Here’s a guest review of the May 22 show by the Melvins, Mudhoney and Green River at Showbox at the Market by Seattle music writer Mikel Toombs:
Before Pearl Jam and Nirvana, before even Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone, there were Green River and the Melvins. Seattle’s Green River would flow into Mudhoney (singer Mark Arm) and, via Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam (bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gosssard). Meanwhile, the Melvins, befriending young Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic in the backwater Washington logging town of Aberdeen, became Nirvana’s chief inspiration.
The two bands celebrated their legacy Friday in a sold-out joint appearance at Showbox at the Market, the Seattle club that survived the grunge era intact.
The Melvins began their special, two-nights-only plunge into pre-grunge by commemorating their 25th anniversary, performing “as the Melvins of 1983.” (Math is not their strong suit.) Original drummer Mike Dillard returned to the fold, with Melvins mainstay Dale Crover (he replaced Dillard in ’84) sliding over to impersonate founding bassist Matt Lukin; they’ve tried to pass Crover off as Lukin in other cities, moptopped singer-guitarist Buzz Osborne admitted, but knew they couldn’t fool the Seattle crowd.
In true ’80s-punk fashion the trio romped through 11 songs in under 30 minutes, still conveying the teen spirit that so enraptured the members-to-be of Nirvana. (Crover, introduced to Osborne by Novoselic, later would drum briefly for Nirvana, right before the Melvins introduced future Foo Fighter Dave Grohl to them.). Matching remarkably eloquent expressions of disillusionment (“It gives me courage/To be discouraged”) with the Kiss-this punch of “Set Me Straight,” the Melvins’ vintage set recalled the early Replacements. And much like the ‘Mats of yore, they followed, as a duo of Osborne and drummer Crover, with patience-testing deconstructions of familiar radio fodder, including Paul McCartney & Wings’ “Let Me Roll It.”
Also marking 25 years, although rarely as an active band, Green River managed to sound both old and improved. Combining mid-’80s lineups, guitarists Gossard, Steve Turner and Bruce Fairweather provided a ferocious, Stooges-driven din that was ably anchored by drummer Alex Vincent. Singer Arm played his part, channeling the streetwalkin’ cheetah presence of Iggy Pop, on the band’s evolving original material, as well as on covers of the Dead Boys’ “Ain’t Nothing to Do” and “Queen Bitch,” David Bowie’s hunky-dory tribute to Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground.
Where later Green River songs (we’re still talking 1987 here) like “Rehab Doll” and “Swallow My Pride” gave a hint of what was to come, the Melvins showed they’d moved beyond grunge with the release of Houdini, their ’93 major-label debut. While less than magical commercially, Houdini introduced a new genre, sludge metal, more mental than Metallica and darker than Black Sabbath, and allowed Cobain, who co-produced about half the album, to repay the debt to his mentors.
Kurt’s input was apparent as the Melvins took to the stage again to (re)play “Houdini” in its headbanging entirety, with Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle) on bass in place of Lori “Lorax” Black, Buzz’ girlfriend at the time and the daughter of beloved child actor (and less-belvoved politician) Shirley Temple(-Black). They incited more-than-modest moshing as they bashed through an ultramega-heavy reprise of “Set Me Straight” and the Kiss cover “Going Blind.” They closed out the album with “Spread Eagle Beagle,” their version of a Seattle drum circle (four percussionists took the place of the original duo, Crover and Cobain), and ended the night with “With Teeth” and the biting “The Bit.”