Melvins Blitz SoCal

Melvins
Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, Palm Desert
March 7, 2025

Photos by Raymond Ahner

Blasting up and down the California West Coast, the Melvins just wrapped up a quick six date tour in six California cities, bringing Los Angeles based metal/punk band CNTS, as well as San Francisco based Desslok along for the ride. The brief outing wrapped up at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, a venue almost as legendary as the band themselves. The event sold out almost immediately, and by the time the Melvins hit the stage it would have been impossible to cram another body into the room.

Featuring the return of Coady Willis (High on Fire, Big Business, The Murder City Devils) as a second drummer, the band ripped through a thirteen song setlist which spanned their career. After opening with “Working the Ditch” from their 2024 record Tarantula Heart, the Melvins dove deep into their back catalogue and pulled out “The Bloated Pope,” from their 2015 joint effort with Lustmord. With both Dale Crover and Willis on a double drum assault, the song was given an extra layer of heaviness. From there, highlights from the set included “It’s Shoved,” “Blood Witch,” and “Hag Me.” By the time the band wrapped up their set with the bombastic “Night Goat,” the by then beyond sold-out crowd had definitely gotten their money’s worth.

Supporting the Melvins on this run was CNTS, a Southern California punk/metal band featuring members of Dead Cross, and Retox. The band definitely brought the heavy, and more than did their job of priming the crowd for the headliners.

Opening the shows was Desslok, a San Francisco based band inspired by both Killing Joke and Hawkwind whose ranks include ex Acid King and Zen Gorilla members, and proved to be the perfect choice to kick off the shows.

Here’s a slideshow with photos of all three bands: