Dinosaur Jr. @ The Granada Theater
Submitted by Grits on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 22:56.
There was a time when underground music wasn't dominated by skinny jeans and cardigans, when mactops weren't considered an instrument (or a member of the band for that matter) and when indie bands were cool because they made good music, not by nature of the fact that they were classified as indie. Dinosaur Jr. has been an indie staple spanning three different decades now, has weathered trend after shitty trend of underground music, and continues to kick ass. Hash Browns and I were there for their October 22nd show at the Granada Theater; check out more after the jump.
I like reviewing bands that I'm unfamiliar with so that I can listen with no preconceptions; I'd never listened to more than 5 minutes of Dinosaur Jr. before that night. During soundcheck, I thought the guys in the band were the band's techs. They looked like a trio of dads. (albeit the cool dads that meet in the garage and drink Miller High Life, maybe burn a joint and listen to vinyls from the 70's on the weekend...) They checked their own instruments in full view of the sold out crowd, and kicked off the show with no cue or warning.
The next 90 minutes was a big, loud (and I mean kill-your-high-end-hearing-for-the-next-two-days kind of loud) rock and roll show. Everything from J Mascis's 3 stacks of amplifiers, copious guitar soloing, even down to his spring-coiled guitar cable recalled Hendrix's legendary live performances. Between songs, Mascis had no problem tuning his guitar aloud, and found no reason to say a word to the rabid crowd. I loved this don't give a shit attitude. This band respected their fans enough that they didn't have to jeer them into applause, and hid behind no produced live show facade. Most bands feel the need to pump up the crowd between songs, or they have seamless, computer-programmed loops backing them up, visual displays and timed lights; it was refreshing to see a band that was onstage to play music and only interact with their fans in such a simple, increasingly rare way. Dinosaur Jr. is on tour in support of their newest LP entitled "Farm."
There was a time when underground music wasn't dominated by skinny jeans and cardigans, when mactops weren't considered an instrument (or a member of the band for that matter) and when indie bands were cool because they made good music, not by nature of the fact that they were classified as indie. Dinosaur Jr. has been an indie staple spanning three different decades now, has weathered trend after shitty trend of underground music, and continues to kick ass. Hash Browns and I were there for their October 22nd show at the Granada Theater; check out more after the jump.
Words by Michael "Grits" Smith
Photos by Anna "Hash Browns" Vernon
I like reviewing bands that I'm unfamiliar with so that I can listen with no preconceptions; I'd never listened to more than 5 minutes of Dinosaur Jr. before that night. During soundcheck, I thought the guys in the band were the band's techs. They looked like a trio of dads. (albeit the cool dads that meet in the garage and drink Miller High Life, maybe burn a joint and listen to vinyls from the 70's on the weekend...) They checked their own instruments in full view of the sold out crowd, and kicked off the show with no cue or warning.
The next 90 minutes was a big, loud (and I mean kill-your-high-end-hearing-for-the-next-two-days kind of loud) rock and roll show. Everything from J Mascis's 3 stacks of amplifiers, copious guitar soloing, even down to his spring-coiled guitar cable recalled Hendrix's legendary live performances. Between songs, Mascis had no problem tuning his guitar aloud, and found no reason to say a word to the rabid crowd. I loved this don't give a shit attitude. This band respected their fans enough that they didn't have to jeer them into applause, and hid behind no produced live show facade. Most bands feel the need to pump up the crowd between songs, or they have seamless, computer-programmed loops backing them up, visual displays and timed lights; it was refreshing to see a band that was onstage to play music and only interact with their fans in such a simple, increasingly rare way. Dinosaur Jr. is on tour in support of their newest LP entitled "Farm."
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