at all.  I'm sorry for the folks that aren't going to get to see this if they're just attending the Seattle shows.

At the end of Let God Be Your Gardener Trevor walked out while Dale was doing some drum time killing.  After a bit, Hag Me starts up.  I admit to not so much being skeptical about Houdini, but just thinking there was so much other stuff I'd like to see live.  How stupid I was.  From the first notes of Hag Me, with Trevor hitting a note, putting the headstock of the bass on the ground, leaning on it, and just playing it like that while the same beautiful feedback from the song is layering over theose heavy fucking notes I knew I was not only wrong, but in for a treat.  Hag Me was so goddamn powerfull and loud and.......and........yea.  It was amazing.  The points that stick out were the crowd going apeshit for everysong as it started.  Hooch, Lizzy, and Honey Bucket got a big reaction.  As did Joan of Arc, where at the end, all three of them made weird noises and the "hot dog" line made us all laugh.  The most amazing thing to me was the reaction that Goin Blind got.  I never really took to that song like I did the Houdini originals, but holy fuck that was a monster of a live song.  Shit, in Boston, the crowd sang along, almost overpowering Buzz.  I hope the video shows that.

And more...........After a killer Copache, Buzz exits and leaves Dale and Trevor to beat on drums on the side of the stage and Dillard rejoins to have a 3 man Spread Eagle Beagle drum orgy.  Both Mike and Trevor didn't hit every note dead on with Dale, but it didn't matter.  It was, what we thought, the end of the show and they just stayed there forever beating the drums.  Mike left to let them continue, and Dale says " You ain't done, get back here".  They continue with the SEB drums for a bit.  Dale mashed on the gong so hard it fell over.

Then, when we thought it was over, Buzz walks back out and starts the With Teeth intro.  Loud and gorgeous as fuck.  Then The Bit!  Heavy, so heavy and they just rape the shit out of it and then show over?

Nope.

A little bass and drum ditty to end the show.  Dale and Trevor do a blues breakdown and Trevor gets a bass solo and Dale gets a drum solo.

Show over.  Mind blown.

I taped the whole show.  Somewhere during the Melvins83 set, some dude told me to stop filming or I'd have to pay $1000 fee.  I said the Melvins manager said it was cool, and he left, not to bother me anymore.  In reality, Moss never said it was ok(on this night anyway) and I felt like a piece of shit for saying he said it was ok.  I was put on the spot, and did not want to stop filming.   Moss, Dale, and Buzz have all told me before that they don't care if shows are filmed.  I just threw out the first name I thought of and the rest of the night worried that Moss would kill me later.  He had already ( jokingly ) called me a dumbshit for being in the way backstage before the show.  Also, the camera kept losing focus for some reason.  I think it's the way the lights work and the fact that the camera has this face focus option that I have not turned off.  Gonna have to fix that shit.  Still, not a bad video, and my new mic worked beautifully.  Only better sounding recordings will have come straight from the board.




Afterwards, I hung out in the dressing room/VIP area with everyone.  I tried to keep out of the way, but it wasn't easy.  People coming and going.  Towards the end I got the pic of me with Buzz, Dale, Mike, Trevor, and Gibby.  Had some warm backstage beers and a slice of pizza.  After a bit I bid goodnight to everyone, thanked them for the pic, and took off six blocks down to meet DYTM, and the infamous Vinny.  I caught up with them outside a pizza joint and we shot the shit for a while, and the guitarist for Obituary walked by.  Was the guitarist, right?  I think?  Anyway, we talked Melvins and NY for a while and they invited me to go down to another spot to drink, but by that time I'd been up for 30-some hours, it was after midnight, and I had to get up at 8am to catch the Amtrak to Boston.  I sadly said goodbye, shook some hands, and tried for 45 FUCKING minutes to hail a cab.  13,000 cabs in NY, and they are all full on a Friday night.  Long story longer, I made it back to the hotel and went to sleep.  



The rest of my weekend will be in the Boston show thread.

[Idlehanz]

jesus hanzy... you sicken me. and I mean that with the utmost respect and adoration.  you are a god.  its as simple as that.    how do you pull this shit off???

What shit? 

Seroiusly, I'll explain if I know what shit!