Mudhoney
The Arches, Glasgow
09/10/2010

Seattle is famous for giving the world two things: an all-conquering global high street coffee chain and Grunge. Mudhoney can claim to be among the originators and one of the few survivors of the latter phenomenon; indeed they seem to have been enjoying a resurgence of late with the release of 2008’s relatively stripped down album ‘The Lucky Ones’ and a string of UK live dates, of which this Glasgow show is the finale.

Long standing fans are out in force tonight, a few have even dusted down their ripped jeans and plaid shirts for the occasion. Mudhoney seem to take a few songs to get warmed up, but after a few tracks from their classic debut ‘Superfuzz Bigmuff’ and a scattering from the rest of their career, the band are greeted with a short-lived burst of enthusiastic pogo-ing and beer chucking which soon morphs into more sedate head nodding.

Of course singer Mark Arm still has a distinctive shriek, but tempered with age it’s no longer an angst-ridden rage-against-the-world howl. The lyrics are more audible in their mid-period, bluesier numbers such as on ‘Oblivion’ from 1998’s ‘Tomorrow Hit Today’. And as they hit their best known song, ‘Touch Me I’m Sick’, the mosh pit rolls back the years and Arm’s vocals make The Fly wonder how he keeps up that full throated rasp without damage.

‘The Lucky Ones’, with its refrain “this is what it means to be saved” celebrates the band’s survivor status and without his guitar, Arm is free to get closer to the audience, jumping into the pit for a bit of fan contact. The crowd may now be cappuccino sipping, babysitter employing, hernia-prone home owners, but they appreciate the effort all the same.

Lucy Brouwer