Show Review

A small post on their website read: “It's true... On November 29 and 30 Dinosaur Jr will play the Metro in Chicago. This will be followed by a two night stand December 2 and 3 at Irving Plaza in New York City.” It was a glorious find during an evening of numbing Internet browsing. The trio who had planted the seeds of rocking postpunk angst, only to break up before reaping the harvest of worldwide success would reunite in their original form again to play a few intimate shows. This was an opportunity not to be missed.

Brief History then on to the show:

J. Mascis (Guitar) Lou Barlow (Bass) Murph (drums) joined forces in the cluttered landscape of 1984 and distorted their way into the college radio hearts and minds of the hip. During a time when New Wave was cresting, punk was mainly underground and Hair Metal bands were on the horizon the trio gave the guitar a voice…a fucking loud piercing voice that somehow crisscrossed the map, sucking in all influences and excreting a sum greater then it’s parts.

The expansive solos of Mascis were a breath of fresh air into a punk scene rutted in minimalism and along with bands like Sonic Youth, were inspiring kids as far west as Seattle with their playing. No stretch to say that the grunge rockers of the late 80’s and 90’s had an ear to Barlow's bass pulse and Murph’s playing. After recording three classic albums, but before their major label debut, things went astray as Barlow left to front Sebadoh. While Dinosaur Jr. went on to record albums with J. being the point man on all, the original trio chemistry was not present. When a reunion was announced this summer, long time fans rejoiced and current day hipsters knew they had a shot at seeing one of the forefathers of the current indie/punk scene perform.

This mini club tour was designed to capture the trio’s playing on DVD with Irving Plaza being the site for the multi camera shoot. Friday December 1, 2005 saw the crowd slow in arriving, leaving a mostly empty house for openers Ghetto Ways and Love as Laughter. The crowd was on the older side when they started filling in, literally minutes before Dino took the stage. With stacks upon stacks of amplifiers behind them, the trio came out to thunderous applause and began tuning, while a mascot dinosaur went around pumping up the crowd. When the Plushy Love intro ended, the opening notes of Tarpit began. Ballistic doesn’t even cover it. The sound was wailing, the crowd was screaming, cameras started rolling, and the show was off. The lyrics were a bit low in the mix but the opening lines were prophetic, “Hey what’s bubbling down under there/ Why’s it screaming? What’s unfair?” Bubbling under there was the controlled fury of the night ahead, it’s screaming was a monk breaking his life long vow of silence and it was unfair for anyone without a ticket.

J Mascis is the member onstage you are drawn to first, he played the role of Saruman The White Hand of Guitar God tonight, with a little smirking of Gandolf the Grey in-between the mystical noises screaming from his staff of a guitar. His long white hair whipped around as the sounds of both lightning and hellfire erupted forth. The man would solo and flail scraping his axe into the stage at one point to summon the spirits, evoking effulgence noise over the crowd. Songs like “Gargoyle” and “Little Fury Things “ fuzzed with ringing harmony.

While Mascis has been credited with helping to bring back the guitar, the locking low end of Barlow and Murph were not to be out done. Sounding much louder then on the old records, the rhythm section locked-popped-crashed-bounced all in step, pouring liquid concert foundations for every song. During “Forget the Swan” Barlow was grinning and singing along while thundering out bass lines pulverizing force.

The night focused on the excellent three first albums with the lone exception being “The Wagon” from Green Mind. You’re Living All Over Me; the best of the first three received the most play. The extended version of “Kracked” with Mascis walking to the microphone, then retreating back into the maelstrom, was burning and the ugly beauty of “SludgeFeast” brought out the guts in everyone. Dinosaur Jr’s unique lyrics rose over the minor musical missteps during “In a Jar.” Disturbing imagery of “When I look up, don’t think I don’t know about the scabs you dread/ It’s hard to stomach the gore” lends a deeper reflection to the wave crash of sound, causing a shiver.

Encoring with “Freakscene” saw the return of the dino mascot, who along with the 8th grade art backdrop played out like a new "Adult Swim" cartoon complete with a growing mosh pit. During the moxie rev cover of the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” the mascot’s suit was reduced to shreds as the crowd was transported to 1987 by the currently loud audio bliss. For a band known for inner tensions they were all smiles leaving the stage, here’s hoping the reunion continues, as the music sounds better then ever.

The night was one big pile driver leaving the audience with ears ringing and hearts singing. More then one person was looking for any extras to Saturday’s show, and most were setting aside future funds for the upcoming DVD so they could relive the madness again. I feel sorry for all the surround systems, including my own, that are prone for a beating when it is released. That day can’t come soon enough.

Photos courstesy of Gold In Berlin.