Returning to the UK for the second time in twelve months, Dinosaur jr take their ninth studio album ‘Farm’ on the road again – this time bringing some old friends in the form of the legendary Built to Spill.
Built to Spill are highly regarded by almost all indie-rock fans and peers alike – their skillfully sculptured guitar noise is embedded in the psyche and its influence can be found in many contemporary bands. Tonight they look every bit the aged-rockers you would expect, fantastically un-touched by modern life.
The first twenty minutes of Built to Spill’s set tonight is forgettable – mainly because I missed the first twenty minutes… (who puts on a grown-up rock show at 7:30!?) – however, walking in to a swathe of orchestrated feedback is a joy. Watching a band so content in themselves is really soothing and the crowd stand in respectful silence at the alter of BTS. As you would expect, a mixture of old classics and tracks from their latest record “There is no enemy” get an outing tonight but “Car” is the song that we’ve been waiting for and it hasn’t aged a bit.
Heading to the bar in the interval I was greeted by a polite lady seemingly asking me for £3.60 for a pint of lager in a plastic ‘glass’… She didn’t even apologise.
J Mascis appears to be intent on deafening the whole of West Yorkshire tonight with 26 twelve-inch speakers and 4 amplifiers (that I could see) pointed threateningly at the assembled. They stroll on stage and without saying a word or a tentative tune-up launch into the guitar soaked indie rock we have come to expect. Although Lou Barlow made a few brief comments and thank-yous it was essentially a back-to-back wall of songs from start to finish, just as it should be. Classics like “Freak Scene” , “Out There” , “The Wagon” and a careful selection of tracks from their two latest records were played with a ferocity that many current bands half their age would give their unlaced plimsolls for…
Mid-set, Barlow takes a moment to announce that the long time band member Murph has been taken ill and to make his replacement feel welcome. Although he didn’t hit as hard as Murph he was tight and an impressive last minute replacement… (anyone know who he was?)
Ears ringing, I left content, as drunk as I could afford and with a feeling of sweet nostalgia. It seems Dinosaur jr can do no wrong. Still riding high on their victorious return they are still turning out the best ear splitting indie rock money can buy and with the average age of the first ten rows under 25 it’s clearly not just nostalgia that is filling the venue tonight.
Rob Che
Re: anyone know who he was? Drummer for J. Mascis and the Fog
American Bloke on May 19th, 2010Wow – you Americans know EVERYTHING!
Cheers Bryan
destroy!_robot on May 19th, 2010x