The Forum, London
July 31st 2008
Nothing ever stays the same. Times moves on. You can’t expect things to stay frozen in time.
It’s unfair to go and see a band twenty years into their careers and expect them to be as exciting and urgent as they were when they kicked out their first teen-fresh eager jams, pumped on the wild-eyed energy of youth. This all may be true but even after all this time it is still hard to get used to the ‘grown-up’ Mudhoney. Early Mudhoney gigs were a gloriously reckless celebration of chaos and disorder. Hair flaying, bodies rolling, stage-divers falling, drink flying in all directions, riots ensuring. They were and are, to this day, still one of the most exciting live bands I have ever seen. But like I said, time moves on and people grow older and you can’t expect Mudhoney to roll around on booze soaked floors forever. Sadly.
So, it’s an in-control, mature Mudhoney that greets us today as they slam straight into a lurching cover of Fang’s ‘The Money Will Roll Right In‘ getting the set off to a great start before they hit the crowd with a selection of new songs from their more recent records including the title track from their latest album ‘The Lucky Ones‘. It’s not that these songs are bad, in fact they’re really rather good, but laid next to some of the prime-time Mudhoney classics that follow, it can be hard for them get the chance they might deserve. And it shows in the crowd reaction.
When they play ‘You Got It’, ‘Suck You Dry’, ‘Sweet Young Thing‘ or ‘In And Out Of Grace‘ the whole place goes bonkers like it’s 1989 all over again and Mudhoney were the band that were going to change the world, not Nirvana. There is, however, a brilliantly Mudhoney moment when Mark Arm manages to fuck up the lyrics to ‘Touch Me I’m Sick‘ and the band, following his lead, fall apart around him! It’s hard to believe they can fuck up a song you’d have thought they could play in their sleep. It’s like Motorhead screwing up ‘Ace Of Spades‘ for fuck’s sake! But in many ways, it’s perfectly Mudhoney.
They were never a career band and they have undoubtedly managed to last far longer than they would have ever thought possible and one thing’s for sure, the world feels like a better place for having them still around.
This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sub Pop records. It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since the perfect union of Sub Pop and Mudhoney created grunge and spewed it all over the world. Long may their technicolor yawn continue.
James Sherry