Review | U-Melt Live @ Nietzsche’s | 04.03.09

Friday night at Nietzsche’s in Buffalo. This was the bar that was my go-to back in college, where I first saw moe. and so many other great jambands back in the 90s. With the jamband scene peaking back then, it wasn’t uncommon to be shoulder to shoulder while getting down till 4AM on the weekends.

As the local scene waned a bit, and the frequency of my favorite music coming to Nietzsche’s declined, the likelihood of a full house and me being there became a rarity. So I was pumped not only at the chance to see U-Melt at this historic bar again (they threw a sick show last Nov 1st), but to see so many there to feed off the insane energy that U-Melt taps into.

3 minutes into their first song of the night, we were already getting down hard, and the Eternal Groove had begun. The sound was fantastic as Zac’s keys blended just over Rob’s guitar work, both fast and furious and complimenting one another nicely.

This set highlighted U-Melt’s incredible range, traveling from a touch of hoedown to a pretty ballad (Twilight’s Song), to a dark Zappa-like transition into Cloud Box, but mostly their unique “organic progressive groove” keeping permagrins on the dancing crowd all night long.

The second set picked right back up with the high energy dance party, starting with Red Star and offering up some psychedelic bliss a couple tunes in. Crazy changes as U-Melt traversed decades of sound in what seemed like seconds, with the tastiest flavors coming from the 70s funk they channeled. 415 and 10 hours, back to Red Star to finish the sandwich.

“Your Move” by Yes was a great choice to end the night. “I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I’m on my way!” U-Melt left their Buffalo fans pretty damn satisfied by the looks of the cheering faces offering their praise. If you want to dance your ass off to a band that’s hitting that sweet spot, where their raw talent and maturing sound have them firing on all cylinders, these guys will take U there.

The band is currently on tour in a city near you.

http://www.umelt.com/

U-Melt @ Nietzsches - Buffalo NY

The crowd U-Melt @ Nietzsches - Buffalo NY

U-Melt @ Nietzsches - Buffalo NY