Mudhoney, Thee Emergency, Lovesick Empire: A Night at Neumos On Seattle’s Happenin’ Capitol Hill, By Holly Homan

Originally I planned to see two legendary Seattle bands at Neumos, The Fastbacks and Mudhoney, but The Fastbacks cancelled so I saw just Mudhoney.

When I arrived, the opener, Love Sick Empire, were in full swing. Front woman Alicia Amiri has an intense stage presence and gutsy pipes making her sound like a cross between Patti Smith and Nico from the Velvet Underground. Lovesick Empire is a four-piece band with a guitarist, bass player and drummer. Their music was slow-paced and almost somber, but they did what they did very well. This is a tight, very intense band with a very charismatic lead singer. Personally, though, I prefer my music a little more energetic.

Next up was Thee Emergency. Now this is a band that packs a punch. Again, they are a band fronted by a very dynamic female singer with a voice so smooth she sounded like she drinks honey for water. She worked magic with this audience as she leaned into them and gave the appearance she was singing to each person individually. Even this band’s slower songs exuded energy and they had the audience worked into a frenzy. Thee Emergency is a band that’s going places. I could feel it tonight.

Mudhoney finally hit the stage and by now the club was packed solid and tighter than that proverbial can of sardines. They played a lot of favorites including Touch Me I’m Sick, which almost everyone in the club yelled out whenever singer Mark Arm screamed the memorable line.

Arm played guitar and sang until about half way through the show when he shed the guitar, grabbed the microphone as if he’d fall to his death if he let go, and belted out song after song, getting more animated with each. This band clearly were enjoying playing with each other. Mark Arm is an incredible performer. He gives little to no eye contact to the audience, but he exudes an outward energy that almost makes it seem like he’s zapping everyone with tiny electrical impulses as he leaned into the audience with an almost sneer as he screamed out the songs, barely coming up for air.

At one point he introduced a song he claimed was a lullaby his mother sang to him when he was small. With a searing guitar, a grinding bass and pounding drum beat, Arm screamed out the song with a voice that sounds like he gargles with broken glass every day. It was hardly a song to put a child to sleep to. In many ways Mark Arm’s stage personality was reminiscent of Iggy Pop. He’d writhe and twist, often thrusting the mike into the air before yelling into it once again. Judging by the audience reaction and the fact that there wasn’t more than an inch between bodies in this club, I’d say everyone was there to see Mudhoney.

When Mudhoney left the stage, they received raucous cheers. It was quite a night and I’m glad after all these years I finally got to see Mudhoney perform.

– Holly Homan

Thee Emergency – ‘Adm Soul Bot’ Live (The Crocodile Seattle) from Hooked on Wax on Vimeo.