Mudhoney Raises Its Game On Second Night of NXNE

Mudhoney followed its free Thursday night NXNE performance in the wide open space of Yonge-Dundas Square with a gig in the much more cramped confines of the Horseshoe Tavern early Saturday morning, and the intimacy helped create a more propulsive show.

Singer Mark Arm alternated between playing guitar (the same sparkly silver Gretsch that X's Billy Zoom played on Thursday) and relying solely on the microphone to get his musical message across. When he did the latter -- while flailing around the stage, contorting and wrapping the cord around himself -- he looked like Iggy Pop minus 20 years. But plus a T-shirt.

The band behind Arm -- lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters -- was surprisingly tight in churning out the garage-y grunge-punk that inspired a number of other Seattle acts after Mudhoney formed in 1988. An invitation had been extended to another influential musician, former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt (who will play a free show as part of Iggy and the Stooges at 9:30PM Saturday in Yonge-Dundas Square), but he didn't appear.

The four guys on stage didn't need any help, however. Mudhoney got audience members moshing, stage-diving and crowd-surfing throughout a set that included signature song 'Touch Me I'm Sick' and other favourites like 'I'm Now,' 'The Lonely Ones,' 'Next Time I Get Next To You,' 'Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More,' 'Hate The Police' and 'Good Enough.'

The crowd had diminished in size somewhat by the time Mudhoney wrapped up at 3:20AM, but the energy in the room didn't flag at all. The extended opening hours that many NXNE venues have this weekend don't just let people drink later, they let bands rock longer.