The Melvins April 24th, 2025 The Culture Room

Review and photos by David Ortiz

My last review, in August of 2024 I had an emergency eye surgery due to a retina detachment.

When an injury like this occurs, you start thinking that your career as a photographer is over.

During my recovery all I could think about is when can I get back behind the camera eye.

The opportunity appeared on the 24th of April when the Melvins came to town and played at the Culture Room in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

It’s a small venue holding about 650 hundred plus people, but it was a pleasure to witness their set & and start to do what I enjoy, capturing live bands.  Nervous yes, excited, even more.

The Melvins took the stage with a Blondie song playing in the background and they wasted no time laying down their signature power chords that shook you like a rag doll. The dual drummers pushing the beat in your face with forceful tight beats got my heart pounding.

Steven, the bass player, was wearing a white suit covered in eyes while he kept a badass tempo that perfectly matched Dale’s drum beats.

Buzz, what can I say that hasn’t been said, hair flying everywhere, powerful vocals filling the venue to the brim which lifted the crowd into a thrashing frenzy.

The mixed crowd worked themselves into an energy ball, moshing themselves into exhaustion.  They were older and younger, all having a blast!

They dove right into the new & old, one song after another with hardly a break.  

Their energy was electrical madness, musicality off the charts. You can describe them as punk, metal, hard core, but what they were was a master class in weirdness, energy, and power. A very good time was had by all, we all left spent, sweaty and mind blowingly happy.