Friday night at Paper Tiger, The Melvins delivered one of the best sets the Alamo City has experienced all year.
The legendary punk-metal crossover group has existed in various iterations for over 40 years and is one of the key progenitors of the sludge-metal genre. It was preceded in the evening’s cavalcade of carnage by California punk-scene stalwarts Redd Kross and local opener Rancid Vat.
Redd Kross — known for blending punk, glam, garage, psych and power-pop — performed some of its most beloved tunes, such as “Stay Away From Downtown,” “Annie’s Gone” and a couple of tracks from its new self-titled album, including “Stunt Queen.”
At roughly 47 years, Redd Kross has been a band even longer than the Melvins. The two groups were comprised of 50% the same members, with bassist-vocalist Steve McDonald and drummer Dale Crover doing double duty in both.
This member swapping speaks to Melvins frontman King Buzzo’s constant experimentation, treating everything in the band like putty, including its lineup. As another experiment, this tour features dual drummers, with Coady Scott Willis of Big Business and High on Fire hitting his kit side-by-side with Crover’s on the stage.
The dual drums were in lock-step throughout the night, moving the sweating, throbbing mass of people with a hypnotizing tribalistic rhythm before breaking apart. During the set, Willis and Crover traded off on powerful drum solos and threw in disparate but complimentary fills.
The crunch of King Buzzo’s guitar ripped through the space as he menacingly stalked the stage, swirling his signature mop of white, wild hair around.
All members, save Willis, wore tunics embroidered with eyes, as if they’re members of a cult conducting a ritualistic sacrifice on the altar of fuzz. Were we being recruited by this rite, or were we the sacrifice? It felt like both. And the disciples were willing.
Silently presiding over the ceremony was Star Man Ace Frehley, the late Kiss guitarist, who was featured as the projected background image behind the band. Between songs, the crowd even broke into a chant of “Ace! Ace!”
The Melvins set touched on various eras of the group’s prolific career. “Working the Ditch” from 2024’s Tarantula Heart opened the set, followed by “The Bloated Pope” from 2004’s Pigs of the Roman Empire. Other popular mid-career tracks included “A History of Bad Men” from A Senile Animal.
Several tracks from the band’s seminal Houdini album naturally made an appearance, including “Hag Me,” “Honey Bucket” and “Night Goat,” which closed out the set.
Credit: Stephanie Koithan
Credit: Stephanie Koithan
Credit: Stephanie Koithan
Credit: Stephanie Koithan
Credit: Stephanie Koithan
Credit: Stephanie Koithan
Credit: Stephanie Koithan
Credit: Stephanie Koithan