Melvins Lite + Retox @ Corona Theatre

I had the privilege of seeing the Melvins, currently known as Melvins Lite, perform on July 3rd at the Corona Theatre for their recent album and tour. I've seen the Melvins twice before, and each time was memorable for wildly different reasons. Would the third time be as memorable?

Not so great first impressions...

The first time I saw the Melvins was October 26th, 1993 at Metropolis when they opened for Primus (touring for Pork Soda). At the time, I didn't know the band well, but I was a massive Primus fan, and I was stoked to see them for the first time. I guess most of the crowd was there to see Primus too, because they started heckling the Melvins and chanting "Primus!" The band proceeded to play an entire set of feedback and droning noise to drown out the audience. I remember it being pretty terrible; but then again, their antagonistic response made it one of the most memorable shows I've seen. The Melvins must have thought it was memorable too, as they included part of the set on their next album Prick in a song called "Montreal."

Hive inducing?

The second time I saw the Melvins was the last time they were in Montreal at Club Soda September 3rd, 2010. They were touring for The Bride Who Screamed Murder, and had their regular recording/touring dual-drummer lineup. It was a great show, except that I inexplicably broke out in hives about halfway through their set. That can get a little distracting when trying to enjoy a concert. To this day, I still don't know what caused the outbreak.

What would make this third time memorable? Perhaps a plague of locusts?

Retox

There was no plague, but opening act RETOX did feature Locust members Justin Pearson on vocals, and Gave Serbian on drums. Their songs are a mix of punk, hardcore, and metal, and almost all of them are around a minute long. I thought that they were much more interesting live than on record, but after four or five songs, it was getting hard to distinguish one song from the next. Their set ended awkwardly when the lead singer jumped in the crowd, lost sound, got back on stage, gave up, threw his microphone on the ground, and left the stage while the rest of the band finished the song.

Melvins Lite

Melvins Lite is a new configuration of the band featuring Roger "Buzz/King Buzzo" Osborne on guitar/lead vocals, Dale Crover on drums, and Trevor Dunn on double bass (hence the "lite" version of the Melvins). For those who don't know, Trevor Dunn is an incredibly prolific bassist, best known as being a frequent collaborator with Mike Patton as part Mr. Bungle, Fantômas (also featuring Osborne), and most recently as a new member of Tomahawk.

The show started with Dunn alone on stage playing the bass intro to "Eye Flys" (the first song from the Melvins first album Gluey Porch Treatments) using a bow. Audience applause greeted Buzz and Dale as they joined on the particularly slow and sludgy opening number. They extended the introduction to around 10 minutes, which tried the patience of one particular concert-goer who started whooping and yelling "enweye!" (let's go, hurry up, come on!). It was at this moment where I had visions of that first show at the Metropolis: this was going to turn into an hour-long free-form feedback show. Just in time, thankfully, the main part of the song started, and my fears were allayed.

Just like their new album Freak Puke, the show started slow, had small interludes of weirdness, but otherwise, it rocked. As expected, they concentrated heavily on the new album, but also included interesting renditions of tracks from their increasingly large back catalog of albums. New songs "Mr. Rip Off" and "Baby, Won't You Weird Me Out" were particular highlights, as was the surprisingly good cover of the Paul McCartney and Wings song "Let Me Roll It."

My favourite part of the show was their rendition of the "A History of Drunks" from A Senile Animal. The double bass added an interesting touch to song, which didn't hamper the driving catchiness of it. The music then deviated near the end to a slow jam before picking up where it left off and when it ended, I found myself grinning from ear-to-ear. 

Buzz Osborne, wearing what can be best described as his space muumuu (as my friend Michelle succinctly put it), was his usual surly self. He had little interaction with the crowd, but he made up for it with his guitar playing and distinctive singing. Also, hands-down, the best hair in rock ‘n roll.

Dale Crover, wearing what looked like a sleeveless Danish soldier jacket, is in my opinion one of the most underrated drummers in rock. Amazing chops.

Trevor, dressed like geekier version of Angus Young (shorts, short-sleeve dress shirt, tie, taped-up horn-rim glasses and a ball cap) was impressive on double bass; his reputation as a talented bassist is well-deserved. Switching between using a bow and using his fingers, he added a unique twist to the usual Melvins sound. He may be the best bassist the band has ever had, and I hope that this album and tour is not the last we hear of him.

The show ended with "Shevil" from Stoner Witch, and there was no encore, nor did I feel there needed to be one. I walked away quite happy.

I saw the Melvins and it was memorable for the music and the performance, and not for some other event that overshadowed it. And at least I now know it wasn't the Melvins that caused me to break out in hives.

-Idle Matt hosts Radio Fun Wednesdays from 9-10pm