Zurich Residency 16 May

[jules]

First impressions of Switzerland: strikingly beautiful and impossibly expensive.

The venue is an old factory, a big brick building next to the lake here in Zurich, run as a cooperative by the looks of things. Great food and friendly staff who must all speak around four languages minimum. The views over the lake are gorgeous as you tuck into your 27 dollar eggplant 

The venue has a dB limit attached to it which causes one guy to tell Scott the guitar needs turning up a bit as he can´t hear it (standing, as he is, one yard in front of two of the world´s loudest drummers).

Jared hobbled on stage with a look of intense pain on his face and kept that agonised look about him all evening, stuffed as he was with huge cushions to make him look like TumorMan or something - during Spread Eagle he painfully got down into the crowd and moaned and bellowed loudly into his mike for a few minutes which was hilarious.

Someone greasy stole the set list out of my hand and ran off after the show as I was holding it for someone to photograph. We wouldn´t have minded but lassie didn´t get time to snap it first, I think. The crowd in general was noisier than in Paris with people talking the whole time; I´ll never understand that. Or this keyboard - some of the letters are in the wrong place.

Time to get some yyyyys.

[glen]

this keyboard - some of the letters are in the wrong place.

hey!  I think I have one of those too!   

[jules]

Hahaha, I knew it (insert exclamation mark here because this keyboard doesn´t have one).

[ripz]

Excellent review. So much awesomeness at this show.

Swiss crowds can be subdued but there are some core fans out there. Small clubs and lowkey are the best shows.

[ripz]

i had seen melvins lite in geneva a few weeks back and the fact that they were playing in zurich kept eating at me. so with a little over a week left, i pulled the trigger on tickets for both shows, train, and a hotel in zurich. took off early from work and got in town with a couple hours to kill, find food, and whatnot. then hopped the #165 bus for rote fabrik. 

rote fabrik (red factory). it's an old silk factory from the 70s right on the lakeshore a bit south of zurich. really great space for concerts.





setlist residency 1



lysol/eggnog first set. was an intense opening with charma. just crushing, in a good way. i'm in it for the slow and heavy so i'm loving it. loved roman bird dog and sacrifice.

houdini second set after a 20 min break. hard to pick faves but night goat and  joan of arc were tremendous. jared goofin around in the crowd at the end was a trip.



jared goofin on hunchback



buzzo, king of rote fabrik



from set 1 - roman bird dog and antitoxidant


The MELVINS - Roman Bird Dog + Antitoxidote - 16 MAY 2013 @ Rote Fabrik, Zurich Switzerland

from set 2 - joan of arc


The MELVINS - Joan of Arc - 16 MAY 2013 @ Rote Fabrik, Zurich Switzerland

the bus back to zurich was pleasantly cheap

[Alex-]

Nice reviews, pictures and video's. What the hell was Jared wearing by the way? Looks he has pillows under his shirt, and maybe shoulder pads or something? The venue looks really cool, hopefully I manage to visit Switzerland soon, it's on my list for quite a while now.

[black stallion]

thanks,nice review and cool videos! Dale's vocal intro on Joan of Arc is definitely one of my favourite Melvins moments

[surfling]

the rote fabrik has been going for over 30 years, it's got a looong history with tons of amazing shows.
the perfect place for a residency like this one!!

unfortunately the swiss authorities are really strict on their db limit - with some bands it's not so bad but with the melvins that really sucks. the lysol set definitely suffered from being too quiet. but the houdini set then was fine with dave raising the volume.

the second night i enjoyed even more, even though there was quite a few morons in the room who kept chatting through all the quiet songs. at some point dale actually told them to shut up.  i'll never understand that behaviour - why would you pay bucks to go to a show and chat through the night when you could do that for free somewhere else without additionally pissing off everyone else??? kinda sad to see that even melvins have some of those moronic fans....

anyway, loved both shows, i doubt i'll ever tire of listening to lysol or stoner witch or houdini.....

first night a friend from germany brought some 30 screen print posters for the occasion (they of course all went the same night), i'll try to post a scan soon.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[buddy holiday]

train, and a hotel in zurich. took off early from work and got in town 

cool, i usually do it the other way round, from zurich to geneva for the usine shows...
we should meet next time in geneva!

great you enjoyed the gig at rote fabrik...

[buddy holiday]

First impressions of Switzerland: strikingly beautiful and impossibly expensive.

The venue is an old factory, a big brick building next to the lake here in Zurich, run as a cooperative by the looks of things. Great food and friendly staff who must all speak around four languages minimum. The views over the lake are gorgeous as you tuck into your 27 dollar eggplant 

The venue has a dB limit attached to it which causes one guy to tell Scott the guitar needs turning up a bit as he can´t hear it (standing, as he is, one yard in front of two of the world´s loudest drummers).

Jared hobbled on stage with a look of intense pain on his face and kept that agonised look about him all evening, stuffed as he was with huge cushions to make him look like TumorMan or something - during Spread Eagle he painfully got down into the crowd and moaned and bellowed loudly into his mike for a few minutes which was hilarious.

Someone greasy stole the set list out of my hand and ran off after the show as I was holding it for someone to photograph. We wouldn´t have minded but lassie didn´t get time to snap it first, I think. The crowd in general was noisier than in Paris with people talking the whole time; I´ll never understand that. Or this keyboard - some of the letters are in the wrong place.

Time to get some yyyyys.

glad you enjoyed your visit to switzerland!

yeah that stupid db-limitation. i remember one melvins show there where buzz was complaining that right next to the rote fabrik there is a whorehouse - which probably generates more noise than these db-limited shows 

[jules]

View from the venue:


View of the venue:

[violent office]

I was in Zurich some time back (10 years, maybe?) and these photos look familiar.  Maybe it's just that everywhere in Switzerland is that beautiful.

[jules]

I was in Zurich some time back (10 years, maybe?) and these photos look familiar.  Maybe it's just that everywhere in Switzerland is that beautiful.

I'm going back there on Sunday, really looking forward to seeing those snow-covered mountains again....

[violent office]

I'm going back there on Sunday, really looking forward to seeing those snow-covered mountains again....

Yeah.  Snow in JUNE!!!  Awesome!

[buddy holiday]

we probably won't have such nice weather this weekend. right now it is raining constantly...
for sunday it should be better, dry at least 13 degrees. monday better... with sun! 19 degrees...