The Melvins - Rotterdam film festival - 28.01.08
ScotInAmsterdam
Posts: 1,004
I went to see the Melvins playing film soundtracks live at the rotterdam film festival last night. It was a bizarre but rather rewarding experience. We travelled down from Amsterdam to Rotterdam and found ourselves standing outside of the Luxor Theatre which seems to be more commonly in use for the production of Musicals. On entering we were handed some ear plugs and there were signs everywhere warning of extremely loud music during the show.
We were really not sure what to expect. As part of the Rotterdam Film Festival the Melvins will be providing music for the screening of some films by Cameron Jamie.
Inside the place was a pretty classy theatre and what's more it was packed. I last saw the Melvins in Haarlem, where although it was busy enough to have an atmosphere, it was definitely no more then 150-200 people. So I can only presume that either The Melvins are more popular in Rotterdam than they are in Haarlem, or the Cameron Jamie is thought of as something special by film buffs.
By the time I’ve managed to queue up for a warm bottle of beer and sat down, the lights go down. In total darkness the sounds open with a few barrages of Dale Crover drums(Although once I realised Cody Willis was also there, they may both have been playing). The effect of this was electric. It was kind of Pink Floyd-esque stadium theatrics. Huge reverby double-drums filling the place. Before the guitars came in people were grabbing for their ear plugs.
The film then started. I’ll tell you now, I really didn’t get any of the films. They seemed to just be a distraction to the Melvins, and I really wished the lights had been on the band.
The first film was set in Austria where Santa Claus and what looked like a gang of Yetis wandered around pissing people off and frightening kids. The effect of this coupled with the dirgelike melvins soundtrack was pretty phenomenal and a tad unsettling, so I kind of liked it initially. The sound of that much guitar and drums just awakens something tribal in me and I start to have a penchant for raw meat.
The other audience members varied somewhat. Down the front someone was just totally rocking out arms in the air and singing along to the instrumental music, and there was a lot of nodding heads just totally into the drumming. The there were the art buffs looking rather perplexed and pretending they were really getting something out of it. These people will be in posh coffee shops today talking about the juxtaposition of the whole thing.
The second film showed loads of houses in America, and then showed some Halloween celebrations – the Melvins were the only thing that kept me interested.
The third film showed backyard wrestling, so it was pretty much skate punks jumping on top of each other off garage roofs. I didn’t really see the art….
All in all it was a pretty interesting night. It would have been improved if I could have actually seen the Melvins, but it will go down in my memory as one of the more interesting Grunge events I’ve been to. Due mainly to the juxtaposition between the bare-chested guy rocking out in the front row and the film buff appreciators nodding in agreement to the artistic endeavours.
We were really not sure what to expect. As part of the Rotterdam Film Festival the Melvins will be providing music for the screening of some films by Cameron Jamie.
Inside the place was a pretty classy theatre and what's more it was packed. I last saw the Melvins in Haarlem, where although it was busy enough to have an atmosphere, it was definitely no more then 150-200 people. So I can only presume that either The Melvins are more popular in Rotterdam than they are in Haarlem, or the Cameron Jamie is thought of as something special by film buffs.
By the time I’ve managed to queue up for a warm bottle of beer and sat down, the lights go down. In total darkness the sounds open with a few barrages of Dale Crover drums(Although once I realised Cody Willis was also there, they may both have been playing). The effect of this was electric. It was kind of Pink Floyd-esque stadium theatrics. Huge reverby double-drums filling the place. Before the guitars came in people were grabbing for their ear plugs.
The film then started. I’ll tell you now, I really didn’t get any of the films. They seemed to just be a distraction to the Melvins, and I really wished the lights had been on the band.
The first film was set in Austria where Santa Claus and what looked like a gang of Yetis wandered around pissing people off and frightening kids. The effect of this coupled with the dirgelike melvins soundtrack was pretty phenomenal and a tad unsettling, so I kind of liked it initially. The sound of that much guitar and drums just awakens something tribal in me and I start to have a penchant for raw meat.
The other audience members varied somewhat. Down the front someone was just totally rocking out arms in the air and singing along to the instrumental music, and there was a lot of nodding heads just totally into the drumming. The there were the art buffs looking rather perplexed and pretending they were really getting something out of it. These people will be in posh coffee shops today talking about the juxtaposition of the whole thing.
The second film showed loads of houses in America, and then showed some Halloween celebrations – the Melvins were the only thing that kept me interested.
The third film showed backyard wrestling, so it was pretty much skate punks jumping on top of each other off garage roofs. I didn’t really see the art….
All in all it was a pretty interesting night. It would have been improved if I could have actually seen the Melvins, but it will go down in my memory as one of the more interesting Grunge events I’ve been to. Due mainly to the juxtaposition between the bare-chested guy rocking out in the front row and the film buff appreciators nodding in agreement to the artistic endeavours.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
I love the Melvins.