In an era of unlikely reformations, seemingly endless tours from heritage acts and belated tours, Dinosaur Jr. are amongst the most improbable.
Such was the acrimony between twin songwriting forces J Mascis and Lou Barlow that raged for years. It seemed that a tour featuring the original line-up was destined to be a record collector’s fantasy.
Yet here they are, with new(ish) material that holds its own in comparison to their late 80s/early 90s peak. In fact, since reforming they and are now semi- regular tourists to these shores.
Hitting the stage before Dinosaur Jr. is Redd Kross, another band you could have got long odds on playing here whose last record was preceded by a 15 year gap. Thankfully last year’s Researching The Blues was an excellent return, only adding to the reputation that had grown in their absence.
They’re old school power pop – ‘Stay Away From Downtown’ crunches like Cheap Trick or a heavier Raspberries, while ‘Annie’s Gone’ revisits the melodic jangle of their early 90s LP Third Eye, a classic of its genre.
An older crowd, mostly dressed in the middle age alt rock fan uniform of black band T-shirt and jeans, are already assembled in more than respectable numbers and are contentedly nodding to the likes of ‘Lady In The Front Row’ and the almost annoyingly catchy ‘Pretty Please Me’. The best is saved for almost last with the scorching title track from Researching The Blues.
Dinosaur Jr.’s set is a crowd-pleasing one, featuring a solid mix of classics and cherry-picked new songs with ‘Thumb’ crackling along with heavily distorted guitar pounding out an insistent riff, a sprightly melody poking through cracks in a wall of noise.
Like much of Mascis’ work, it flies in the face of the notion that guitar heroics have no place in alt rock. It also features one of the many lyrics of disaffection and resignation in their canon, the singer mumbling “There’s always nothing much to say“, an apparent nod to his laconic stage presence and ‘let the riffs do the talking’ ethos.
‘The Wagon’ is another early inclusion, featuring more guitar shredding and some powerful bass work from Lou Barlow, a surprisingly chipper presence on stage.
The setlist continues to select gems from their second coming like ‘Crumble’ which sees Mascis deliver offhand lyrics over noisy sludge, the chugging ‘Watch The Corners’ which culminates in a sprawling guitar solo. ‘Rude’ matches disaffected lyrics with upbeat, driving rock and takes in a brief flash of guitar pyrotechnics from guitarist.
‘Feel The Pain’, from the otherwise middling Without A Sound record, is a welcome inclusion in the back half of the set proper, which peaks with the peerless ‘Start Chopping’ giving way to the tumbling, sloppily brilliant intro to what is perhaps their best known song, ‘Freak Scene’.
It’s met with the thrill of recognition and delivers powerfully; with its laconic air and unassailable guitar sound, it’s one of the key alt-rock singles of its era and a touchstone for almost any band working in this territory.
With as set showcasing their more pop leanings more than the almost freeform freak outs they can also do so well, it’s fitting to hear their cover of The Cure’s like heaven, a dirtied up, screamy version of a classically lovely and melancholy pop song in the encore.
Despite being an influence for many younger bands who have drawn on their amalgam of heavy rock and abrasively noisy pop, Dinosaur Jr. remain a completely singular band. Their sound remains instantly distinctive – hear a few seconds of one of their songs and you know who it is. In this case at least, the original is still very much the best.
