Dinosaur Jr. playing their toxic fueled masterpiece You're Living All Over Me in its entirety is enough of a selling point on a show by itself, however add on a dream list of special guests, and it instantly becomes legendary. As the band catapulted into "Little Fury Things" they were joined by Lee Ranaldo who helped deliver extra backing vocals as the band celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of their immortal sophomore record. Played in near perfection, the trio ripped through the entire album busting out prime, oozed-out, renditions of "Sludgefeast", "In a Jar", "The Lung", "Tarpit" and culminating with Lou's lo-fi precursor "Poledo". And that was only the beginning. In the weeks leading up to the celebration, special guests were said to be joining the band onstage, but the onslaught of stars was nothing short of spectacular. Pixies leader Frank Black joined in on a new tune before sticking around for Doolittle classic "Tame" and that was only the beginning. Johnny Marr found his way to the stage along with Kevin Drew for perhaps the most epic version of the already killer "The Wagon" before leading the grunge pioneers into the Smiths classic "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side". And the hits just kept on coming. Kim Gordon pulverized "Don't" off Bug in what was one of the most thrilling and raw performances of the night. Seeing the queen of fuzzed out rock alongside the titans of Dinosaur is not something soon to be forgotten. Hell, they even through in a Deep Wound track. In someways it seemed like a fantasy. Dinosaur Jr. covering the Pixies with Frank Black and the Smiths with Johnny Marr is something straight out of a dream and being there to witness it in person will unquestionably be remembered for years to come. The encore kicked off with Fred Armisen taking on drumming duties and Tommy Stinson picking up the bass to cover the Stooges' "TV Eye" before bringing Kevin Drew back for "Start Choppin". Fittingly, the night ended with the forever fantastic "Freakscene", but not before the absolute annihilation of the audience. Sure there were some jams that lasted too long and some of J's solos were long winded, but that only made the classics shine through in an even greater light and in some moments be down right captivating. It seems strange to be gawking at a Dinosaur Jr. show in 2012, but tonight saw the band in rare form as they were joined by other visionaries that without a doubt influenced almost all in attendance. There are sometimes when Dinosaur Jr. can seem on par with your friend's garage band that you've seen a million times throughout the years, and then there are moments when everything clicks and you are witnessing three men unleashing some sort of magical power. The explosive guitar wails of J Masics and the locked in tight rhythms from Lou and Murph are certainly forces to be reckoned with and twenty-five years after the release of their magnum opus, it is clear that many other bands still have a lot of catching up to do.
Setlist:
01 "Thumb"
02 "Little Fury Things" (w/ Lee Ranaldo)
03 "Kracked"
04 "Sludgefeast"
05 "The Lung"
06 "Raisins"
07 "Tarpit"
08 "In a Jar"
09 "Lose"
10 "Poledo"
11 "Almost Fare" (w/ Frank Black)
12 "Tame" (w/ Frank Black) [Pixies cover]
13 "Alone" (w/ Al Cisneros & Kurt Vile)
14 "Don't Pretend You Didn't Know"
15 "Watch the Corners"
16 "The Wagon" (w/ Johnny Marr & Kevin Drew)
17 "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" (w/ Johnny Marr) [Smiths cover]
18 "Training Ground" (w/ Dale Crover) [Deep Wound] cover
19 "Gargoyle"
20 "Crucified" [Iron Cross]
21 "Don't" (w/ Kim Gordon)
--
22 "TV Eye" (w/ Fred Armisen & Tommy Stinson)
23 "Start Choppin"
24 "Freakscene"
Amazing show. Who was the guy that sang the Iron Cross tune, and who was the other guy that sang T.V. Eye? Anybody know?
ReplyDeleteI feel faint reading this, like I was in West Berlin in 1989 and was watching a "saved by the bell" marathon while the wall was coming down.
ReplyDelete