– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER –
“I’ve been waiting 20 years for this,” says a guy at the bar as he pulls his 25th anniversary Mudhoney t-shirt over his head. Now don’t get me wrong its great that he is seeing them at last but where have you been????
Mudhoney are the godfathers of garage / grunge / alternative rock and have never waivered from a path of high quality musicianship, energy and rock n’ roll. The lineup this evening also has one of my all time favorite bands, The Meat Puppets that adds to the excitement in Academy 2.
The Meat Puppets are the SST band that doesn’t really fit to a genre. A little country, a little funky, noisy at times and just amazing songwriters. Yeah there are some folks that are waiting for those “Nirvana” songs (‘Oh Me’, ‘Plateau’ and ‘Lake Of Fire’), which are all played in a quick-fire 40-minute set. However it is songs like ‘Up On The Sun’ and ‘Comin Down’ that really define Meat Puppets. The set is tuneful yet quirky and this is cemented by their cover of ‘Sloop John B’, a truly memorable start to the evening.
Mudhoney have a considerable back catalogue to choose a set from and also a new album Vanishing Point from which they play my two favorite tracks from this evening – ‘Douchebags On Parade’ and ‘The Only Son From The Widow Of Nain’ which are both in your face rifftastic assaults! The new songs are interspersed with a barrage of classic Mudhoney. ‘Suck You Dry’, ‘Sweet Young Thing (Ain’t Sweet No More)’ and ‘Into The Drink’ see Mark Arm at his vocal best, growling and screaming his way with the angst and energy that some younger bands on the scene should really witness and try and produce. The anthem that is ‘Touch Me I’m Sick’ has the whole crowd jumping and the phenomenal ‘In and Out Of Grace’ provides another highlight as Steve Turner creates noises that a guitar shouldn’t make. The hardcore set of Dicks and Black Flag covers ends the evening and they even throw their Fang cover of ‘The Money Will Roll Right In’ into the mix which was what we listened too en route to the show.
The thing with Mudhoney if you have seen them before is you know what you are going to get. It’s been 25 years of defining a sound and there is no letting up. I’m pretty sure that the man who waited 20 years for this will not have been let down and neither am I after the numerous times I’ve seen them over the years. They certainly put on a show of high octane rock n’ roll, however this evening for me belongs to The Meat Puppets and after a conversation with Shandon their drummer , who tells me they will be back in January – I cant wait for that too.
Im a teacher by day and a music lover all the time. I have promoted over 500 shows as Interkonnect including Get Up Kids, Big Business, Hella, Jim Bob, Clorox Girls, New Amsterdams, Juffage, Vessels etc etc etc. Im the oldest emo in Bolton and love Dischord, Vagrant, Jade Tree, Deep Elm, In The Red, Touch and Go, Southern Lord type labels. High Fidelity top five - Jawbreaker, Get Up Kids, Man From Delmonte, Ween and Descendents ( thats this week!!! ) - Hope you enjoy Silent Radio and what i have to say, love ya'll Ivan
Nice writeup…just one thing, the Meat Puppets drummer’s name is Shandon, not Channing. SHANDON SAHM…he played with Gibby Haynes, and Pariah, too, way back when. He’s Doug Sahm’s son. You’ve heard the Sir Douglas Quintet, right? That’s Shandon’s dad. The whole family is awesome.
Sounds like it was a killer show…Pupps shows are ALWAYS epic!
Apologies on the name, it was a mixture of severe deafness when he said his name and over exuberance on my part having the pleasure to chat to a ‘puppet’. Great to see they are still loved and hopefully see you in Jan at the show, cheers again, Ivan