Saw Melvins this past Friday and they were great. Back to a trio and Pinkus had some solid low end rumblage going on. Was very pleasantly surprised when they went into Youth of America as I absolutely love their version of it. The opener, Le Butcherettes, were fun to watch but not entirely my thing sonically.

Next is probably Failure at the same venue I saw Melvins at.

Last night - eyehategod at the Fleece. Putting the boy to bed so missed FUK and just saw last five minutes of Husk. They played some sort of TSIB-era-Neurosis sounding stuff but I think most of their material is more hardcore, odd way to end the set and I didn't really have time to get into it (sober). Had a natter over cider with Brian Patton, nice chap. Hopefully I've not cursed him as last time I was chatting to Joey... Baron Greenback were pretty uninspiring, pedestrian 'Southern' riffs, I think with a pushier drummer they might be less boring. EHG did their thing, not a particularly high energy set but I had a stomp about, grins all round. Brian killed his amp but Gabba from FUK sorted him out with a Sovtek.

Next - Elder on Friday, can't wait. Opener is Sergeant Thunderhoof who despite their terrible name I really want to see. At the Lanes which is a bowling alley that hosts club nights, no idea what it's like for live.

Last - Wrong/Nothing (missed Torche). Wrong and Nothing were both killer. Wrong sounded like strap it on Helmet meets sludge. Nothing were My Bluddy Valentine if they were from Chicago.

Next - Lewis Black, Portland Maine 8/1
After that - Failure/Hum, Boston MA 8/15
After dat - Big Head Todd & The Monsters/G. Love & Special Sauce, South Boston Ma 8/17

LAST - Torche and House of Lightning at Dante's on Thursday. House of Lightning were pretty sweet. Torche were okay. I kind of got over them after their second album and out of the eight-ish songs I stuck around for, they played like five I recognized. Don't they have like four or five albums by now? I guess I haven't missed much? This show also featured Melt Banana, but I left into Torche's set due to cramped and hot conditions. The show was sold out and that day got near triple digits in temperature. No AC in this venue either. Didn't feel like walking or dealing with a broken down, hot bus, so I drove to this. I decided going home was better than drinking more and risking a DUII (I almost never drive to shows, it's a big perk to living in Portland).

NEXT - Trans AM and Hot Victory tomorrow at Mississippi Studios. The heatwave continues, but thankfully this venue does have AC.

Last -elder and friends on Friday night. No pot, ate a load of poppy derivative, minor WD niggle now. Missed Sergeant Thunderhoof, I'll have to keep an eye for them another time as the bits I listened to online sounded promising. Sonic Mass had a good thing going on but seemed to really lack cohesion, lead guitarist was more or less playing by himself at the far edge of the stage. Sound wasn't fantastic but the songs are solid. Mos Generator were lots of fun, perch on the back of a comfy sofa for a seat and good view but ended up on my feet rocking out. Elder were fantastic, ended up right in front of Nick so got to check out his guitar skillz.

Next may be The Heads at end of September...

LAST - TRANS AM last night. They just fucking KILLED it! They're doing the West Coast over the next week or so and if you have a chance to see them,,, DO IT!

NEXT - Dispirit, Lycus, Knelt Rote on Friday. This heatwave should be broken by then and it'll be my first look at the "Bar Rescued" Panic Room (Tonic Lounge).

Gonna be seeing Neurosis later this week in Lawrence, KS. Since I haven't seen them in 10 years, I wanted to check with you fellas who have seen them more recently to see if anything has changed in their live shows.

TOP FIVE LIVE - 7/20/15 - 7/26/15:

1. Dinosaur Jr - 80's lineup of the band belting out loud guitar blasts, best show of the week
2. Mondo Drag - very tasteful Floyd-like psychedelic rock- superlative
3. Winston Facials - rocked out with abandon, very cool band, ex- Burglar Fucker
4. Bukkake Moms - TX damaged freak rock for fans of Ed Hall/Saccharine Trust
5. James Badfellows - return to action of great VA soul 'n' roll band


NEXT- Three separate shows tonight if I can work 'em all in-
Buck Gooter
Tall Boys (mem. Inter Arma)
Roper & Furley (Big Shirley from ATP/Suzukiton)

Roper & Furley (Big Shirley from ATP/Suzukiton)


I'm glad he's doing something. I think the last time I asked Larson what Cox was up to, the answer was something along the lines of nuthin' (as far as music goes).
Funny band name, too.

It's good to hear that Bryan/Big Shirley is back at it.

LAST - RUSH last Tuesday at the big NBA arena here in town. Mindblowing. Really bittersweet for me, as I'm sure it's the last time I'll ever see anything that professional and grandiose on that type of scale for the rest of my life. But I'm glad I was there at least (I had seventh row on the Lifeson side, which didn't hurt).

NEXT - Probably The Meat Puppets on Thursday. It's only four blocks from my place, so I really don't have much of an excuse to miss it. Except they'll be playing with Soul Asylum in a co-headlining type of deal. Hopefully I'd be able to get out early and skip SA entirely.

NEXT NEXT - Probably Hoverfest on 8/8. Last year's fest was a lot of fun. This year has Slough Feg, DANAVA, Witch Mountain, etc...

Yep, no video/projection/visuals, just simple moody lighting.
New material obviously but always a bit of a spread across the body of work.
Intense as always.

Monday: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

Today: Sun Kil Moon


/hipsterfolkweek

Dutch, thanks for the insight. I'd forgotten that Josh Graham parted ways with the band a few years ago. The last time I saw them, he was doing the visuals.

I'd always enjoyed that aspect of the performance so I was ambivalent about their decision to drop the pictures. Having seen them a couple of times since though I didn't feel there was anything lacking, the music stands on its own and on a large stage the huge projections maybe detracted from the human element. The musicians are no longer dwarfed by something demanding your attention, and your mind is freed to engage with the players or associate its own images.

I never liked Graham's visuals in Neurosis, his stuff was kind of "G" rated after following the visual devastation of Pete Inc.

For the 'Given to the Rising' tour, they revisited some Enemy of the Sun/Through Silver in Blood classics, but for whatever reason on the 'Honor Found in Decay' show I saw they focused a lot on 'A Sun That Never Sets', which wasn't really my favorite. That's been a couple years now though, so maybe they'll change it up this time. They probably will. You'd think that touring with BotSC and Sumac would move them toward focusing on the heavier stuff.

I regret not seeing Meat Puppets this past go-around although it would have required a 200 mile round trip drive and paying $35 for them since I don't care about seeing Soul Asylum (although they out-rocked Husker Du the one time I saw them together in 1985). Been listening to a bunch of Meat Puppets live bootllegs in the car this last week and really enjoying it, what a great and humble band. Let us know how it is if you check it out, Mr. Red.

Back from Lawrence, KS - the site of last night's Neurosis show.

The Body opened. Not a fan so I skipped them to drink a Mosaic Pale Ale and an Oatmeal Stout next door at Free State Brewery.

Brothers of the Sonic Cloth had some initial sound issues, but they exceeded my expectations with a very strong final half of their set. "La Mano Ponderosa," "Unnamed" and a new song were appropriately massive sounding. It's great to see Tad Doyle back in the mix. I'd love to see BOTSC as a headliner.

Given that Neurosis is on an anniversary tour, it's no surprise that they're doing a "hits" oriented set list, and - holy shit - did they deliver. Pristine sound, lots of energy, and a captive (but far too small) audience. Having never seen them perform the songs off their last two albums, I naturally found those songs to be highlights - especially "My Heart for Deliverance" and "At The Well."

If you go see a show, bring $$$ as there is lots of great merch. I asked Neurosis' merch guy about their new album. Assuming he is in the know, he said the album is done and they had hoped to release it before this tour.

Neurosis setlist from Lawrence, KS show:
A Sun That Never Sets
Locust Star
Distill (Watching the Swarm)
The Doorway
Times of Grace
My Heart For Deliverance
The Tide
At the Well
Stones From the Sky
Through Silver in Blood

Sweet! I wonder why they didn't play anything off of it? They've never been shy about doing that in the past. The setlist you posted is nearly identical to the one from two years ago, that I complained about, except you got the "Through Silver in Blood" ending!

This is the setlist from 2011 on 'Given to the Rising' that I thought was the best thing I've seen from them in the last ten years:

Locust Star
Given to the Rising
End of the Harvest
A Season in the Sky
At the Well
Water Is Not Enough
Belief
At the End of the Road
Raise the Dawn
Through Silver in Blood

At the Well and Raise the Dawn hadn't even been released at that point, which is partially why I was freaking out! Also Locust Star, End of Harvest, Belief, TSIB. The setlist was a monster.

It is fucking rad though that they're playing places in the midwest though. This is the most extensive tour they've done since Times of Grace and it's only two-ish weeks or so.

One thing about seeing something like this in the midwest is the people that do come out are fucking hardcore, which the bands appreciate. I had that Summer in 2012 where I followed Swans around for a week and the show in Kansas City was amazing and I randomly ran into those guys afterwards (we were staying in the same hotel) and they said it was one of their favorite shows of the year.

I did review that 2011 show here. Back when I had the brain cells and time to formulate cogent reviews:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3216

Red, I was so starved for a Neurosis set that they could've played polka covers and I would've walked away happy. Ha! Kidding aside, I would've loved to hear a deeper track or two. That set list from 2011 was beastly. "End of Harvest" and "Water is Not Enough" - holy shit! One thing I forgot to mention in my prior post: Roeder is an absolute beast behind the kit. I never realized how simple his set-up is, yet he does more with less than most drummers I've seen live.

Funny you mentioned Swans, Red. I was fortunate enough to catch them twice in the past two years in flyover country. And, you're right. The die hard fans show up for shows like Swans and Neurosis. I met quite a few kindred spirits at such shows.

Next shows: Mutoid Man in September and Russian Circles in October.

Weedeater, Bitchwax, Keelhaul all coming up this month. Don't feel like driving since doing 70 hours a week at work and 20 hours on my business each week, less sleep for me. Maybe I should steal a message board and act like I'm relevant. Fucking nobodies. Can't wait for the rest of them trolls to die, the world will be like so.

Last one was Queen Kwong and Failure in Syracuse. The back half of Failure's set list was pretty heavily loaded with stuff from Fantastic Planet. Not that I'm complaining.

Next is Neurosis in NYC on Sunday. What I'm reading here has me very, very excited.

Last:
Fu Manchu 25th King of the Road tour

Nexts:
8/29 Dante's - YOB, Acid King, Sweat Lodge, Diesto
9/19 Keller Auditorium - KRAFTWERK
9/24 Holocene - Autechre
9/27 Hawthorne Theater - Goatsnake
10/3 Panic Room - Worship, Loss, Shroud of the Heretic, Atriarch
Looking forward to all pretty much equally.

Last: Stoned from the Underground (Lekky Wiz, Radio Moscow, Greenleaf etc)

Next: Beyond the Gates (Bolzer, Angel Witch, Tribulation, Morbus Chron, Spectral Haze, Ascension...)

Last: Jane's Addiction

Next: