TONIGHT: Dinosaur Jr. @ the Showbox
Now, we must admit to never having really listened to Dinosaur Jr. before reading Azerrad's book. We were a little too young to remember the days when the coolest vinyl you could own was You're Living All Over Me; to us, Dinosaur Jr. was that one-hit-wonder from the mid-90s with that song "Feel the Pain." Maybe we'd seen them playing a couple of their songs watching 1991: The Year Punk Broke while we were drunk at some college party, but that's about it.
Plus, while we were yearning to get a taste of the real, pre-Nirvana indie rock, we also knew that this was a reunion show. It was easily 20 years since the band had done their best work.
Needless to say, we were blown away. Firstly, Dinosaur Jr. may be the loudest concert we'd ever seen. Anyone who's been to the Showbox could probably tell you that a full double-stack amp set-up would be overkill. Well, be that as it may, the effect is astonishing. J. Mascis is definitely showing his age, and Murph looked a little sapped by the end of the show, but they managed to deliver a rock set that put their two (younger) opening acts to shame. Mascis remains a phenomenal guitarist, and the soloing work on both "Freak Scene" and their cover of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven" are astonishing.
Tonight, Dinosaur Jr. returns to the Showbox in support of a new album. We haven't listened much yet, but if the show's half as good as last time, it's worth every penny of the ticket-price.
$25 (tix available as of posting) // 21+ // doors @ 8
