Shoes! Do you still have both of your shoes?!
That was the question of the night for fans who leapt off stage or slammed their tattooed covered bodies together under the 234 disco balls that hang from the ceiling of Numbers in Houston, TX. The club itself is part live music venue, part 80’s dance club and has the right grimy feel to host Melt Banana, Melvins, and Napalm Death on their “Savage Imperial Death March Tour.” Three very different bands took to the stage and progressively pushed the huge crowd of bikers, goth teens, and old punks in new Melvins shirts to the point where one man yelled out what everyone else was thinking, “WEEEE NEEEEED THIS!!!”
As Melt Banana began warming up, guitar geeks leaned over the glow of Agata’s pedals and fans raised their arms to feel the screech of Yasuko’s voice. The duo thrashed through their signature noisy electronic punk mayhem at 110mph only “slowing down” momentarily to groove on “Infection Defective” or to mention that they were about to play three fast songs in a row. They set the tone for the evening which was about to get completely bonkers (a highly technical music term).
By the time King Buzzo of Melvins stepped on stage wearing what appeared to be a choir robe from outer space, the crowd had at least tripled and were pressed up against the stage. Ready. A man wearing a white shirt with the words “Pigs don’t let it” scrawled in Sharpie, screamed and howled as the band cranked into gear. For the next hour, the Melvins hair whipped and raged through song after song. I could see fans in the tiny upstairs bar moving along as they watched the swarming circle pit forming on Number’s dancefloor. Such an amazing amount of energy filled the whole venue. I can’t be sure of this, but it felt like they were nodding to the closers Napalm Death and saying “Now top this, suckers!”
The minute stagehands had cleared equipment, three members of Napalm Death walked slowly on stage and began to play. The fourth, singer Barney Greenway, ran on stage from the wings, picked up his microphone off the ground and basically turned into a human tornado. This burst of energy from the stage, kicked the crowd in the black denim immediately. Sweat, ice, shoes, and even someone’s jacket were thrown through the air as people surfed the crowd to the stage and then took flying leaps back into the swarm. Things seemed to be getting completely out of hand, but in a good way. It was Friday night, and this truly was what we needed. Greenway’s charming stage banter about politics, religion, and human rights plus the band laughing at themselves for fouling up a Dead Kennedy’s cover twice, just made the night all the more endearing (but in a metal kind of way).
The tour is just getting started and I highly recommended you attend & bring extra shoes.
April 7 Ft. Lauderdale, FL The Culture Room
April 8 Orlando, FL The Plaza Live
April 9 Tampa, FL The Orpheum
April 10 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
April 12 Washington, DC 930 Club
April 13 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
April 14 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
April 15 New York, NY Webster Hall
April 16 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
April 17 Montreal, QC Club Soda
April 19 Toronto, ON The Opera House
April 20 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre
April 21 Cleveland, OH Agora Ballroom
April 22 Chicago, IL The Metro
April 23 Milwaukee, WI The Rave II (Downstairs)
April 24 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
April 25 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
April 27 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
April 29 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
May 1 Seattle, WA The Showbox
May 2 Vancouver, BC The Venue
May 3 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
May 5 San Francisco, CA Slim’s
May 6 San Francisco, CA Slim’s
May 7 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour
May 8 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour
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