Dinosaur Jr. [live]

Alright, so the Dinos just released a comeback album after over a decade and I super-dig it. It runs a little bit together, but its so solid throughout I can't help but love it. Its all Lou's delicious fuzzy mega-strummed bass, smart drumming, and J's genius guitar melodies which shift into some pretty incredible solos. And that's pretty much what it was in concert. They didn't really interact a helluva lot with the crowd, except when Murph the drummer went missing and we all chanted his name under Lou's direction. Lou also told us somebody stole his jacket out of the dressing room, and so he told us Portland was redeemed when it got handed up to him later. We cheered.

Back in the 80's when they rocked hard and didn't give a fuck:


It was a very interesting concert experience for me in that I really got to see some pretty agressive crowd behavior. I was two rows up when the show started but I backed off after awhile so as to be just on the edges of the moshing. I don't even know if what this was is actually called moshing. Maybe you can help. Between, depending on the song, twenty and thirty people running into each other, while the people on the outsides push them back into each other. It was odd. The music was great, especially the new songs. They really did look like dinosaurs up there, especially Lou who made the bass look like the coolest fucking instrument on the planet. J is a weird motherfucker. Murph is bald now and just looks like he wants a burger.

These days when they rock hard and don't give a fuck:



I got a copy of the setlist, and waited outside the Crystal for an hour to get it signed. But no one came out, so I was walking to my car (up the hill), when I turn around and see J walk down the hill towards Burnside. I go to catch up, but I kind of chicken out because J is the least approachable one, so I kinda followed him for awhile hoping he'd meet up with the others. But he just went into the Benson with some roadies he found. Ok, so I followed him for ten blocks. Sorry.

Alright, so in summary, not the greatest concert of my life, a little overpriced, a little wild, but very interesting and usually enjoyable nonetheless. Oh, and openers Awesome Color near instantly made me think of the Stooges if they weren't threatening but instead wanted to skate with you (which they told us they did.) They were mediocre but lovable. Y'all didn't miss a bunch I guess.

So just find yourself a copy of Dino's new CD Beyond and call it good, k? Maybe work the back catalogue after that, and share with me. Cool.

Rating: mMGravy