It's all about the music !
OUT LOUDer with 
I just love how Firelyn tells it like it is, makes fun of herself and has a great time with music and the people who are creating it. Honesty is a virtue- though sometimes self defeating, it's the truth to thy self and the portal to the soul. We journalists bare these souls and expect nothing, save a place to be read and a tall mocha breve...and a side of ice cubes.
bruce maier
FEATURING THE MELVINS
This is Firelyn again letting you in on one of the most incredible writing experiences with damngoodtunes.com. The plan was to go to a Melvins / Green River show in the great city of Seattle; to watch the show, listen to the bands, watch the crowd and write about the experience. You see I am by nature much more of a poet than a journalist; I’m a musician myself and my music tastes are quite varied from blues to punk to classical. When I do a review of a band or a show – I am not a critic, if I don’t like an artist/artists, I don’t write about them.
As for the show watching The Melvins, I got to do more than just watch from the crowd. As it turned out, damngoodtunes.com had a connection to Mike Dillard, the original drummer of the Melvins and he has been playing some shows on this tour. In the Seattle shows he’s playing some of the original stuff from the beginning-1983. He also came back on stage during the Melvins 2nd set, after Greenriver’s middle set. He was part of something I’d never seen before, never heard before- I don’t want to spoil it yet so I’ll come back to it. Before I get totally side tracked.
Anyway, I thought I was getting to ask Mike a few questions. I was quite exited- my first live interview with an established artist and I prepared myself for it, or so I thought. I called Mike 2 hours before the show per the arrangement, I asked how he wanted to do ‘this’…he said he’d call me right back. He did, only he says to me “Buzzo said he can do it right now, if that’s o.k. If that was o.k.-this was greater than I had expected- I just wasn’t nearly prepared to interview Buzzo. I had to get my stuff refocused as best I could. Talk about baptism by fire!I’d interviewed musicians before- hell, I grew up with musicians, good ones-that had hands in shaping music little by little, putting their notes in helping to make it is what it is today. But I’d never interviewed someone whose music I’d partied to.
To say that I was a little nervous is a bit of an understatement. We got to the Showbox a couple of hours early and was greeted by Mike Dillard at the front door, he lead us back stage and introduced us to Buzz Osborne. I went right over and sat down on the couch next to him and we talked while he restrung a silver Les Paul-silver from the tip of the tuning pegs all the way around the backside. One of the prettiest axes I’ve ever seen-and I’ve seen a lot of rare, vintage, and art guitars –Fenders, Les Paul’s, Paul Reed Smiths’ not to mention some beautiful Martins- I knew a collector of beautiful instruments; “art for arts sake,” as he used to say. I kind of got side tracked; anyway, I sit down with Buzzo – really pretty mellow guy just sitting back re-stringing his guitar while settling in to talk to me…he didn’t even bat an eye lash when my partner kind of tripped over Dale Crover’s bass-catching it before it hit the floor. I have to admit I wasn’t prepared to talk to Buzz- I thought I’d be talking mainly to Mike Dillard, the drummer, so my questions were more geared to him.
An Interview with Buzz Osborne By Firelyn
DGT: What’s it like being together after all these years?
Buzz: Oh, I don’t know, I’ll tell you after 50 years.
Buzz:It’s good I guess, I mean doing anything for 25 years is a lot. I wasn’t expecting it. It wasn’t like a big plan or anything. I wish you could plan that far ahead, that would be nice.
DGT: Tell me about the European tour? Buzz: Upcoming or before? DGT: Either. Buzz: Well we did a European tour last year and we played all the same places we normally do. I don’t think we went anywhere we hadn’t been before. Oh, yeah, we played in Budapest; we had never been there. We played on a boat, or a barge whatever.
DGT: That sounds kinda cool.
Buzz: Kinda cool?
DGT: How do the fans over there differ from the fans over here?
Buzz: You know it’s not a whole lot different. I mean Italy’s, slightly different, the fans are borderline annoying. They are very into what they’re into and they let you know it.
DGT: So mosh pits are the same everywhere?
Buzz: Umm, well they are enthusiastic fans, and we play about the same size venues everywhere, so when you’re onstage it’s not like you’re thinking, wow it’s different here in Denmark you know.
DGT: How does it feel to be back in Seattle?
Buzz: Well, we left Seattle more that 20 years ago, and we’ve come back and played shows before, so it’s not a lot different than it ever has been. We actually started doing better after we left Seattle than when we lived here.
DGT: What do you think about the future of the Seattle Scene?
Buzz: I don’t know I live in Los Angles, so I have no concept of what’s going on here at all.
DGT: What advice would you give young upcoming Garage Bands?
Buzz: I would tell them to be as peculiar as possible. Just be different than what is normally out there, unless you want to be a mediocre band.
DGT: Tell me about some of your early influences?
Buzz: Well, I liked most of the same bands everybody else did. What got me started wanting to play music where bands like Black Flag, The Sex Pistols, and The Clash.
DGT: So bands from The Decline of Western Civilization.
Buzz: Well yeah, except it was before all that, but yeah, those bands.
DGT: Who have been your favorite bands and musicians to tour with?
Buzz: Hmmm, I’ve had a lot of really good experiences. The guys from KISS were nice. When we did some shows with Tomahawk, a band Mike Patton is in, that was real easy, it was good. With bigger bands it can be a pain to tour with them.
DGT: Is it better doing shows in smaller venues with smaller bands? I know I like the smaller venue shows better.
Buzz: Yeah me too, but some smaller bands are a pain as well. Opening for a band, well it’s something you kind a have to do, but it’s not the best situation to be in band wise. Dealing with the road crew, not very good sound checks, and on and on like that. It’s a big pain.
DGT: How did you get Green River to come back for these shows?
Buzz: We just asked them and they said they’d do it. It really wasn’t that hard. DGT: Great, I’m looking forward to seeing them too.
Buzz: Yeah, they played Los Angles, they were good.
DGT: Give me a couple of examples of your most memorable moments on this tour?
Buzz: When we played Boston, it was pretty good, I don’t know why. It was a really cool club and we just had a really nice flow to the show. We rehearsed in New York for the tour and we were there for 4 days, that was fun. This is a really short tour. We’re only doing 7 shows and this one is our 6th, so we’re almost done. We played New York, Boston, Chicago, Austin, and 2 shows here in Seattle, and 1 in Portland, that’s it.
DGT: So, do you have a new album coming out?
Buzz: We had a new album come out last summer. We should be recording by the end of this year. I don’t know when it will come out, sometime next year. We do have a remix album coming out in August, that’s the next thing.
DGT: I have to ask, for the readers, what was the real deal between you guys and Kurt Cobain?
Buzz: The deal? DGT:
Yeah, a lot has been said about him and his association with your band.
Buzz: He certainly liked our band a lot, we helped him get started making music. DGT: Was he really a roadie?
Buzz: That has been severely overstated, but we’ll just say yes.
DGT: How has the Internet and sites like Limewire, etc. affected the music industry, especially the non-mainstream bands?
Buzz: I don’t know. I really don’t know anything about those sites. I know you can get about anything you want online, and you can probably get most of it without paying. I guess I don’t know what the effect will be.
DGT: Along that same line, do you think it helps or hurts sales, when fans can buy one song at a time?
Buzz: I don’t know, I mean we’ll see. Labels usually invest in bands so they can make money. If they can’t make money, they are not going to invest money. So if there is not speculative money out there, then they’re not going to give a band the money to record an amazing record. So we’ll see, I don’t have much faith in the general public thinking ahead, that’s for sure. Folks will probably go more to live music, which is a shame, because you can’t always go to live shows. We might have to figure out a new way to sell stuff.
DGT: Do you and the band understand how big a part you’ve played for this next generation of Indie Artists?
Buzz: Do we realize? Well I suppose to some degree, but certainly not to the degree, that the younger generation would understand.
DGT: You guys come from a generation of groundbreaking musicians.
Buzz: Yeah, but that is not for us to say or measure, that is for the rest of the world to figure out, as well as to what degree it matters.
DGT: Just like you mentioned bands like Black Flag as inspirations, you must get young musicians coming up to you and saying how you influenced them.
Buzz: Yeah, I hear it all the time, and once in a while it is from a band that I really think is good. I do try to be as diplomatic as possible though.
DGT: You seem really straightforward.
Buzz: Well, I try to be, as much as possible. It can get complicated, but when it’s a band I admire telling me that, it’s cool. I don’t think about it too much.
DGT: Thank you for your time.
Buzz: No problem.
FIRELYN:See what I mean about not really being prepared to interview Buzz Osborne. Don’t get me wrong- I was not disappointed in the least- I just pretty much had to bag most the questions and wing it. No matter how amateur I came off, I’m o.k. with that, for two main reasons. NO.1, the interview is only a small part of the article, it’s the show itself that gets most of my attention- my passion on their passion. NO.2, despite Buzz’s no nonsense and his straightforward way of saying what he means-i.e. no sugar coating, he could have ripped my ill prepared self to pieces without even raising his tone, but instead he was very gracious and patient with me. As far as what I got from the interview; I mean my overall ‘gist’ was pretty simple- Buzz Osborne is a laid back musician who is glad to be still playing shows, he prefers Old school punk and artists that try to be as unique as possible; although I suspect it’s not about being weird for weird sake, I think he respects artists whose’ talent is sincerely theirs-from inside. He likes what he likes and he plays what he feels…no apologizes…just like in the beginning; The Melvins have always played what they want to. Despite where he grew up or maybe because of it, he is quite proud of his home in L.A. but he’s definitely not a prima donna. All in all, I really liked the guy. He is genuine. And I bet he’d be fun at a bar-b-q, and to have a few beers with. But onto the show- .
The Melvins came out first with Mike playing drums-the old songs-still as relevant in ’09 as they were in ’83. The first set was a warm up but the band was already hot. Of course the crowd was going wild- Mosh pits and all, even the occasional crowd surfing. The Showbox is a great venue. Not too big, keeping it intimate but still big enough for a great stage show. The crowd felt right at home as well letting the music carry them wherever they wanted to go. The age range of that crowd went from a 3yr.old to a couple of 4yr.olds,all with proper ear protection). Then up from there to 17 to early 20’s to the full range of 30’s 40’s and up to 50 pluses. Not the least bit surprising- the Melvins are influential icons regardless if that never enters their heads. They are just happy to still be doing what they love and Buzz said it wasn’t planned that way but in my opinion luck played a very small role. Just pure old-fashioned talent mixed with individuality. I think the term ‘Sludge Metal’ is truly fitting. There were early influences as we talked about before the show. Buzz Osborne is vocal about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery…outright plagiarism is not. So if that shoe fits you, you must learn to hide it better. Or throw it out. The other thing about Buzz is that he finds a good balance between being straight forward – not afraid to say what he does or does not like, yet blatant rudeness is beneath him.
The Melvins put out a new album last summer, they’re putting out a remix coming soon, and there’s another new album coming some time in the next year. I suggest you plan on spending some money if you’ve been a fan. I suggest the same even if you’re real young and don’t know much about this band but if you even think you’re into grunge, punk, metal, or some evolution thereof; you need to spend some money. Oh if you’re a musician trying to find your ‘sound’-be inspired by anything but find your ‘muse’ within you. Lets get back to the show: After the ‘warm up set’ came the middle set. Green River. An early Seattle band that became several successful Seattle bands like Pearl Jam and Mudhoney. But this isn’t about them so all I’m going to say is they did not disappoint. Mark Arms stage presence hasn’t lost a thing - he’s still as weird-n-wild as ever. They got the crowd nuts. Nostalgia and history. Oh and Stone Gossard got a wedgie from Mark Arm. The Melvins final set-by the way all the sets were much longer than I’d expected, and no one had a lack of energy. They played hard and tight all night. Anyway the grand set included a complete playing of their album ‘Houdini’. The Showbox was the perfect place for this show, The audience had been building up with more and more energy, anticipation for individual favorite songs- We were not let down one bit with the playing of song after song’s such as Hooch, Hag me, Honey Bucket. It built up to something grand. You can tell these guys have a connection- even though there were different drummers for different parts of the show and even though sometimes members might play another instrument for a bit they always knew exactly what they were doing and where they were at. Never missed a beat or stepped out of time. 25 yrs. Or not, it felt like more than experience to me. Which brings me to where all that anticipation took me. It was close to the end of the show- not the end. I mentioned in the beginning of the article that I saw something I’d never seen before. It just blew me away- all of a sudden Greenrivers drummer got back on stage joining the Melvins drummer-2 sets of drums being played at the back of the stage. And then Mike came back across the stage to the far left front to join in drumming while standing, topping it off with the Melvins bass player put down his bass, picking up sticks and also joining in on the drumming-he too did so standing, but far over on the right front. Buzz kind of just stood over to the side and let the drummers do their thing, and their thing was amazing; I’d never seen o four man drum ‘solo’: they started off playing one at first then another would join in and so on and so on. It was like an ocean wave with a strong undercurrent. The drumming would start pounding in rhythm but playing individual parts yet the waves would at perfect intervals come together in sublime cohesion, like waves in an ocean crashing the shore together only to be pulled back by the undercurrent again pulling back then building up- beating- not together yet playing in perfect time- and the four of them did this for what seemed like stopping time altogether-That’s how much it infiltrated the crowd. I could feel the rhythm in my insides, and they did the building up, crashing together flowing apart so elegantly just to crash together at the same time yet again. Then Mike Dillard ended his performance just as powerfully as when he joined in-he stopped, and as he turned to walk off stage he threw his sticks to the audience. And then there were 3.they pounded on as before then similar to Mike, the drummer for Greenriver ended his performance and tossed his sticks to the screaming crowd. And then there were 2. The Melvins current drummer and the bass player kept the groove and the pounding up ‘til the bassist stopped playing at the crashing down of the perfect wave, putting his bass back on. And then there was 1-he finished the ‘solo’ just as buzz and the bassist were ready for him to start pounding out another. It wasn’t the end but in my space it was definitely the finale. Buy all the Melvins c.d.’s you can get your hands on.
As for the show watching The Melvins, I got to do more than just watch from the crowd. As it turned out, damngoodtunes.com had a connection to Mike Dillard, the original drummer of the Melvins and he has been playing some shows on this tour. In the Seattle shows he’s playing some of the original stuff from the beginning-1983. He also came back on stage during the Melvins 2nd set, after Greenriver’s middle set. He was part of something I’d never seen before, never heard before- I don’t want to spoil it yet so I’ll come back to it. Before I get totally side tracked.
Anyway, I thought I was getting to ask Mike a few questions. I was quite exited- my first live interview with an established artist and I prepared myself for it, or so I thought. I called Mike 2 hours before the show per the arrangement, I asked how he wanted to do ‘this’…he said he’d call me right back. He did, only he says to me “Buzzo said he can do it right now, if that’s o.k. If that was o.k.-this was greater than I had expected- I just wasn’t nearly prepared to interview Buzzo. I had to get my stuff refocused as best I could. Talk about baptism by fire!I’d interviewed musicians before- hell, I grew up with musicians, good ones-that had hands in shaping music little by little, putting their notes in helping to make it is what it is today. But I’d never interviewed someone whose music I’d partied to.
To say that I was a little nervous is a bit of an understatement. We got to the Showbox a couple of hours early and was greeted by Mike Dillard at the front door, he lead us back stage and introduced us to Buzz Osborne. I went right over and sat down on the couch next to him and we talked while he restrung a silver Les Paul-silver from the tip of the tuning pegs all the way around the backside. One of the prettiest axes I’ve ever seen-and I’ve seen a lot of rare, vintage, and art guitars –Fenders, Les Paul’s, Paul Reed Smiths’ not to mention some beautiful Martins- I knew a collector of beautiful instruments; “art for arts sake,” as he used to say. I kind of got side tracked; anyway, I sit down with Buzzo – really pretty mellow guy just sitting back re-stringing his guitar while settling in to talk to me…he didn’t even bat an eye lash when my partner kind of tripped over Dale Crover’s bass-catching it before it hit the floor. I have to admit I wasn’t prepared to talk to Buzz- I thought I’d be talking mainly to Mike Dillard, the drummer, so my questions were more geared to him.
An Interview with Buzz Osborne By Firelyn
DGT: What’s it like being together after all these years?
Buzz: Oh, I don’t know, I’ll tell you after 50 years.
Buzz:It’s good I guess, I mean doing anything for 25 years is a lot. I wasn’t expecting it. It wasn’t like a big plan or anything. I wish you could plan that far ahead, that would be nice.
DGT: Tell me about the European tour? Buzz: Upcoming or before? DGT: Either. Buzz: Well we did a European tour last year and we played all the same places we normally do. I don’t think we went anywhere we hadn’t been before. Oh, yeah, we played in Budapest; we had never been there. We played on a boat, or a barge whatever.
DGT: That sounds kinda cool.
Buzz: Kinda cool?
DGT: How do the fans over there differ from the fans over here?
Buzz: You know it’s not a whole lot different. I mean Italy’s, slightly different, the fans are borderline annoying. They are very into what they’re into and they let you know it.
DGT: So mosh pits are the same everywhere?
Buzz: Umm, well they are enthusiastic fans, and we play about the same size venues everywhere, so when you’re onstage it’s not like you’re thinking, wow it’s different here in Denmark you know.
DGT: How does it feel to be back in Seattle?
Buzz: Well, we left Seattle more that 20 years ago, and we’ve come back and played shows before, so it’s not a lot different than it ever has been. We actually started doing better after we left Seattle than when we lived here.
DGT: What do you think about the future of the Seattle Scene?
Buzz: I don’t know I live in Los Angles, so I have no concept of what’s going on here at all.
DGT: What advice would you give young upcoming Garage Bands?
Buzz: I would tell them to be as peculiar as possible. Just be different than what is normally out there, unless you want to be a mediocre band.
DGT: Tell me about some of your early influences?
Buzz: Well, I liked most of the same bands everybody else did. What got me started wanting to play music where bands like Black Flag, The Sex Pistols, and The Clash.
DGT: So bands from The Decline of Western Civilization.
Buzz: Well yeah, except it was before all that, but yeah, those bands.
DGT: Who have been your favorite bands and musicians to tour with?
Buzz: Hmmm, I’ve had a lot of really good experiences. The guys from KISS were nice. When we did some shows with Tomahawk, a band Mike Patton is in, that was real easy, it was good. With bigger bands it can be a pain to tour with them.
DGT: Is it better doing shows in smaller venues with smaller bands? I know I like the smaller venue shows better.
Buzz: Yeah me too, but some smaller bands are a pain as well. Opening for a band, well it’s something you kind a have to do, but it’s not the best situation to be in band wise. Dealing with the road crew, not very good sound checks, and on and on like that. It’s a big pain.
DGT: How did you get Green River to come back for these shows?
Buzz: We just asked them and they said they’d do it. It really wasn’t that hard. DGT: Great, I’m looking forward to seeing them too.
Buzz: Yeah, they played Los Angles, they were good.
DGT: Give me a couple of examples of your most memorable moments on this tour?
Buzz: When we played Boston, it was pretty good, I don’t know why. It was a really cool club and we just had a really nice flow to the show. We rehearsed in New York for the tour and we were there for 4 days, that was fun. This is a really short tour. We’re only doing 7 shows and this one is our 6th, so we’re almost done. We played New York, Boston, Chicago, Austin, and 2 shows here in Seattle, and 1 in Portland, that’s it.
DGT: So, do you have a new album coming out?
Buzz: We had a new album come out last summer. We should be recording by the end of this year. I don’t know when it will come out, sometime next year. We do have a remix album coming out in August, that’s the next thing.
DGT: I have to ask, for the readers, what was the real deal between you guys and Kurt Cobain?
Buzz: The deal? DGT:
Yeah, a lot has been said about him and his association with your band.
Buzz: He certainly liked our band a lot, we helped him get started making music. DGT: Was he really a roadie?
Buzz: That has been severely overstated, but we’ll just say yes.
DGT: How has the Internet and sites like Limewire, etc. affected the music industry, especially the non-mainstream bands?
Buzz: I don’t know. I really don’t know anything about those sites. I know you can get about anything you want online, and you can probably get most of it without paying. I guess I don’t know what the effect will be.
DGT: Along that same line, do you think it helps or hurts sales, when fans can buy one song at a time?
Buzz: I don’t know, I mean we’ll see. Labels usually invest in bands so they can make money. If they can’t make money, they are not going to invest money. So if there is not speculative money out there, then they’re not going to give a band the money to record an amazing record. So we’ll see, I don’t have much faith in the general public thinking ahead, that’s for sure. Folks will probably go more to live music, which is a shame, because you can’t always go to live shows. We might have to figure out a new way to sell stuff.
DGT: Do you and the band understand how big a part you’ve played for this next generation of Indie Artists?
Buzz: Do we realize? Well I suppose to some degree, but certainly not to the degree, that the younger generation would understand.
DGT: You guys come from a generation of groundbreaking musicians.
Buzz: Yeah, but that is not for us to say or measure, that is for the rest of the world to figure out, as well as to what degree it matters.
DGT: Just like you mentioned bands like Black Flag as inspirations, you must get young musicians coming up to you and saying how you influenced them.
Buzz: Yeah, I hear it all the time, and once in a while it is from a band that I really think is good. I do try to be as diplomatic as possible though.
DGT: You seem really straightforward.
Buzz: Well, I try to be, as much as possible. It can get complicated, but when it’s a band I admire telling me that, it’s cool. I don’t think about it too much.
DGT: Thank you for your time.
Buzz: No problem.
FIRELYN:See what I mean about not really being prepared to interview Buzz Osborne. Don’t get me wrong- I was not disappointed in the least- I just pretty much had to bag most the questions and wing it. No matter how amateur I came off, I’m o.k. with that, for two main reasons. NO.1, the interview is only a small part of the article, it’s the show itself that gets most of my attention- my passion on their passion. NO.2, despite Buzz’s no nonsense and his straightforward way of saying what he means-i.e. no sugar coating, he could have ripped my ill prepared self to pieces without even raising his tone, but instead he was very gracious and patient with me. As far as what I got from the interview; I mean my overall ‘gist’ was pretty simple- Buzz Osborne is a laid back musician who is glad to be still playing shows, he prefers Old school punk and artists that try to be as unique as possible; although I suspect it’s not about being weird for weird sake, I think he respects artists whose’ talent is sincerely theirs-from inside. He likes what he likes and he plays what he feels…no apologizes…just like in the beginning; The Melvins have always played what they want to. Despite where he grew up or maybe because of it, he is quite proud of his home in L.A. but he’s definitely not a prima donna. All in all, I really liked the guy. He is genuine. And I bet he’d be fun at a bar-b-q, and to have a few beers with. But onto the show- .
The Melvins came out first with Mike playing drums-the old songs-still as relevant in ’09 as they were in ’83. The first set was a warm up but the band was already hot. Of course the crowd was going wild- Mosh pits and all, even the occasional crowd surfing. The Showbox is a great venue. Not too big, keeping it intimate but still big enough for a great stage show. The crowd felt right at home as well letting the music carry them wherever they wanted to go. The age range of that crowd went from a 3yr.old to a couple of 4yr.olds,all with proper ear protection). Then up from there to 17 to early 20’s to the full range of 30’s 40’s and up to 50 pluses. Not the least bit surprising- the Melvins are influential icons regardless if that never enters their heads. They are just happy to still be doing what they love and Buzz said it wasn’t planned that way but in my opinion luck played a very small role. Just pure old-fashioned talent mixed with individuality. I think the term ‘Sludge Metal’ is truly fitting. There were early influences as we talked about before the show. Buzz Osborne is vocal about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery…outright plagiarism is not. So if that shoe fits you, you must learn to hide it better. Or throw it out. The other thing about Buzz is that he finds a good balance between being straight forward – not afraid to say what he does or does not like, yet blatant rudeness is beneath him.
The Melvins put out a new album last summer, they’re putting out a remix coming soon, and there’s another new album coming some time in the next year. I suggest you plan on spending some money if you’ve been a fan. I suggest the same even if you’re real young and don’t know much about this band but if you even think you’re into grunge, punk, metal, or some evolution thereof; you need to spend some money. Oh if you’re a musician trying to find your ‘sound’-be inspired by anything but find your ‘muse’ within you. Lets get back to the show: After the ‘warm up set’ came the middle set. Green River. An early Seattle band that became several successful Seattle bands like Pearl Jam and Mudhoney. But this isn’t about them so all I’m going to say is they did not disappoint. Mark Arms stage presence hasn’t lost a thing - he’s still as weird-n-wild as ever. They got the crowd nuts. Nostalgia and history. Oh and Stone Gossard got a wedgie from Mark Arm. The Melvins final set-by the way all the sets were much longer than I’d expected, and no one had a lack of energy. They played hard and tight all night. Anyway the grand set included a complete playing of their album ‘Houdini’. The Showbox was the perfect place for this show, The audience had been building up with more and more energy, anticipation for individual favorite songs- We were not let down one bit with the playing of song after song’s such as Hooch, Hag me, Honey Bucket. It built up to something grand. You can tell these guys have a connection- even though there were different drummers for different parts of the show and even though sometimes members might play another instrument for a bit they always knew exactly what they were doing and where they were at. Never missed a beat or stepped out of time. 25 yrs. Or not, it felt like more than experience to me. Which brings me to where all that anticipation took me. It was close to the end of the show- not the end. I mentioned in the beginning of the article that I saw something I’d never seen before. It just blew me away- all of a sudden Greenrivers drummer got back on stage joining the Melvins drummer-2 sets of drums being played at the back of the stage. And then Mike came back across the stage to the far left front to join in drumming while standing, topping it off with the Melvins bass player put down his bass, picking up sticks and also joining in on the drumming-he too did so standing, but far over on the right front. Buzz kind of just stood over to the side and let the drummers do their thing, and their thing was amazing; I’d never seen o four man drum ‘solo’: they started off playing one at first then another would join in and so on and so on. It was like an ocean wave with a strong undercurrent. The drumming would start pounding in rhythm but playing individual parts yet the waves would at perfect intervals come together in sublime cohesion, like waves in an ocean crashing the shore together only to be pulled back by the undercurrent again pulling back then building up- beating- not together yet playing in perfect time- and the four of them did this for what seemed like stopping time altogether-That’s how much it infiltrated the crowd. I could feel the rhythm in my insides, and they did the building up, crashing together flowing apart so elegantly just to crash together at the same time yet again. Then Mike Dillard ended his performance just as powerfully as when he joined in-he stopped, and as he turned to walk off stage he threw his sticks to the audience. And then there were 3.they pounded on as before then similar to Mike, the drummer for Greenriver ended his performance and tossed his sticks to the screaming crowd. And then there were 2. The Melvins current drummer and the bass player kept the groove and the pounding up ‘til the bassist stopped playing at the crashing down of the perfect wave, putting his bass back on. And then there was 1-he finished the ‘solo’ just as buzz and the bassist were ready for him to start pounding out another. It wasn’t the end but in my space it was definitely the finale. Buy all the Melvins c.d.’s you can get your hands on.
BY FIRELYN
I just love how Firelyn tells it like it is, makes fun of herself and has a great time with music and the people who are creating it. Honesty is a virtue- though sometimes self defeating, it's the truth to thy self and the portal to the soul. We journalists bare these souls and expect nothing, save a place to be read and a tall mocha breve...and a side of ice cubes.
bruce maier
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