The Melvins and Napalm Death brought their most recent traveling metal extravaganza to a sold out Showbox last week for a cathartic night of loud and aggressive rock & roll. Australia’s Hard On’s opened the show with a well-received set of snappy punk/metal.
The tour was billed as a co-headlining affair with Napalm Death taking the stage last but I’d be willing to bet that a disproportionate number of attendees were there for the Melvins. Montesano’s finest was in excellent form with a second drummer (Coady Willis, of High On Fire and Big Business) on hand to add an extra dose of wallop to what has always been an absolutely crushing live act. Their set began with a synchronized drum intro with OG Melvins drummer Dale Crover and Willis pounding out a martial pattern that eventually led into ‘Working the Ditch’ from 2024’s ‘Tarantula Heart’. When Melvins maestro/guitar strangler/songwriter/frontman King Buzzo (aka Roger ‘Buzz’ Osborne) and Steven Shane MacDonald (of Redd Kross) joined the fray on guitar and bass respectively, the crowd roared and the room shook.
The Melvins drew from all phases of their long career during their satisfying set but avoided material from their most recent release, ‘Thunderball’. I’ve seen a lot of Melvins shows with a lot of different lineups (including the 2017 double bass tour with JD Pinkus of the Butthole Surfers) but I think this may have been my favorite outing to date. The crowd seemed to feel the same, demonstrating their appreciation with loud applause and an active pit. It should be acknowledged that the staff at the Showbox does an admirable job of helping crowd surfers safely navigate the barricade in front of the stage, providing excited and sweaty fans with a bottle of water before sending them back into the crowd.
Manchester England’s Napalm Death closed the show with an exciting and energetic set, mixing guitarist John Cooke’s sledgehammer riffs with frontman Barney Greenway’s guttural vocals. I will confess to not being able to decipher all of what Greenway was raging about during Napalm Death’s tunes but, judging from his between song banter, I feel safe assuming that it was primarily political in nature. Regardless, it made for a potent mix of instrumental heaviness crossed with an innervating and enjoyable stage presentation. I would absolutely make the effort to see Napalm Death again.
The show was opened by a fun and fast set from the Hard Ons. While the core of the band comes from Australia they’re being assisted vocally on this tour by Jerry Lang (aka ‘Jerry A’), formerly of Portland’s fondly remembered ‘Poison Idea’.
