The Melvins are a band that I've always respected but one whose records I'd never gotten around to buying.
After spotting this bad boy for 10 bucks I couldn't really say "no". Well, I could have, but that would have been decidedly stupid.
The DVD, an import, contains about 90 minutes of footage; 54, the main feature, taken from the North Shore Surf Club, Olympia Washington USA in 1991.
Another 18 minutes comes from the Off Ramp in Seattle also in 1991, the rest is taken from a footage of the Melvins playing the song Antioxidote, and the Melvins live in the studio circa 1984.
There are 12 songs on the main feature, most of which were featured on the albums Bullhead, Ozma and Melvins.
The songs alternate between fast punkier material and a slow sludge. The songs themselves feature enough in the way of dynamics that they are easily distinguishable, well, easily distinguishable to those who are used to that sort of stuff, I guess. Methinks Jimmy would like this.
There are three cameras on the band and the video alternates between these different views. The quality of the video and sound is not excellent but it's pretty good.
Actually, given the nature of the Melvins, it's more fitting that the video is a little grainy and that the sound isn't as crisp as it could be.
This is one of the heaviest, most intense concerts that I have ever seen, and I would have given anything to have been there.
I can't imagine how so much noise and power could be coming from a mere three-piece band. I expect that behind the stage there was another five guys just holding their guitars against various different amps.
Buzz Osbourne's vocals are amazingly brutal; he screams and howls through the songs with the passion of a man impassioned... the passion of a man impassioned?
Anyhoo, the only thing that supercedes his vocals is his hair, which looks like this:
It looks to have been a very violent concert. In fact, there's this bit where some guy gets on stage and instead of jumping into the crowd just stands there with a goofy look on his face. The bassist just comes up behind him and pounds him in the back sending him flying off the stage.
You can tell that the band is completely absorbed by the music that they are playing, and, at one time, you can see King Buzzo shaking his hands in pain. I think that he might be bleeding from playing the guitar though you can't tell from the video.
At another point you can see the bassist get knocked to the floor by the crowd who, I think, grabbed his feet, and yet he continues to play on his back as if nothing had happened.
The back of the DVD features a little endorsement by Dave Grohl and Kurt Cobain stating that "There is no band that changed my perspective of music of music like the Melvins. I'm not joking. I think that they're the future of music... and the present and the past."
I think that this is strange given that the DVD was released in 2002, certainly not a time when the opinion of Nirvana has any weight.
I'm not "dissing" Nirvana, but, nowadays, I can't imagine that anyone would really care about what that particular band had to say. If anything the opinion of Dave Grohl is probably more important, which is ironic given that he is making some of the dullest, most banal music imaginable.
Anyhoo, I'm gonna go watch this DVD again, so excuse me while I soil my pants.
Reviewed on Friday, 11 July 2003