The Press Release:
The Melvins, continuing their 40th anniversary celebrations, have announced the “Twins of Evil Tour,” a seven-week trek that sees the Los Angeles-by-way-of-Washington band joined by Japanese trio Boris, with both groups performing classic albums in their entirety: Bullhead (Melvins) and Heavy Rocks (Boris).
“40 years as the Melvins!!! What better way to celebrate that unlikely milestone than by setting off on the ‘Twins of Evil Tour’ with our friends, Boris,” Buzz Osborne shares of a set that will see the iconic band perform the beloved Bullhead album in its entirety, as well as additional tracks across their discography. “This will be a stone groove!”
Boris’ Takeshi adds: “Could anyone have predicted such an astonishing event, that Boris and the Melvins would tour the entire USA together? Since the mid-1980s, the Melvins have had an enormous influence on artists of all genres not only limited to heavy music, and have brought forth a surge of faithful followers over the years. Needless to say, Boris is just one of these many bands influenced by the mighty Melvins, and we took our name from a song title off of the 1991 album, Bullhead.”
The Melvins have already had an eventful 40th anniversary year, recently wrapping up a stint on the Ipecac Geek Show tour with labelmates Mr. Bungle and Spotlights, before venturing overseas for the band’s first European outing since 2018. The group were also recently featured on a series of Revolver covers, marking their 1983 inception with a trio of portraits shot by Tool’s Adam Jones. Ipecac Recordings has spent the year highlighting previously released Melvins’ albums with quick-to-sell-out vinyl reissues. Currently available (https://ipecac.lnk.to/Melvins2023) are Tres Cabrones, Houdini Live 2005, and The Bulls & The Bees + Electroretard.
Tickets for the “Twins of Evil Tour” are on-sale this Friday, June 9, at 10 am local time. Mr. Phylzzz opens on all dates.
The “Twins of Evil Tour” Dates:
August 24: Los Angeles, CA @ Belasco Theater
August 25: Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
August 26: Fresno, CA @ Strummer’s
August 27: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
August 28: San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
August 29: Petaluma, CA @ Mystic Theatre
August 31: Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
September 1: Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
September 2: Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Spokane
September 3: Bozeman, MT @ The ELM
September 5: Fargo, ND @ The Hall at Fargo Brewing Company
September 6: Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
September 7: Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave II
September 8: Chicago, IL @ Metro
September 9: St. Louis, MO @ Red Flag
September 11: Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
September 12: Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme
September 13: Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
September 14: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
September 15: Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian
September 16: Maspeth, NY @ Desertfest NYC
September 18: Albany, NY @ Empire Live
September 19: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
September 20: Bethlehem, PA @ MusicFest Café
September 21: Philadelphia, PA @ Brooklyn Bowl
September 22: Washington, DC @ The Howard Theatre
September 23: Virginia Beach, VA @ Elevation 27
September 24: Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
September 26: Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
September 27: Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
September 28: Savannah, GA @ District Live
September 29: Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
September 30: New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s
October 2: Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live – Studio
October 3: Austin, TX @ Mohawk
October 4: Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
October 5: Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall
October 6: Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
October 7: Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
October 9: Denver, CO @ Summit
October 11: Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
October 13: Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
October 14: San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
Photo credit: Chris Casella
About The Melvins: The Melvins are one of modern music’s most influential bands. Having formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington, the group founded by singer/guitar player Buzz Osborne (with stalwart drummer Dale Crover joining the following year), has been credited with merging the worlds of punk rock and heavy music, forming a new subgenre all its own. Over the band’s 40-year history, they’ve released 30-plus original albums, numerous live full-lengths and far too many to count singles and rarities. In the course of their discography, they’ve partnered with Jello Biafra, Mudhoney, and Fantômas for individual releases and toured the world many times over. In fact, the band had the misfortune to be in both Christchurch and Tokyo for their 2011 earthquakes. In 2012, the Melvins completed the “51 States in 51 Days” (50 states +DC) tour, which was chronicled in the film “Across The USA in 51 Days.” The current incarnation of the band is Osborne, Crover, and Steven McDonald (Redd Kross/OFF!). Previous line-ups include a pairing of Osborne and Crover with Big Business band members Jared Warren and Coady Willis, a four-piece featuring the current trio plus Butthole Surfers’ Jeff Pinkus, as well as Melvins Lite, which partners Osborne and Crover with Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn. Sometimes, if you’re extra lucky, one version of the Melvins will open for the Melvins.
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PiercingMetal Thoughts: Believe it or not I have never seen either band despite being on the interested side in doing so. Though it seems that they will be in a relatively accessible region come September, I know that is an insane month in terms of my own schedule so I will need to take that on a day by day basis. What about you out there in the readership? Are you fans of either band or both of them? What do you make of this tour and if you’ve seen them in concert before in the past I’d love to have you chime in with some commentary. That’s going to wrap this up for me so I will see you next time around. Please stay safe out there. I hope your summer planning is off to a good start.
Official Links:
Instagram.com/melvinsdotcom
Facebook.com/melvinsarmy
Twitter.com/melvinsdotcom