Isis - Melvins - Totmoshi -- 9:30 Club - June 16 2010

Totomoshi - This three piece immediately captures my interest with some Turkish Erkin Koray like moves on guitar snaking around a hard metal sludge reminiscent of... oh, I don't know, maybe the Melvins. As the songs continued, they became much more linear and less interesting, although the occasional guitar moves worked well enough. The rhythm section, vocals and songwriting just did not add enough to create any steady interest for me. Vocally, I was wondering if the ghost of Darby Crash is fronting a metal band. Nothing bad here, just an opening band that was suited to this bill.

The Melvins -  This is the second time I have seen them with their 2 drummer line-up and have concluded that it is my favorite line-up (keep in mind I have only seen 3 of their 5? 6? line-ups). They came in to the theme of Rawhide looking like they stepped off a four-horse spaceship. Nice to see the bass player trying to catch up to Buzz's hair. All the sludge Sabbath riffs are in play with just a bit of pace now and then, but never too fast. Power and incredible volume are the order of the day at the very full club. Minimal stage patter and done to music which is sort of keeping to what seems to me a larger intelligence behind the music which newcomers and non-fans may think pretty dumb. I always sense something ironic and witty with these guys as they play straight ahead with their unflinching power. But back to the drummers... Dale Crover hardly needs a second drummer, but the live set is enhanced as it is a pleasure to watch two great drummers lock in and watch for their occasional divergences. No intricate African polyrhythms, just locked in pros pounding away. These guys are crazy and foxes and still dishing it out to appreciative crowds. The one thing I could have done without, was the feedback solo, but it was still short of Kawabata.

Isis - This is the final tour for this LA drone prog-metal band. They are reasonably interesting and were doing well, but I did not stick around as it has been a tough week. But I am turning the corner health wise, so I'll still be banging out the reviews.

Observances of the Evening: Another reason I left, was the weird vibes I was getting in the balcony. The crowd was filling it out pretty significantly and Security was doing much of what they should do to keep aisles clear and all. I do get annoyed at this club at times, but they mostly do what they have to do. Still, I saw security running up to talk to people without seeing any reason for it. Once, they brought a red plastic cup for the guy to pour his beer into. He had a frosty/clear cup and had the correct stamp (which they certainly want to check, although he had to be over 30, closer to 40). Then a guy in a police t-shirt came up. I am guessing nothing really happened in the end, but it was just a bit weird for about 20 minutes. Gotta watch out for these metal shows, although this wasn't a pure metal show and their was no frisking before the show (which will happen for bands leaning just a bit more to metal than these three).