Dinosaur Jr wrapped up their mini tour of NYC with an ear-splitting send off at Baby's All Right.
Over the past few days, Dinosaur Jr has been playing intimate shows in lower Manhattan, North Brooklyn, and South Queens to celebrate the release of their great new album Near There. Things kicked off on Thursday at Lucinda's in the East Village and continued Friday afternoon at Tompkins Square Park before crossing the river to Skinny Dennis in Williamsburg later that night. On Saturday, they played a matinee at TV Eye in Ridgewood, Queens before heading bck to Williamsburg for the night to close out the she-bang at Baby's All Right. Lindsay Jordan took to the stage first on Saturday evening in what she claimed to be only her second or third solo performance as Snail Mail and her first since was a teenager. Her short set started off as an acoustic affair before she plugged in (the night was sponsored by Fender) to cap it off with "Ricochet" and "Reverie" from her record that dropped earlier in the year. Mike Kinsella of American Football filled the second slot with another short, mostly acoustic set before the mighty Dinosaur Jr took the stage and began to obliterate all of the eardrums within reach. As the trio picked up their gear and got situated, the volume instantly sky rocketed and it was clear that this was going to be a pretty killer night. Blasting away with their jet engine intensity, the band dove in to a hefty chunk of their new record and made it clear that their sound has remained eternal throughout their career and the latest is no different. One of the first of J's many explosive solos came during "Several Got Away" and the room lit up with feverish excitement. Already feeling like a tried and true part of their set list, the song had people head banging with enthusiasm and another newbie, "No Friends," proved to be another powerful number that treated us to more squealing guitar from Mascis. As they made it to the Lou Barlow penned and sung tune "Blowin' Up," he traded out bass for guitar and let J take part in the rhythm section with Murph, but things still remained part of the mainstay trajectory as Mascis in turn let out another nasty solo, but this time with the sludgey bass notes that rattled you deep in your core. The rest of the night was devoted to their classics and "In a Jar" was a perfect way for the band to segue into their older tunes. You could tell the tension was building throughout the night and the small confines of Baby's All Right surely wouldn't be able to hold much longer. After a particularly gnarly "Repulsion" the band hit the iconic riff that opens "Start Choppin" and just as they were about to hit the chorus, Mike Kinsella reappeared on stage and immediately launched him self into the crowd and the room lit up like a powder keg. As soon as he hit the middle of the room and dropped into the crowd, he opened up the pit and bodies started to swirl around the tiny room. Of course the band dug deep into the past for the next one and the bruising "Mountain Man" from the debut made for another chaotic choice that fueled the crowd and helped keep the night moving with unfiltered energy. The band hit us with the under appreciated "Been There All the Time" from their first reunion record Beyond and it was yet another solid tune that showcases what the band does best: a tight, locked-in rhythm section that supports the madness that erupts from Mascis' guitar and this was of the best displays of their magic all night and when Mascis let the solo rip, the night catapulted into the stratosphere. When "Little Fury Things" hit, the crowd was once again hitting the feelings and the amount of joy and elation that seemed to radiated from the room was palpable and when they launched into "Feel the Pain," you could tell it would be one of the wildest moments of the night. As bodies began to be lifted, I was sure that crowd surfers would knock everything down from the ceiling, lights and disco ball included, but somehow those near misses remained near and the venue was left intact even as the crowd raged down below. "Forget the Swan" brought things to a finish, but not without an extended jam of an outro, and it was made clear that Dinosaur Jr somehow might just be better than ever at this point in their career. An extreme claim, but one that the band seems to prove to be true over and over again. Album after album and decade after decade, their ability to blend hardcore punk with melodic alt-rock remains one of the best formulas in the game and we're lucky they're willing to show us the way time and time again.
Set list:
01 "Thumb"
02 "Several Got Away"
03 "Take Me With You"
04 "No Friends"
05 "Everything At Once"
06 "Blowin' Up"
07 "In a Jar"
08 "Repulsion"
09 "Start Choppin"
10 "Mountain Man"
11 "Been There All the Time"
12 "Little Fury Things"
13 "Feel the Pain"
14 "Forget the Swan"
No comments:
Post a Comment