The Washington band played loud, rocked hard, and the crowd loved it
The Melvins tore up the Barby Club on Wednesday night with a fast-paced, no-nonsense crowd pleaser of a gig. And they will do the same again on Thursday night, July 6, 2023. The last time The Melvins played in Israel was in 2007. Just like buses, you wait 16 years for a Melvins show and then two come along at once.
There was no time wasting with this band. They came onstage at 10pm exactly, to A-Ha’s “Take On Me” and launched into an hour’s worth of material (In that time they got through 14 songs) with no breaks, no time for anyone to catch their breath and hardly any time to applause at the end of each song. Then, after a very brief break, they came back for a one-song encore. Though that song was “Boris” which lasted 15 minutes, including at least five minutes after two-thirds of the band had left the stage.
I have heard of The Ramones blasting through a dozen songs in half an hour, and trying their best to shave off a few seconds when they could. The Melvins (who’s name I’m sure was at least partly inspired by The Ramones) were the next best thing. One strong song after another. No introductions, no “thank you”s, no “ifs” or “buts.”
Buzz Osbourne stomped around the stage in heavy boots and a wizard’s robe. With his fleece of grey hair he looked like a dandelion that had taken up magic and guitar. Unusually for a guitarist, his pedal board was at the back of the stage, next to his amps. Which meant that some of his greatest moments were played with his back to the crowd, while he was absorbed in the musical mayhem he was creating.
Steven Shane McDonald wore a sharp red suit and mangled a hot red bass. In contrast to Osbourne’s moody stomping, McDonald danced, jumped, posed and shape-shifted for the entire hour. He both threated and made love to the crowd with his bass.
Dale Crover kept the entire show moving with his drumming. While Osbourne and McDonald were tuning their instruments, or searching for the magical optimal feedback point, his incessant rhythms kept the crowd hopping and jumping. The only time he stopped drumming, and almost the only time the band spoke to the crowd, was when he came up front to introduce the others. While the other two had big pic stands, Crover’s head mic allowed him to harmonize and syncopate the vocals almost without anyone noticing.
The crowd last night was like a fourth member of the band. They were moshing and bopping and even a few — very slow motion — stage dives. Not like diving into the deep end of the pool, but gingerly climbing in at the shallow end.
If you are looking to rock your socks off tonight in Tel Aviv, head to the Barby Club — if you are lucky, there may be a few tickets left.
Full Setlist:
- Tape: Take On Me (a‐ha song)
- Snake Appeal
- Zodiac
- Copache
- I Want to Hold Your Hand (Beatles cover)
- Hammering
- Never Say You’re Sorry
- Evil New War God
- Let It All Be
- Blood Witch
- Your Blessened
- A History of Bad Men
- Honey Bucket
- Revolve
- Night Goat
- Encore:
- Boris