The Melvins At Headliners Music Hall 8/11/2017

Written By: Michael Deinlein

Punk/Sludge metal pioneers The Melvins make a much-anticipated return to Headliners Music Hall in Louisville, KY with Spotlights.

Before the lights even went down, the crowd began to surge forward, hoping for a spot up front. The Melvins wasted no time getting the crowd engaged, kicking off the night with a fan favorite, a cover of old school punk band, Flipper’s “Sacrifice”. Capitalizing on the energy in the room The Melvins followed with a blast from the past with an 80’s tune “Oven” and 1991’s “Anaconda” starting the night off in a lively way.

 With a career spanning more than three decades, The Melvins have consistently pushed barriers and evolved over time.  With his shock of long silvery curls, founding member Buzz Osborne on guitar leads The Melvins, through a nearly 90-minute set spanning their entire catalog. 

 Upping the tempo, the Melvins then tore into a peppy version of crowd favorite “Queen” from the album Stoner Witch followed by” The Kicking Machine”  and a rocking cover of David Bowie’s “Saviour Machine” keeping similarities with the original while clearly having a classic Melvin’s spin put on it, leaving the room enthralled and ready for more.

 In keeping with the spirit of the band’s willingness to do the unexpected came a cover of The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, which found the audience trying to place this unrecognizable yet familiar sounding number. While staying true to the original lyrics, The Melvins made it their own to the point that it was nearly unrecognizable to anyone not very familiar with the original. It was exactly the sort of thing The Melvins are known for.

 The Melvins, in the middle of a huge 61-day tour in support of their most recent double album A Walk With Love & Death, showcase a few songs from the album including “Euthanasia,” “Edgar the Elephant,” and “Sober-Delic (Acid Only)”.

 Rolling into the last half of the night’s set, The Melvins drove the packed Headliners Music Hall fans into a frenzy with classics “The Bit  (With “Lovely Butterfly” drum intro),”  fan favorite “Onions Make the Milk Taste Bad (preceded by a drum solo) and “Amazon”.

The Melvins welcomed openers Spotlights to the stage, finishing off the evening in a powerful way with the classic Melvins tune “Hung Bunny” before closing the show with a bang with a wild rendition of “Roman Dog Bird”.

Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Spotlights opened the night with a hard driving set of sludge and doomy bass grooves proving to be a perfect complement to headliners, The Melvins.

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