Machine Head Members Past and Present Reunite Without Robb Flynn

It’s no secret that there’s a lot of bad blood between Machine Head mastermind Robb Flynn and the band’s former bassist, Adam Deuce. But apparently that beef doesn’t extend to Flynn’s bandmates, be they current or other past members of the group — ’cause they all reunited for a special one-off show this passed weekend.

The performance of cover songs took place at, and celebrated the opening of, the Dublin, CA bar The Back Lounge, which is owned by Phil Demmel. Demmel, of course, left the group last year, along with drummer Dave McClain.

Billing themselves as ‘The Merkins,’ this special all-star cover band consisted of a rotating cast of musicians that included Demmel, McClain, Deuce, Bleeding Through’s Marta Peterson (who is married to Demmel), and, perhaps most surprisingly, Deuce’s successor, Jared MacEachern (albeit only in a backing vocalist capacity, since he’s still recovering from a recent shoulder injury).

Even Demmel seemed to find the reunion surprising, taking to social media to declare that “Hell hath frozen methinks….”. Tommy Vext (Bad Wolves), meanwhile, threw in a Hunger Games joke, and for once, we really do know what Corey Taylor thinks to boot!

Unfortunately, there’s no video from the event available as of this writing, and we don’t even know what songs they played, or if any of ’em were old Machine Head classics. But you can enjoy some photos below.

Speaking of Machine Head reunions: every member of the Burn My Eyes era line-up except for Deuce is reuniting, along with MacEachern, for a special tour of Europe in the fall (and one U.S. show). Those concerts will also feature another set which will introduce Demmel and McClain’s replacements. It’s a lot to keep track of, we know.

[via]