Fans at the Commodore Ballroom last Thursday night had their bones rattled. Despite wall to wall bodies, they weren’t enough to absorb the sonic assault coming their way. The night opened peacefully enough with the acoustic guitar picking workshop put on by opener Steve Gunn. His blend of rhythm and melody was entrancing and the early fans were quiet and attentive with enthusiastic applause after every tune. Fans of acoustic work by Jimmy Page and the like would have enjoyed the brief performance. However the theme of the night was loud, distorted guitar and grungy vocals. Dinosaur Jr. dialled up the interesting stacks of amps to the max, launching into “Thumb”. Heads were bobbing immediately and stocks of ear protection hit new highs. It was difficult to tell if the distortion was from the amps or my own eardrums.
There seemed to be a fair bit of guitar tuning and not much banter between the hits, but the band really hit their stride mid-set, peaking with the changing tempo in “Feel the Pain”. The audience went off and the crowd surfing began in earnest. There was visibly a huge range of ages at the show but they all clearly enjoyed the show whether sitting, singing along, dancing or travelling across the floor via the hands of strangers.
Throughout the set, J Mascis didn’t stray far from his mic and Marshall stacks; Lou Barlow held down the basslines while whipping his curly mop. Drummer Murph was focused and tight on his minimal kit. It was great to see this classic yet simple lineup deliver a slew of hits with no compromises. They were true to their roots and don’t seem to be ready for a museum anytime soon.
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written by Scotty Evil
images by Red Lenses Photography
