DINOSAUR JR. @ THE PHOENIX: A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

The Rock Band crowd was certainly out as Dinosaur Jr. seemingly took the Phoenix, in Toronto, by storm on Thursday night. A sold out, sardine can-like venue witnessed the band lackadaisically inspire continuous awe, starting from the first five-minute-plus, ‘Thumb’ all the way to ‘Chunks’, a semi-rare b-side which featured the likes of Damian ‘Pink Eyes Abraham, of the hardcore outfit, Fucked Up.

For a band that is technically giving it a second go around, fans have been more than pleased to see music from one of the original Alt-rock bands of the 80’s. 2009’s Farm made it on plenty of ‘Best Of The Year’ lists and the set included Farm titles such as ‘Over It’ and ‘Imagination Blind’ (which Lou Barlow pleasantly belted out).

Barlow remains a discernible accent to J Mascis’s now legendary lassitude, chugging away at the bass, power chord after power chord, with his wavy mop in his eyes. He even graced the crowd with a heartfelt solo acoustic set at the beginning of the night.

What can be said about Mascis? Every time he struck a chord, my chest felt like it had a hole in it. Surrounded by a wall of amplifiers, the venue just barely withstood his sound. Mascis scarcely opened his eyes during the hour and a half set and subconsciously taunted the crowd with ‘Out There’. He, Barlow and recruited drummer, Kyle Spence, of J Mascis & The Fog, (Murph, the actual drummer, was held up at the border) cranked up the classics, as it were, and sounded amazing.

To top off an already memorable set, D Jr. pulled a few tracks from You’re Living All Over Me – ‘Sludgefest’ and ‘Kracked’ for an encore. The night ended with the aforementioned, ‘Chunks’, with Damian Abraham, who excitingly and unexpectedly took to the stage.

Five years after the original member reunion, I remain ecstatic to see what this band has left – they have continuously caught me by surprise. Twenty-five years after their inception, they have been able to write, hands down, better music than most of their successors, and blown away sold out crowds in a cogently regal and youthful fashion.

Published by The Music Slut