Melvins, Opera House in Toronto Sept 1/2010

[anaconda]

WHAT A SHOW!!!!

Here's my take on the day and the evening.

I get to the venue around 7pm, start chatting with the one other person there,
a guy named Luke. I have a 2 litre bottle of cider with me so I share it with him,
topping up his empty Arizona Ice Tea can a few times etc, and lo and behold
out of the blue we hear 'The Water Glass', then 'Night Goat', we both look at
each other stunned!! We're at the venue just as the band have started their
soundcheck!!! We get to see the band soundcheck about 6 or 7 songs for the
next 40 mins!!! Each of us taking turns peering through these glass doors that
line the front of the venue. The sound is as clear as day! Awesomeness!!

Shortly thereafter a dude in a tom waits shirt walks up and recognizes
my board shirt, I recognize his. He's a member from the board who
goes by 'fishheadphil'. We exchange hellos, talk about the show, how
amazing it's going to be, then him, myself and luke stroll around the corner
to continue drinking and chatting and 'phil' gets me stoned! thanks for the
green. As we share some booze and green a trio of misfits from Sarnia roll up
and offer us all a few tokes from their cigar sized joint, I don't know what
was in it but I got instantly uber stoned.

We all sort of realize a line is forming so we all get in line and continue shooting the
breeze, talking about the show, looking at our tickets and making sure that
they're still there in our hands for the amazing experience we are about to have.

Around this time a goateed cat and a few friends of his walks by the line and he
says 'anaconda?' I say yes sir, and I've met my second memeber of the night who's on
this board. He goes by the name 'flutter nuts' but I call him flutter cuz it's weird saying
'nuts' to another dude. lol. Anyways, we let him and his friends cut in line with us, I say
no board member is going to the back of the line on my watch!! So we chat a bit and finally
the line starts moving, after about 20 mins or so we're in the venue.

At this point I head straight to the railing at the front of the stage, I want to get a good view
so I'm jostling a little bit with this one guy but then we both realize, hey we smoked a joint earlier!!
it's one of the guys from Sarnia!! I give him a $20 bill and say go get us some alcohol and I'll
hold your place here on the railing...normally i dont hand my money to strangers but he came back
a few minutes later with a couple beers for each of us. I think his name was Mike, if you're reading this,
thanks for the amazing joint you smoked with me.

By this time the place is filling up almost to capacity, people are starting to get rowdy in anticipation,
it's about 9:30 and some of us have been drinking and smoking for a couple hours now, a few people
start chanting 'melvins, melvins', i chant 'buzz ... buzz ... buzz!!!!' A dickhead security guard warns me
to cool down, I say 'it's been over 10 years man!!! i'm excited!!! he loosens his grip on my arm and shoves
off with a grin, later this same dickhead removed me from the railing at the front and
escorted me to the back of the venue 'to mellow down' as he put it. Under my breath I'm saying fuck you,
but out of my mouth comes yes sir, sir. Fucking goons need to lighten up a bit. Anyways, I mellowed down
for all of 30 secs until I was out of his sight and I headed straight for the railing again!

It's about 9:45 and the crowd is beginning to realize that there will be no opener for this show,
we all start thinking double set?? melvins lite?? etc.  Then amidst all the chatter and chanting
some piped in theme music is playing over the PA, and finally....the Melvins take the stage!!!!

They played a vast collection of songs with every member visibly giving 110%! Buzz was a joy
to watch, the man is hands down my favorite guitarist. Another thing that really stood out for
me is how amazing dale and coady are together!! The melvins can never go back to having one
drummer, the air that they were pushing was awesome

[gesundheit]

Man, you need to come to the Bay and kick it here to see some Melvins more often.

You've got a couch with your name on it if you ever make it out here.

[GrimReaper]

Awesome review!

[bigjim]

Yeah that setlist was pretty accurate. I forgot to ask Dave if I could have the setlist from the soundboard. Talked to him for a bit he was really cool.  Weird seeing Unsane like 2 weeks ago and then he is working the boards for The Melvins.
That show was pretty damn amazing. Every Melvins show is great, but the crowd was surprisingly cool, and in large numbers.  Was very cool to see so much support, especially since its been about 10 years playing Toronto.  Hopefully they will come back next tour.  Was hot as fuck in there. Buzz must have been suffering in that snuggie, high temperature + humidity and then pack in 500+ people.
The Karp cover was a very nice surprise.

[Butters]

hey dude, its those guys you gave 20$ to for drinks, were from sudbury not sarnia, haha and you got our names wrong, but ohh well, lol just one thing, you bit my shoulder, wtf was that about?

ps.... that joint wasnt laced or n e thing, just good sudbury weed

[Mount Ambulance]

Yeah, they totally kick the shit outta that Karp tune! Just like Karp did! After 10yrs. I sure was glad to be home at a decent hour, not spend a fortune on gas, no boarder hassels, being all glossy eyed ... but something seemed to be missing ... after 10yrs. of road tripping to Melvins shows ... I've kinda come to dig the ritual (parts anyway) ... getting to see 'em in all kinds of new cities, different venues ... just the vibe of road tripping ... and in some weird way the anonimity of being not in your town ... still hope they make Toronto a little more regular of a thing ... but I'll still be doing the roadtrip thing!

lol just one thing, you bit my shoulder, wtf was that about?

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! Man, 'Conda's a sounds like real character! Was it an agressive chomp ... or a loving nibble! Ha Ha Ha Ha H Ha!! Fuck, I can't stop laughing at this!

[Butters]

haha he didnt leave a mark or anything it was just anoying, haha man i want to see the melvins again, my buddy jeremy has a buzz box he wanted to get signed, but no chance this time around

[Mount Ambulance]

Fuck, I'm still laughing ...

[Butters]

were you in the mosh pit at all?, my buddy stu was walking through with a cup full of beer, someone pushed him from behind and spilled half of it, so he turned around, threw the beer in his face and pushed the guy deeper into the mosh pit, then after that the guy replied to my friend "thanks, i appreciate it"

[bUTTHOLEmAN]

  ohh well, lol just one thing, you bit my shoulder, wtf was that about?

Ahahahahaha, Ana was fuuuucked up.

[Mount Ambulance]

were you in the mosh pit at all?, my buddy stu was walking through with a cup full of beer, someone pushed him from behind and spilled half of it, so he turned around, threw the beer in his face and pushed the guy deeper into the mosh pit, then after that the guy replied to my friend "thanks, i appreciate it"

Nah, I was on the stairs right ... I rarely get right in the "mosh pit" these days ... mabey 20-25yrs. ago ... just seems kinda lame now ... some dude's sweaty back on my face an' shit! Usually right on the edge of it thou ... as I still dig bugging the fuck out ... at least the dude was cool with beer in the face ... that's mosh pit ettiqute right there for ya!

[BAD RONALD SEA]

nice job """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

[norecess]

thanks for filling us in guys, sounds like all of you had a blast!

hopefully they hit my neck of the woods early next year. it's been almost a year now, i need my melvins fix!

[anaconda]

i think the shoulder bite was like a territorial thing maybe, like give me my space...  
i can't remember actually doing that but what a great night, and thanks for the amazing smoke.
sorry i got your town wrong in my review! and again, no hard feelings about the bite i hope.

[black stallion]

Another thing that really stood out for me is how amazing dale and coady are together!!

there's no doubt this line up is always getting better

and thanks for your review conda,was really a great read