Beneath the Valley of the Underdog

The weekend before last I got to relive my Seattle days, catching two shows with quintessential "grunge" band Mudhoney. I used to always say that I didn't need to see them every time they played, but I needed to see them at least once a year. Seeing as this was their first Cowtown visit since I moved back nearly four years ago, I was long overdue. I pretty much had to go both nights.

The shows were at the Larimer Lounge, and the first night sold out in advance. Talking to people who chose Friday over Saturday, the main reason seemed to be the warm-up acts. Friday night featured The Geds, a good local band that hasn't played out in a couple of years. The warm-up act Saturday was Machine Gun Blues, who are on way too many bills, and who are god-freakin-awful (but, it must be said, they do have their fans - really, really stupid fans). Friday for me was especially fun - a friend had a pre-function at her place, and then we all met up at the show. It was the rare D-town show where I seemed to know a lot of people in attendance, and I spent a good bit of the evening wandering around chatting. It was nice to see The Geds back in action, they were good that night. On Saturday I didn't leave the house until 11:15. When I arrived I ran into some friends on the back patio who told me that I'd timed it just right - Machine Gun Crap had just finished playing. That was by design - I love it when a plan comes together. The dump was pretty packed that night as well, but I don’t think it quite reached sellout status.

So, how were The Mudhoneys, you ask? Pretty damn great! They didn’t play the same set both nights, although a handful of tunes were repeated (then again, can you have a Mudhoney show without Touch Me I’m Sick, You Got It, Suck You Dry, or In ‘N’ Out of Grace?). I was thrilled to hear Here Comes Sickness on Friday, and my personal fave Who You Drivin’ Now? made an appearance on Saturday. They ended each show in their now classic fashion, covering The Dicks’ Hate the Police. I thought both nights were really good, but I think Saturday’s performance may have had a slight edge. I was just happy to get to see them again, and so were all of the idiots smashing into each other in the mosh pit. Some things never change.

For me, the shows brought back a flood of memories from my post-college life. I moved to Seattle right after graduating from college, and caught my first Mudhoney show less than a year later. They bring to mind that uncertain time in my life of trying to find my way around a strange city, and slowly meeting people to hang around with. There was something comforting about a Mudhoney show - no matter how much the rest of my world changed, Mudhoney pretty much always stayed the same. I saw some great shows, and a couple of really awful ones. I bought pretty much every record they put out – some great, some not so great. I went through a period of not liking them very much, around the time of Piece of Cake, only to be drawn back in by its follow-up My Brother the Cow. I made friends at their shows that I’ve kept to this day. We’d all get together and drink way too much beer before, at, and after their (or, indeed, any band’s) shows. We’ve all grown older, gotten married (or will soon), took on mortgages, scattered to different cities, and kids are increasingly part of our shared experience. I guess that may have been the only thing missing at the shows – those old friends. Maybe we’ll get a chance to do it again someday.