Bristol Residency - May 21st/22nd

[Der L]

Jumping the gun a bit but my excitement is palpable.

Who's going?

[jules]

Me on the 2nd night. Oldernie 1st night.

[Schnabster]

The Venue: Classy, old stlyle with a big chandelere in the ceiling, intimate yet big. Big minus for not giving people option to leave the venue for food prior to the gig, me an my mates came 1900, had plans of getting som snack after getting the stamp and taking a look inside, but was amazed when the security told us that if we left we couldn't get back inside again. Knowing that the only food I had inside was the sausage I ate in the pause during Spurs -Sunderland 2 hours earlier. Knowing also that the gig was estimated to last until 23 I knew this could be a rough night, and that on a night where I should see the mighty Melvins! They didn't even have peanuts or chips!

The concert: Lysol kicked off, I was still thinking about the food situation, but gradually I started to knod my head to the music, behind the sound mix area. I saw on my mates that this was kind of odd stuff for them, but that didn't take away my childish amusement.

Break: We decided to see Houdini from the balcony and as we went by the stage heading for the stairs up I recognized Jules, still a bit uncertatin I asked "are you Jules", he responede yes and we hit it off instantly. He joined upstairs and could confirm that this was the first time he saw Melvins from a balcony. As we came up Houdini kicked off immediately and it was superb to see the band on stage, the frenetique double drumming and the psyched crowd in front. It got really aggressive during Hooch and Honey Bucket, and we could see Old Ernie being dragged in a maelstrom of wild people throwing each other about. (Went down to say hi to him after the gig but he was gone)
Even my mates fancied this stuff better, Jens even filmed one sequence.

After the gig Jules and us went back to Victoria Station where he should catch the traing to Hove and us to the nearby hotel. Me feeling aggressiv by the lack of food mellowed up when me an Jules sat down for a sandwich.

All in all a top night, would loved to say hi to more chaps but there are other opportunities in the future.

And this was Jules' 39th concert with The Melvins, impressive!

[jules]

Schnab fucks up     bristol/brixton easy mistake to make.

[Schnabster]

Schnab fucks up     bristol/brixton easy mistake to make.

Ahh, mods move it to the right one!

[jules]

Schnab fucks up     bristol/brixton easy mistake to make.

Ahh, mods move it to the right one!

I promise to do a Bergen/Berlin one next year!

[Der L]

Any locals got any suggestions of stuff to do/kill time with on the wednesday?

[oldernie]

looks like heroin is pretty popular in bristol.

[Zorn]

You should get used to it if you move over there someday... 

[Der L]

looks like heroin is pretty popular in bristol.

Good, I sure do love me some heroin.

[jules]

22 May - last gig of the tour

After spending three and a half hours in front of a grimacing 70-year old Margaret Thatcher lookalike on the train to Bristol, I was ready for a pint. Luckily, there was a pub next door to the venue - a real pub selling real beer - so I sank a couple of Buttnams Old Herpes and chatted about the Severity Scale of certain words, including twat, cock and cunt, with Der L who had flown in from Wales. We were joined later by Scottfromcrom and Duffy.

Doors opened at 7.30, so at 7.31 in we went. The Exchange is wonderfully tiny - about the same size as three wasps with dwarfism - and after an hour or so it was full to the brim. A fourth Boardie arrived (MacLeodish) which made it almost impossible to move.

Melvins played both sets with no gaps and the crowd was just about as perfect as you could hope for. There were some posters left and a few XL shirts, but that was all. Gareth had hired an elastic band man to help him with the posters. I got a blue elastic band with the poster I bought for Idlehanz; I'll probably eBay it later when the poster's safely in the mail.

Probably the perfectest venue for fans of Melvins In Small Venues. Loud as fuck and barely enough room to play on stage - the drum kits were facing each other to make space for Jared and Buzz. Tinnitus from the snares after about two minutes.

The evening ended in heavy applause.

[Oscar]

Sounds terrific.
So how many gigs did you catch on this tour, Jules?

[jules]

3 Lite and 7 Residency. Tea break over. Back to reality. 

[black stallion]

Back to reality. 

[Illusionator]

3 Lite and 7 Residency. Tea break over. Back to reality. 

To paraphrase "Reality's... boring as fuck"