Dinosaur Jr. roared to epic levels of noise and pure indie rock pleasure during a full on sonic assault Friday night at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club. From the opening riffs of “Almost Ready,” a stellar song from Beyond the band’s excellent new record, to the show’s final attack of “Chunks,” the reformed trio played loud and fast, just the way we like it.
After opening with three songs from the new disk, “Almost Ready,” “Been There All The Time,” and “Back To Your Heart” the band kicked into the old stuff with a searing version of the “Lung”, followed by “Little Fury Things.”
On stage the band said very little to the audience and almost nothing to each other, but that’s pretty much the way its always been. What the band did do is show how much their musicianship had improved since the early days while keeping it fast, furious through an excellent set of Dino classics and new songs. Even while struggling at times with a muddled vocal sound, the combination of J’s sonics, Murph’s pounding and Lou’s thrashing was something to behold, especially in a small venue like the Paradise.
The day after Thanksgiving date, with most of the Boston’s colleges closed down, made for a more hardcore crowd of true Dino fans. The band gave their fans exactly what they came for, a sonic trip to 90s indie rock and beyond. From beginning to end J, Lou and Murph attacked their catalog of 90s masterpieces including Freak Scene and Sludgefeast, and their stellar new record Beyond, with reckless abandon.
Having seen many incarnations of Dinosaur Jr over the years, the new record and these incredible live shows remind you why the original three are the only people who should be playing this music. With a new record called Beyond who knows what they future might bring from J, Lou and Murph.
A complete set list is below.
Almost Ready
Been There All The Time
Back To Your Heart
Lung
Little Fury Things
Out There
This Is All I Came To Do
Feel The Pain
Pick Me Up
Crumble
The Wagon
Gargoyle
Encore
Freak Scene
Sludgefeast
Chunks
They are great. I found one of their early CD’s at a salvation army in Eagle River Alaska after I moved there from Westfield Ma. Then found out that some of the band are from Westfield…..small damned world
Comment by alaskavic — November 28, 2007 @ 3:39 am
If this tour gets anywhere near you I highly suggest going just bring some earplugs.
Comment by N — November 28, 2007 @ 2:48 pm