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REVIEW: Melt Banana @ WOW Hall (Eugene, OR – 10/1/11)
Melt Banana started off their two month U.S. tour with an initial stop at the WOW Hall in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday. Their last time through Oregon, the Tokyo-based screamo/noise metal band didn’t stop here, and the freezing rain & severe winter fog kept many Ducks who wanted to trek up to Portland away. Not so this time… and I made it there just in time to catch their blistering set.
Agata shredded up the guitars, making dental exams seem pleasant. Yako was a sandstorm of power and unexpectedness on vocal duties… and charming in between songs. The drum & bass battery (presumably Takiya & Rika) propelled the blasts of music forward.
It’s one thing to hear this band on record, it’s quite another to see them live. They’re going all over the U.S.A. from now until late November! Catch them (dates below). They’re also working on a new album, out in 2012.
more photos below
The Appropriate Linkage:
- Melt Banana’s Site
- Melt Banana’s Social Media Links (see below)
- Other Related Reviews~
- Jeff Matarrese’s photos in ODE (Eugene 10/1)
- WOW Hall’s Site / Facebook / Twitter
Check out more tour dates below.
Next shows for me… Chromeo & Opeth at the Roseland (Portland) in a couple of weeks!
~Dan – np: John Zorn – At the Gates of Paradise
MELT-BANANA PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2011 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
MxBx 2011 U.S.A. Tour Dates
- 10/1/2011 WOW Hall Eugene, OR
- 10/2/2011 Star Theater Portland, OR
- 10/3/2011 Chop Suey Seattle, WA
- 10/4/2011 The Badlander Missoula, MT
- 10/6/2011 Kilby Court Salt Lake City, UT
- 10/8/2011 Larimer Lounge Denver, CO
- 10/9/2011 The Record Bar Kansas City, MO
- 10/10/2011 The Waiting Room Omaha, NE
- 10/11/2011 The Mill Iowa City, IA
- 10/12/2011 Nutty’s Sioux Falls, SD
- 10/13/2011 Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
- 10/14/2011 High Noon Saloon Madison, WI
- 10/15/2011 Cactus Club Milwaukee, WI
- 10/16/2011 Subterranean Chicago, IL
- 10/17/2011 Cicero’s St. Louis, MO
- 10/18/2011 The Bishop Bloomington, IN
- 10/19/2011 The Historic Southgate House Newport, KY
- 10/20/2011 Mac’s Bar Lansing, MI
- 10/22/2011 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, OH
- 10/23/2011 The Haunt Ithaca, NY
- 10/25/2011 Wrongbar Toronto, ON
- 10/26/2011 Il Motore Montreal, QC
- 10/27/2011 T.T. The Bear’s Cambridge, MA
- 10/28/2011 The Space Hamden, CT
- 10/29/2011 Santos Party House New York, NY
- 10/31/2011 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, PA
- 11/1/2011 The Red Palace Washington, DC
- 11/2/2011 Ottobar Baltimore, MD
- 11/4/2011 Local 506 Chapel Hill, NC
- 11/5/2011 The EARL Atlanta, GA
- 11/06/2011 The Engine Room Tallahassee, FL
- 11/08/2011 Backbooth Orlando, FL
- 11/09/2011 Crowbar Tampa, FL
- 11/10/2011 Double Down Gainesville, FL
- 11/11/2011 Jack Rabbits Jacksonville, FL
- 11/12/2011 Caledonia Lounge Athens, GA
- 11/13/2011 The End Nashville, TN
- 11/15/2011 BottleTree Birmingham, AL
- 11/16/2011 Alabama Music Box Mobile, AL
- 11/17/2011 Fitzgerald’s Houston, TX
- 11/18/2011 The Prophet Bar Dallas, TX
- 11/19/2011 The Mohawk Austin, TX
- 11/20/2011 Jack’s Patio Bar & Grill San Antonio, TX
- 11/22/2011 Club Congress Tucson, AZ
- 11/23/2011 Hollywood Alley Mesa, AZ
- 11/25/2011 The Bunkhouse Las Vegas, NV
- 11/26/2011 Soda Bar San Diego, CA
- 11/27/2011 Echoplex Los Angeles, CA
- 11/28/2011 Harlow’s Night Club Sacramento, CA
- 11/29/2011 Bottom Of The Hill San Francisco , CA
Melt Banana at Dante’s (12/12)
Well, treacherous winter conditions (freezing rain and fog) kept me from making the 4+ hour roundtrip drive up to Portland to see Melt Banana Lite last night at Dante’s in Portland. I love the band, but Oregon doesn’t know how to handle road maintenance in the winter like Ohio… and cheating death isn’t my optimal trade-off for seeing Melt Banana. Maybe next time they swing through the cards will be in my favor.
The weather all kept my back-up plan from happening, too (the Portland Cello Project canceled their show at Cozmic Pizza in Eugene). Oh well…
Anyone go to MxBx in PDX? How was it?
~Dan – np: Megadeth – Endgame 
MxBx 3″
So, I got into Melt Banana (aka MxBx) when they put out a 5″ vinyl / 3″ CD split with Mike Patton’s Fantômas back in 2005 called “Animali in Calore Surriscaldati con Ipertermia Genitale / Cat in Red” on Italian label Unhip Records. MxBx are the Japanese noise metal cousin of Fantômas; so the split single as a marketing tool worked… I was hooked on Melt Banana.
They’ve got a new 3″ CD / 7″ vinyl coming out called “initial t.” on Init Records. Three songs were recorded in early 2008, and it allegedly picks up where their 2007 album Bambi’s Dilemma left off. The CD is packaged in a 3″ cardboard jacket. The vinyl’s first pressing is limited to 1,000 copies (200 on blue marble vinyl, 200 on mixed vinyl, 600 on black vinyl) and includes a download card for MP3’s of the record. Artwork on both the CD and vinyl is in “stunning full-color” by Aaron Horkey. It is expected to be available for pre-order from the Init website as of today, 10/1, and it ships in late October. They’re currently list as “coming soon”… so, if you’re one of the ones who wants to get a blue marble vinyl, keep your clicker finger warmed up.
They’ve swung through Eugene once since I’ve lived here, but I was unluckily out of town. Well, they’re playing Portland in December; so I’m there. Here are the rest of their US Tour dates for MxBx Lite (vocals guitar & drums):
- 10/29 Visalia, CA at Cellar Door
- 10/30 San Francisco, CA at Slims
- 11/01 San Diego, CA at Casbah
- 11/03 Tucson, AZ at Plush
- 11/04 Phoenix, AZ at Hollywood Alley
- 11/06 Denton, TX at Haileys
- 11/07 Austin, TX at FFF Fest
- 11/08 San Antonio, TX at Rock Bottom Bar
- 11/09 Houston, TX at Walters
- 11/10 New Orleans, LA at Republic
- 11/11 Pensacola, FL at Sluggo’s
- 11/12 Birmigham, AL at Bottle Tree Cafe
- 11/13 Athens, GA at 40 Watt Club
- 11/14 Gainesville, FL at Common Grounds
- 11/15 Tampa, FL at Crowbar
- 11/16 Orlando, FL at Back Booth
- 11/18 Columbia, SC at New Brookland Tavern
- 11/19 Chapel Hill, NC at Local 506
- 11/20 Washington, DC at Rock and Roll Hotel
- 11/21 Baltimore, MD at Ottobar
- 11/22 Philadelphia, PA at First Unitarian Church
- 11/23 New York, NY at Bowery Ballroom
- 11/24 Boston, MA at Middle East Downstairs
- 11/25 Hamden, CT at The Space
- 11/27 Buffalo, NY at Mohawk Place
- 11/28 Detroit, MI at The Pike Room at Crofoot Ballroom
- 11/29 Cleveland, OH at Grog Shop
- 11/30 Chicago, IL at Bottom Lounge
- 12/01 Minneapolis, MN at 7th Street Entry
- 12/02 Madison, WI at High Noon Saloon
- 12/03 Iowa City, IA at Picadur
- 12/04 Sioux Falls, SD at Nutty’s
- 12/05 Omaha, NE at Waiting Room
- 12/07 Denver, CO at Bluebird Theater
- 12/08 Salt Lake City, UT at Urban Lounge
- 12/10 Missoula, MT at Badlanders
- 12/11 Seattle, WA at Chop Suey
- 12/12 Portland, OR at Dante’s
- 12/15 Pomona, CA at Glasshouse
- 12/16 Los Angeles, CA at Troubadour
~Dan – np: SF Jazz Collective (Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Miguel Zenon, etc) – Live 2009
Music is Best. -FZ
1) Lala is fantastic… it helps having a rabid music obsession and living on a doctoral stipend a possibility.
2) Nellie McKay is playing the Shedd Institute this Friday. M & I have tickets. I’m sooo stoked. I heart Nellie. I’ll post a review-blog afterwards. Other shows in the near future (hopefully for me) are… Melt Banana (see below), Múm/Talkdemonic (see below), John Zorn’s Moonchild (Mike Patton/Joey Baron/Trevor Dunn), Iron & Wine (early Dec), David Bazan (mid-Dec), Do Make Say Think (maybe)…
3) Melt Banana (from Japan aka MxBx) are coming to Eugene’s W.O.W. Hall (~5 miles from me). And it’s $10. They’re a hardcore/noisecore/screamo band (the 2 songs on their MySpace player are not really indicative of their overall sound, IMO)… like John Zorn’s Naked City with less jazz or Mike Patton’s Fantômas with more velocity/ferocity… and Japanese “singing.”
4) Icelandic electronic-soundscapers Múm are coming to Portland’s Crystal Ballroom, and Portland instrumental band Talkdemonic are opening. It’s cheapish, but I don’t know if I am going, yet. We shall see how this month progresses… but it is a show that excites me. Múm are like a more electronic Sigur Rós, in many ways (to me)…
5) Shortly after 1999 or 2000, when I heard about them from a 1¶ blurb in SPIN, Sigur Rós quickly became one of my favorite bands of all time. Their new 2-CD collection, Hvarf-heim, is going to have one CD of “hits” and one CD of acoustic songs. Also, out on the same day, their Icelandic concert documentary DVD, Heima, looks bucking frilliant. The trailers (here -and- here) are astounding when it comes to colors and cinematic vision, IMO.
6) Radiohead are “selling” their new album, In Rainbows, as a “pay what you can” for the download version. They’ve also got this for the physical product fans (decidedly not pay what you can):
Tracklisting:
CD 1 AND VINYL
15 STEP
BODYSNATCHERS
NUDE
WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI
ALL I NEED
FAUST ARP
RECKONER
HOUSE OF CARDS
JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
VIDEOTAPE
CD 2 AND VINYL
MK 1
DOWN IS THE NEW UP
GO SLOWLY
MK 2
LAST FLOWERS
UP ON THE LADDER
BANGERS AND MASH
4 MINUTE WARNING
Ooo… shiny…
~Dan
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
Amazon.com mp3 downloads
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