If you're not in the know Dinosaur Jr. were a massively influential group who formed in the mid-1980's rising to prominence in the late 80's and early 90's championed by Sonic Youth. They were warmly welcomed to our shores with their third album Bug, which hit number one in the UK independent album charts and included a cover of The Cure's 'Just Like Heaven' which charted in the UK singles chart in 1989. It was an album that was also mired by inner band tensions and the period when Lou Barlow, the groups original bassist, was sacked heading off to form another group who were hugely influential – Sebadoh. Following Bug, Dinosaur Jr. signed to a major label and spent much of the 90's touring and making albums, they were even supported by Nirvana on the Green Mind tour in 1991. I first heard of Dinosaur Jr. when the last album before J. Mascis retired the name came out, having heard 'Nothin's Goin On' on a 1997 Q Magazine compilation. I had been drawn in by Mascis' distinctive vocal drawl and fuzzy guitar sound. At this point, it seems, Dinosaur Jr. only counted J. as an original member and the albums were pretty much solo records but that sound had been long established – they were a band who combined all sorts of genres and influences and then spat them out loud and heavily distorted with a penchant for unexpected quirks. Mascis' nasal vocal gets compared to Neil Young, but his particular take on that style sounds to me like it has been reappropriated by various vocalists, from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain himself to more recent singers like Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses.
Mascis began his set with 'Listen To Me' a lovely track from his 2011 solo album Shades Of Why, just the one vocal and guitar. He played on acoustic guitar throughout the show with a large Vox cabinet facing him – a combination that really filled the room when he started kicking in various levels of distortion – some of which were quite ridiculous (in a good way). As the set developed he introduced a looping pedal, so he could play long, expressive guitar solos over a loop of the rhythm guitar part. On the second track he introduced a delay pedal on the vocal, which he continued to use whenever he ventured up into his higher falsetto vocals – it actually worked great on 'Me Again' from last year's Tied To A Star album but later on I found it a little distracting as the delays were so loud and often not in time with the track he was playing – still this is my one criticism of a really enjoyable and well thought out set. The thing is J. Mascis is just so cool – he's so laid back he's practically horizontal. There were times when he would start a loop of rhythm guitar, begin the lead guitar intro and then pause, mid-lick, to take a sip from his juice carton and then continue. He seemed very relaxed, like he was playing his tracks to some friends in his front room, rather than a rammed club in a far-off land. He barely said a word except the occasional “thanks” and once, at the end of a song that seemed to have gone perfectly he snorted and declared he'd “fucked that one up”!
The song-writing was great throughout from the older stuff to the new and he didn't scrimp on the Dinosaur Jr. tracks. Highlights for me include 'Every Morning' from his latest album, which was the first time we really heard him cut loose and shred on the guitar. It was early in the set and unexpected, he kicked in a huge distortion, which was rich with harmonic overtones caused by the acoustic facing directly into the speaker set up directly in front of him, and played this rich, melodic guitar solo. He played quite a few songs from 1993's 'Where You Been' album which seemed to lend the set a more psychedelic edge in the middle. I particularly enjoyed 'Not The Same' despite my previous misgivings about the over-loud delay on the high vocals. He did a great cover of Mazzy Star's track 'Fade Into You' followed by a fantastic rendition of 'Pond' from Bug – which reminds me of another great J. Mascis trait which was well represented in the set tonight – the abrupt endings are fantastic! The last song of the set was 'Alone' from one of the two albums the re-formed original line-up of Dinosaur Jr. recorded in the latter years of the noughties. It was an opportunity for Mascis to play one of the most epic guitar solos you're ever likely to hear performed on acoustic guitar – it seemed to last fifteen minutes, his fingers nimbly weaving their way up to the top of the fret-board before finding an excuse to jump back down to the bottom to begin the climb once more only ending (abruptly again) as he suddenly seemed to lose interest! The audience weren't about to let him get away without a little more and the chant for an encore began almost as soon as he slipped out of sight. He didn't leave us waiting long, striding out swiftly and establishing the well known rhythm loop before cranking the modulation up to the max on his pedal and playing that familiar riff from 'Just Like Heaven'. Dinosaur Jr's famous re-working of The Cure hit sounded great tonight and seemed the perfect ending to an excellent show – J. Mascis is louder on acoustic guitar than many, larger bands. I left the venue with quite a buzz and unexpectedly ringing ears.
Adam Kidd