The Melvins + Green River - The Showbox (Seattle, WA; May 22, 2009)

Friday night, May 22, slightly obscure Pacific Northwest rock history was revisited at the Showbox. The Melvins, most famous around Seattle for being the Aberdeen, Washington band that Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic were high school friends with, transported the venue back to the late eighties with their 25th anniversary show. The line outside consisted of many now-vintage Melvins shirts and many now-graying fans straight from the late eighties Seattle scene.

To drive the sense of Seattle music history home for the fans, the supporting band on this stop of the tour was none other than Green River. Green River is quite possibly the most legendary Seattle band ever, not for their music, but for the bands their breakup spawned.

The doors opened at 8pm but the music didn’t start until slightly after 9:30 allowing ample time for the 21+ crowd to get substantially liquored up.

The show’s format was quite different than many I have been to in the past, with the Melvins playing two sets with Green River sandwiched in between. The first set consisted of the Melvins original 1983 lineup of Buzz Osborne (guitar, vocals), Dale Crover (bass) and Matt Dillard (drums). The second set consisted of Osborne, Crover (drums) and Trevor Dunn playing Houdini, their 1993 major label debut, in its entirety.

The 1983 version tore through their set with reckless abandon, ably presenting their Black–Sabbath influenced sludge metal in “Vile,” “Revolve,” and “Grinding Process.” The set also included a cover of Wings’ “Let Me Roll It.” Osborne threw in short solos and intense fret work here and there as the multicolored stage lights served to accent his infamous, now gray, hair. The set was loud, it was fast, it was wildly entertaining, and I’m pretty sure it damaged my hearing.

Green River put forth their original (and only) lineup with Jeff Ament (bass) and Stone Gossard (guitar) of Pearl Jam, Bruce Fairweather (guitar) of Mother Love Bone, Mark Arm (vocals) and Steve Turner (guitar) of Mudhoney and Alex Vincent (drums). Everyone was excited to see Jeff Ament play in his first show since he was mugged in Atlanta a couple of weeks prior. The band was spot on, turning on the intensity and ripping through “Come Down,” “Swallow my Pride,” “This Town,” and many more. The punk intensity of Mark Arm on vocals never ceases to amaze me whether with Mudhoney or Green River, or even solo. He gives it his all every time. Many of the bass riffs finding their way from Jeff Ament’s bass were some of the most thundering, heaviest ones I’ve ever heard. The best quote of the night came from Arm when he stated “This is what it feels like to be the creamy center of a Melvin’s Twinkie,” alluding to the position of their set.

The Melvins took the stage once again to close out the night by playing Houdini in its entirety. From the speed metal of “Honey Bucket” to the grandiose “Joan of Arc” and the epic “Spread Eagle Beagle,” it was the perfect way to close out a perfect night of revisiting Pacific Northwest rock history that should never be forgotten.

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