Gettin' Down with The Melvins

The Melvins rolled through town Wednesday night and brought a heapin' helpin' of RAWK with them. They've been one of the opening acts on Down's current tour. Down has a knack for taking several nights off during the week so this has given The Melvins the opportunity to do some headlining shows along the way. Attendees of Down shows are being treated to a solid 45-minute Melvins set. But those catching one of The Melvins headlining shows are getting treated to a bonus second set [that's actually the first set]. Overall the two sets leaned more heavily towards older faves than the last couple of tours have [excepting the 25th anniversary tour a few months back].

The first set [the bonus set] started out with just Buzz and Dale onstage ripping through "The Ballad of Dwight Fry." After about 20 minutes Coady and Jared joined them onstage and together they player for about another half hour. They ended by playing about half of "Dies Iraea" before whispering "To be continued" and leaving the stage. After a twenty minute intermission the band returned and finished "Dies Iraea." Check out the previous post for a photo of the setlist for the second set.

Overall this was the best Melvins show I've seen in some time. It certainly ranks up there with the "three set" tour they did in 1996 and the set they ripped through when they were opening for Tool in 1998. This was the kind of show that reminded you why you love this band so much.

SETLIST: Melvins @ House of Blues Cambridge Room

I just got in from tonight's Melvins show. Pics will be up in the next couple of days. In the meantime, here's a photo of the setlist for the second set they played.

NOTES: "DNA" was a cover of Devo's "Mr. DNA." They performed an a capella cover of Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogie" after "The Bit."

Holy Hell...Marduk is Returning to The States!

Legendary black metal band Marduk had planned on trekking across our shores several months ago with Mayhem. After three shows the band dropped off the bill. This ultimately led to the slow unraveling of the remainder of Mayhem's tour as the other supporting acts withdrew from the tour for various reasons. Trust me, the whole thing's one big soap opera with a lot of finger pointing and blaming to be shared all around.

So color me surprised when I stumbled upon this little press release from the Marduk camp:

Following three very special US appearances earlier this month in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York (effectively breaking their streak of visa issues), Swedish black metal battalion Marduk will return for a full North American headlining tour this November. The band will be joined by Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack and Black Anvil (on select dates).

Dubbed "US Plague Tour 2009", the trek will kick off on November 20th at the Palladium in Worcester, MA and run through 21 more dates before coming to a close in New York City on December 16th at the Gramercy Theater, where the band recently played to an overwhelming crowd response.


"US Plague Tour 2009" announced dates are as follows:

Nov. 20 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium (w/ Black Anvil)
Nov. 21 - Montreal, QC - Les Foufounes Electriques(w/ Black Anvil)
Nov. 22 - Toronto, ON - Wreck Room (w/ Black Anvil)
Nov. 23 - Baltimore, MD - Sonar
Nov. 24 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
Nov. 25 - Tampa, FL - Brass Mug
Nov. 28 - Austin, TX - Red 7
Nov. 29 - Ft Worth, TX - Ridglea Theater
Nov. 30 - Tulsa, OK - The Marquee
Dec. 02 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
Dec. 03 - Tempe, AZ - The Sets
Dec. 04 - Hollywood, CA - The Key Club
Dec. 05 - San Marcos, CA - The Jumping Turtle
Dec. 06 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
Dec. 07 - Portland, OR - Satyricon
Dec. 08 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
Dec. 10 - Denver, CO - Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Dec. 11 - Kansas City, MO - Riot Room
Dec. 12 - Chicago, IL - Reggie's Rock Club
Dec. 13 - St Paul, MN - Station 4
Dec. 14 - Detroit, MI - Blondie's
Dec. 15 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody's
Dec. 16 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theater (w/ Black Anvil)

Marduk + Nachmystium = I am so there!!!

Marduk's eleventh album - Wormwood - will be released in North America on October 13. Check out the track "Phosphorous Redeemer" at the band's Myspace page.

KISS Announces North American Tour!

KISS has released dates for the North American leg of their "Alive 35" tour. KISS promises two-plus-hour sets full of the old hits we know and love as well as a sampling of tunes from their soon to be released new album, Sonic Boom.

Say what you will about whether or not KISS is still relevant. The simple fact remains that the band puts on a SHOW! They're bringing a new stage setup [as opposed to recreating one of the classic 1970s stage setups as they have been on prior tours], new costumes, and an assload of pyro! Joke all you want...you know you're gonna be there.

Sep. 25 - Detroit, MI - Cobo Arena

Sep. 26 - Detroit, MI - Cobo Arena

Sep. 28 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena

Sep. 29 - London, ONT - John Labatt Centre

Oct. 01 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre

Oct. 02 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre

Oct. 03 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena

Oct. 05 - Boston, MA - TD Garden

Oct. 09 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum

Oct. 10 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden

Oct. 12 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center

Oct. 13 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center

Oct. 16 - Hampton, VA - Hampton Coliseum

Oct. 17 - Greenville, SC - Bi-Lo Center

Oct. 19 - Pensacola, FL - Civic Center

Oct. 21 - Tampa, FL - St Pete Times Forum

Oct. 22 - Sunrise, FL - Bankatlantic Center

Oct. 24 - Birmingham, AL - BJCC

Oct. 26 - Atlanta, GA - Phillips Arena

Oct. 28 - Nashville, TN - Sommet Center

Oct. 29 - Little Rock, AR - Verizon Arena

Nov. 06 - Chicago, IL - United Center

Nov. 07 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center

Nov. 09 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre

Nov. 10 - Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Centre

Nov. 12 - Calgary, AB - Pengrowth Saddledome

Nov. 14 - Vancouver, BC - GM Place

Nov. 15 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena

Nov. 17 - Portland, OR - Rose Garden

Nov. 20 - Sacramento, CA - Arco Arena

Nov. 21 - Oakland, CA - Oakland Arena

Nov. 24 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center

Nov. 25 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center

Nov. 27 - San Diego, CA - Sports Arena

Nov. 28 - Las Vegas, NV - [To Be Determined]

Dec. 01 - Glendale, AZ - jobing.com Arena

Dec. 02 - El Paso, TX - UTEP

Dec. 04 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center

Dec. 05 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center

Dec. 06 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center

VERDICT: District 9

I saw District 9 this morning and I must say, I was completely unprepared for that movie. The first 30 minutes or so lay the groundwork/mythology of the film while concocting a pressure cooker of a scenario. You just know that at any moment very bad things are going to happen. But the film teases and ups the tension a little more. Until finally you're pretty much a passenger on an out of control roller coaster. District 9 is one of the most intense films I've seen in some time.

On the surface District 9 contains elements of films you've seen before. Little bits of Starship Troopers, The Fly[the Cronenberg version], Independence Day, The Defiant Ones, and Robocop. The main character - Wikus - reminded me of Michael Scott crossed with Borat. But Disctrict 9 rises above being a mere rip-off by taking it's [presumed] influences and using them as reference points and inspiration to create a new work of art. This is a well-made film that is thought provoking AND entertaining. The running time pushes the two hour mark though it seems about 40 minutes shorter. This is a film that will completely absorb you and have you on the edge of your seat.

Verdict: I'll be seeing this film again!

Tomorrow!

Pieces of the puzzle

Them Crooked Vultures have their first show in the can and by all accounts it seems like everyone was blown away. Over the past couple of days the band's been sending out tweets a couple of times a day with links to their store [which for now features only a $30 t-shirt] or the browser version of Google Earth [though frankly I haven't been able to get the GE thing to work as I'm having issues downloading the appropriate plug-in]. There has been an album title [Never Deserved the Future] bandied about that may or may not be the actual title. It all depends on who you ask.

Four hours ago the following photo was sent out via Twitter:

And just a few minutes ago the following Youtube clip was sent out:

That's a pretty epic 14-seconds of music right there folks! I expect a tsunami of information in the coming days. It's about to get very interesting!