Live ‘n’ Loud:
Mutoid Man
Norska + Helms Alee
in Portland, Oregon
~Words & Photos by Colton Dollar~
As regulars know, Doomed & Stoned is all about bringing you the music and the stories of the heavy underground, with an emphasis on bands rooted in the stylistic range of Black Sabbath. As such, we provide an outlet for passionate writers, interviewers, photographers, videographers, and visual artists to spread their wings. Coverage of the underground, by the underground, for the underground is our mission. One of our Portland-based contributors is photographer Colton Dollar, who this summer decided to give us this nice recap of the July 7th MUTOID MAN show at Hawthorne Theater.
Steve Brodsky (vocals, guitar), Nick Cageao (bass), and Ben Koller (drums) tapped the grungy Seattle trio HELMS ALEE to join them on their jaunt of the West Coast, before returning to the East Coast in September with Corrosion of Conformity to whip up audiences with those adrenaline-spiked tracks from 'War Moans’ (2017). For their Oregon stop, Mutoid Man picked the perfect openers: eclectic progressive doomers NORSKA (who have a hellish new album of their own to boast of) and crusty D-beaters WORWS. Take it away, Colton… (Billy)
Norska
I’m gonna start this off with a disclaimer that I showed up to the show late and missed the first band, WORWS, because of a time misunderstanding (the show started earlier than I thought it did). This was my first time seeing Norska and they played a half-hour set. Despite it being short, it was full of the heaviness I had to come to expect from the band. Having heard their latest LP, 'Too Many Winters’ (2017 - Brutal Panda Records), and being a fan of Norksa’s previous works, I knew that I was in for a treat. This band can move mountains! Their sound is hard to describe: it’s loud, heavy, agonizingly slow and fast all at the same time. The band reminds me of being caught in a storm while in a boat. You feel hectic, cold, wet, and bruised from being tossed around by the winds of the high sea. I really look forward to seeing them again.
Helms Alee
Helms Alee was next. I didn’t know too much about the band, I had seen their live set on KEXP’s Seek and Destroy and thought they were great, but that was my only exposure to them other than on record. They were not what I had expected. Helms Alee’s brand of heavy music differs from more “traditional” metal, in that they combine elements of harmony, doom, and sheer volume to provide something totally unique. The sheer volume of their lengthy set was immense and this was entirely necessary to the music. You cannot listen to this band quietly. It just doesn’t have the same impact as being up in front of the stack of Verellen cabs all going at once. It’s very awesome to behold live – the kind of thing that vibrates your bones and makes you feel your brain rattling around your head.
Mutoid Man
Finally, the one and only Mutoid Man stormed the stage! This was by far the most fun and drunken shitshow I have ever seen on stage – pure fucking awesome. The set included many middle fingers, the crowd facetiming and singing happy-birthday to Nick Cageao’s mother, a cover of The Animals, and a story about Eric Burdon listening to the band. Oh, it also included a game of baseball featuring drumsticks and a bass. Go see Mutoid Man! It’s a wild time and actually quite a blast. Also the band has this guy from Cave In and this other guy from Cave In. Its pretty cool stuff and I don’t have much else to say other than they’re a fucking party.
MELVINS!
Live ‘n’ Loud
in Portland
Stephanie Savenkoff: Review & Photos
Shelby Kray: Live Concert Footage
Tom Hazelmyer: Linocuts
On July 12th, 2017, Doomed & Stoned dispatched me to photograph MELVINS at Hawthorne Theater in Portland, Oregon. It was my first time seeing them live and they exceeded any expectations I had. The crowd was primed and ready after hearing opening act, Brooklyn “dream sludge” duo Spotlights and with the Melvins set all ready to go, there was only a short wait. The crowd erupted when they hit the stage and I cheered when King Buzzo’s white, bouncy mop came into view. I rejoiced at the sight of that multi-colored, metallic-threaded muumuu and those shoes!
The Seattle iconoclasts opened with a cover of “Sacrifice” by Flipper. After the first few notes, the energy level climbed even higher as people responded enthusiastically to the familiar song. Many sang along and bodies moved to the driving beat. After that, it was a tapestry of angst and fury, punk and grunge and hard-hitting sounds of heavy guitar and heavier drums. I had no idea what Buzz was singing about, but I found I didn’t care. It is the feeling and the energy that grabbed me and shook me, refusing to let go until the last notes faded away.
Buzz Osborne didn’t engage with the audience, other than to stand at the very edge of the stage just behind the rail a few times. I am not normally in front at shows and this time I was right there, right at his feet. When Buzz would lean over his guitar his head almost touched mine! He shredded with his eyes closed most of the time and would occasionally smile a little secret smile that made you wonder what he was thinking. He marched and stomped around that stage, owning it from start to finish.
Steve McDonald amused me with his fur vest and stage play – pretending to trip and fall without ever doing so and throwing some kicks (always my favorite), as well as playing from his knees. At one point, he lifted his guitar up to his chin and proceeded to play it as if it was a violin without a bow. His animated face kept you watching to see what he would do next.
Dale Crover was all but invisible behind his drum kit, but he was a force of nature back there and thunderous with those sticks. He had a Sylvester The Cat plush toy sitting on one of the drums and I am amazed he managed to stay there for the whole set with all that banging!
I was there to take pictures, but there were times when I lowered my camera, hung onto the stage rail, and let the music take me, bucking me like a wild bronco. Both “It’s Shoved” and “The Bit” had a rhythmic push-and-pull that I couldn’t help but move to. Buzz wailed with a spooky, mournful tone reminiscent of Adam Alexander of Die Like Gentlemen and sometimes had an angry growl like Wallace Charman, front man of PDX rockers Pillowfight. Near the end Buzz held out his guitar, as if an offering to the God of Sludge. If that explains his genius and amazing creations, then consider me a disciple.
Meanwhile, Dale teased us all with a crescendoing drum groove in the final moments of the last song and then left us all hanging, standing up and not delivering that phrase ending downbeat. Always leave ‘em wanting more! That was exactly the case. People were shocked and sad when the house lights came on and they realized there would be no encore. The Melvins truly left everyone wanting more and I, for one, am looking forward to their next visit to P-Town.
Neurosis, Yob, Kowloon Walled City Deliver
Epic End-of-Year Performance in Portland
~Photographs and Review by Colton Bills
Marrow Photography (IG @marrowphotography)~
When trying to write about the experience of seeing two of your favorite bands play the same show, somehow words fail to capture the mood of the event. In Portland, Oregon last weekend, YOB and NEUROSIS played two sold out nights at the Hawthorne Theater, supported by KOWLOON WALLED CITY. To say this show was something to behold is an understatement. This was the first Neurosis show in Portland in a long while. The whole night the crowd was mesmerized.
KOWLOON WALLED CITY
San Francisco’s Kowloon Walled City with their amalgamation of post rock, hardcore, sludge, whatever you want to call it, just a teaser of what was in store for the rest of the night. I arrived after they had started and I only got to see the last few minutes of their set. What I did see was a band blazing their own trail, making their own sound and doing something different, and I am sure that is why Scott, Jon, Ian, and Dan made such an effective opener.
YOB
What is there to say about Yob live? Pummeling? Crushing? Doom? Heavy? Loud? Well yes, all of these things are obvious; but there is a certain element of their music that can only be experienced live. I mean, shit, their music is just meant to be seen being played by those three. Maybe a part of it is the music, maybe it’s the shared energy and connection of the room, maybe it’s the volume, maybe it’s all of it, I don’t know. If you haven’t seen Yob you’re missing out, one of my favorite live bands I’ve ever seen.
Mike, Aaron, and Travis opened their set, drenched in red light, with “In Our Blood,” off the 2014 album, Clearing The Path to Ascend, and closed with “Marrow.” In many ways it seems Yob have evolved with each album, in many ways like Neurosis, almost distilling their music to its best. I look forward to whatever Yob does in the future. I also look forward to the next time I can catch Yob being Yob – it’s always a pleasure.
On a personal note, this show was great for me because the bands played songs I had always wanted to see them play live, but had not the other times I’d seen them.
NEUROSIS
Here is a band that has rightly earned their spot in the history books, having captured the hearts and imaginations of listeners everywhere. Not only do Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till, Jason Roeder, David Edwardson, and Noah Landis have the best live sound of most any act you’ll see today, but they also have the ability conjure this intense atmosphere that makes you shut the fuck up and listen in awe. They don’t fuck around and that is apparent while they perform.
Every time Neurosis plays the room is snapped into silence. There is no bullshit with this band, they make you quiet, they are the ones shattering the universe, they are ones erasing all the noise of the busy world from your mind and allow you to get lost in a rare moment of clarity. For an a full hour and forty-five minutes, time seemed to stand still and the entire room was transfixed on the stage.
During the quiet guitar intro of “Casting of The Ages” (a personal favorite I never thought I would see them play live), you could hear a pin drop. Then when the rest of the band joined, you could feel the floor rattling with the saturation and volume and warmth of their sound. It’s amazing the wall of sonic power these five can make, with the talent for elucidating musical nuance and evoking a deeply emotional response.
As I said at the start of this review, I’ve been having trouble finding the right words to describe this experience of mine. In short, these are three fine bands and if you have the opportunity to see any one of them in the flesh, take it. Get out into the cold, damp night, and gather with the heavy underground community for an experience you’ll likely never forget.
Neurosis Tour Dates
12/17/2016 Regency Grand Ballroom - San Francisco, CA w/ Yob, Kowloon Walled City
12/18/2016 Regent Theater - Los Angeles, CA @ The Power Of The Riff
12/19/2016 Neumos - Seattle, WA w/ Yob, Sumac
12/20/2016 Venue - Vancouver, BC w/ Yob, Sumac
2/14/2017 San Fran - Wellington, NZ
2/15/2017 Kings Arms - Auckland, NZ
2/16/2017 The Triffid - Brisbane, AU w/ Dispossessed
2/17/2017 Manning Bar - Sydney, AU w/ Dispossessed
2/18/2017 The Croxton - Melbourne, AU w/ Dispossessed