I've seen Mudhoney 3 times ... once at the Sunset Tavern to raise money to build a skate-bowl in the Ballard neighborhood. This was a fun show, and all their original frienRAB and fans from the area came out. Tiny, packed room. New material sounded good, band was tight. Only drag - sound was terrible. Too small a room, though a very cool venue in general.
Once opening for the Melvins at Seattle's Showbox, a Melvins 25th anniversary show perhaps? Concentrated on their "hits" and more famous tunes. Alright but not great. Big room, totally packed.
Once at Neumo's, on Capitol Hill, also in Seattle (I lived in Seattle for about 7 years). That show was AWESOME. For one thing, Neumo's has great sound. A good system plus a high stage and high ceilings, and it's not too big or too small. They JAMMED IT OUT. Long instrumental distorto-guitar duels that worked on my (sober!) brain like pterodactyls fighting up by the roof. Everything I could want in a rock-n-roll band. It didn't matter what the material was, they expressed it all admirably. Strangely: this room was NOT packed, did NOT contain all their old buddies, was NOT a high profile show of any kind. It just ROCKED.
