First of all, if you haven’t heard of Dinosaur Jr, I urge
you to get off of your ignorant arse and buy a copy of their debut album, Dinosaur. Don’t download it, buy a hard
copy and listen to it so much that the CD player melts the disc and you have to
buy it again. We need to make sure Dinosaur Jr don’t get buried underneath the
same blanket that all the other bands who weren’t Nirvana in the 90s did. Recorded
at “Chris Dixon’s house” in 1985, it sounds every bit as raw and exciting now
as it did then.
Anyway, history lesson over, this
is about the here and now, or last Friday night to be exact – Feb 1st
2013, The Ritz, Manchester. The venue is moist with the sweat of sentimental old
grungers, and alive with fresh faced boys and girls. The band (on stage from
left to right) are J Mascis on lead guitar, vocals and looking like a real-life
Gandalf, Murph in the centre on the drums, and Lou Barlow on the right, playing
bass, vocals and handling all of the crowd control. They are here to promote
album number 10, I Bet on Sky.
Due to only finding out I was
going to this gig an hour before it starts, and being refused my request for an
emergency train by the fuckers at Liverpool Lime Street, I end up missing the
first ten minutes of the set. When I finally arrive, and force myself to the
front of the crowd, the band is already in full flow. There is a healthy sized
pit in the centre of the audience, but it’s not violent like a lot of gigs; everybody
is just very happy to be here.
They should be. The sound from
the stage is awesome; Mascis’ guitar sound is beautiful. Its beauty, in fact,
is matched only by its volume – the three huge amps he’s using make sure of
that. One problem is that sometimes it’s hard to make out Mascis’ voice in all of
that thunderous Fender-brand racket, but that is probably the sound guy’s
fault. The only other problem I have is that Mascis doesn’t interact with the
crowd – not even once. But I guess that as a grunge veteran, who is probably a
little bit stoned, he can get away this.
Lou’s bass sound is so subsonic
that humans can barely hear it. His wall of sound is as vast and as endless as
the Great Wall of China… he does it well but I’m not sure
I like the approach. It’d be nice to hear some twang in those bass lines. Ah
well. Another plus though is that Lou has great presence. He compliments the
laid back, unforthcoming Mascis by actually giving a fuck and just seriously
rocking out. There is synergy between them.
Sadly Murph makes no real impact
on me. His drumming is okay, he hits the kit well and I guess he has a few tricks
up his sleeve, just nothing that gets me wet.
They don’t play all the
favourites, but there are enough classics in there. ‘Out There’ is a highlight,
you can really feel what Mascis is feeling; his voice like a ghostly shriek floating
over riffmongering. ‘Start Choppin’’ is another, and by the time they get to
the encore – their traditional cover of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’ – the
grins on our faces are cheesier than a bag of Wotsits. Some of the newer stuff
doesn’t leave much of an impression, but it’s no big deal; nobody expected it
to. All in all it’s a kick ass show, and all of our arses are thoroughly
kicked.
Dinosaur Jr are the perfect
example of a band who really know how to get you moving, smiling and rocking
out without anything other than the music. That is a rare talent.
By Cripps Robert
