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Thursday, February 7, 2013

Reviewed - Dinosaur Jr. The Ritz, Manchester 01/02/13





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