Dinosaur Jr + Built to Spill @ Birmingham Academy, 16th May 2010
I think it’s fair to say that Dinosaur Jr hold relatively legendary status as alternative rock pioneers. Forming in 1984 in Massachusetts their, distorted, feedback -happy guitar sound, along with bands such as Sonic Youth, they undoubtedly influenced countless 90’s grunge and alternative rock bands.
The original line up of J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Muprh released three albums between 1985 and 1988 including classics such as Bug. Bassist Barlow left soon after the release of Bug in 1988 and later had success the 90’s with his band Sebedoh. Meanwhile, J Mascis continued to play under the name of Dinosaur Jr even after the exit of drummer Murph. Tonight however, I was really looking forward to seeing the reunited original line up who are touring to promote their 2009 album Farm. After a few problems on the M6, I unfortunately arrived at the venue much too late to catch opening act, Built to Spill. After getting my bearings at 9:40, I was a little disappointed to not see Murph behind the drum kit, instead a younger, hairier drummer was on duty, for reasons I’m not sure.
The second thing that struck me was the amount of stacked Marshall Amps so close around J Mascis. There must have been about four absolutely huge stacked amps within touching distance of the guitarist. Part of the fun of Dinosaur Jr is the attention to detail (some might say showing off — but in a good way of course) of the guitar solos and distortion. At some points the guitar sounded like it was a space ship taking off. Mascis is like a wizard on the guitar and even has the hair to match.
The 02 Academy was roughly just over half full but it is a pretty big venue and given the fact it was a Sunday night I think it was a decent turnout. The audience was dominated by men, mostly in the 30 and over bracket but I got the sense that everyone was really enjoying the band. Each wave of mammoth feedback and classic guitar solo from J Mascis was greeted with cheers. I imagined some people must have been waiting years to see this band and during the performance of older tracks from You’re Living All Over Me and Bug I saw genuine smiles on faces on grown men! Freak Scene, especially seemed to get everyone jumping around with extra vigor near the front.
I got the impression that J Mascis and Lou Barlow don’t necessarily get on amazingly well. There was certainly a lack of chemistry between them on stage. I could be wrong but based on tonight’s performance that was the impression I got. Nothing is said in between songs, just a minute or two of careful tuning before launching into another song. Although they did thank the audience for coming out to see both bands. Musically however, they were pretty spectacular. Not many bands put so much emphasis on the guitar. It struck me that it’s almost the guitar that’s the front-man of Dinosaur Jr with vocal duties shared between Mascis and Barlow, mumbled and shouty respectively.
Overall I was impressed with the gig and I’m glad I got to see such an iconic band on top form. The sound quality was very good and as the venue wasn’t exactly full there was enough space get a good view of the whole band. They played until just after 10:30pm and came back for an encore including their classic cover of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’ and everyone left happy with buzzing ears. When I’m a little older and start to lose my hearing and the doctor says ‘So, any idea why you’re going deaf so young?’ I’ll say it was J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr!
Review – Chris Thompson
Photos – John Colson