The MELVINS Shack - MELVINS The Palace - Hollywood, CA

MELVINS
The Palace
Hollywood, CA
20 October 2001

A safe driver always wears his mu-mu!

MELVINS Palace Oct 20, 2001 Slight Review

UNWOUND ~ MELVINS ~ JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION

I had a few libations pre and during the show, so nothing's guaranteed.
Met up with Paul Sanard and his friend Bonnie at his apt one block from the Palace. Jason Vigil and his pals Mike and Jill from Albuquerque arrived and Jason made one helluva killer gourmet sandwich! mmm-mm Only possible thing missing was some MELVINS Meat. Go Jason! Optimators and wine flowed.

Shocked not to see any MELVINS merchandise at the show. Nothing. Zero! No "Shit Sandwich"?! No Zippos display?! Cosmo me, please.
We got there about half-way through UNWOUND. Minus the mu-mu, Dave was in the same spot onstage as when he toured w/the MELVINS. I thought they put on a pretty good set and were interesting. It wasn't too crowded, so I was able to float around from left to right. We also had a killer right balcony spot near the stage for a spell.

MELVINS put on a great show. It was different, but no less enjoyable, seeing them as a 3-piece again. I don't remember the entire set, but it seemed to be the same as my last MELVINS show. NIGHT GOAT, AT THE STAKE, LET IT ALL BE, CHERUBS, BALLAD OF DWIGHT FRYE, HALO OF FLIES. Most likely the same as the set Try listed on his site. I didn't see Dale very well but he looked healthy as did Buzz and Kevin. Buzz was on stage right, Kevin stage left this time. They both seemed to have fun and rocked out with plenty of room. Kevin's hair is a little longer. It's gonna be interesting seeing him with TOMAHAWK next week. Dan Raymond helped the house roadie set up the MELVINS. Didn't see Randy or RoadBull onstage. Met up with some other people I've seen at previous MELVINS shows. Found out a group of them live near me in Riverside. Oh yeah! MELVINS nation rising. hehehe

Tried to hit our killer balcony again, but it was now roped off for wristband VIPs only. So we lost each other and found each other up in the high, deep, dark part of the balcony for some group heckling of JSBX.
See, I've heard Jon Spencer was great in Pussy Galore. I mean, the they were covered by the MELVINS. I never saw them and I must say JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION kinda sucked. Despite the no bass guitar novelty, I perceived it as clichéd rock star choreography and the rock-blues kinda hybrid overall disappointed. MELVINS should have been the headliners. I won't say they blew JSBX off the stage, but they put on a better show and were more musical. Just this layman's opinion. We left before he finished.
Which was good, because down the fire exit was Jason and his pals talking with Dan Raymond and Mike Ziegler behind Buzz's van. I heard someone say something about "Shit Sandwiches" just in the back of Buzz's van, which were soon to be brandished. Kevin walked out and drove off in his bomber. Ron Heikkila came out with Buzz. Buzz shook hands all around and thanked us for coming. What a gentleman. Jason wanted his "Shit Sandwich" but Buzz told Dan they had to go and the entourage was gone. I remember someone said they were off to the warehouses of downtown L.A. / Lincoln Heights to work on the current MELVINS project. Something like that. I got a pic of Buzz driving off with his entourage. All in all, it was a good time. GO MELVINS!!

Future band names:

Buzz's Van
Kevin's Bomber
Healthy Dale
Entourage

~~gene

Click on an image below for the big pic

UNWOUND