Stuo’s gallery

This summer of touring bands has seemed to be all about late 80s/early 90s nostalgia or perhaps reflecting on just how good music from that time was. In the case of Dinosaur Jr, their tour is definitely a reflection on how good their music still is.

Farm appeared in just about every ‘best of 2009’ list last year and here in Perth, The Rosemount was stuffed full of a cross-generational crowd frothing to hear some of its lazy brilliance. All corners of the loud room were filled to the point that it resembled an over packed case of ear buds, which is what people would be reaching for the following day.

Past stubbornness to wear ear-plugs was forgotten as the punters entered, with a wall of Marshall stacks staring each one of them into submission. With carpet on the floor and low roof overhead, the punters’ self-proclaimed super-cochleae were out of their depth in this environment perfectly suited to a Marshall assault. This would come later though as local sleaze rock trio Black Buzzard swaggered on stage.

In all seriousness, these lads should have been the Perth support for AC/DC. AC/DC didn’t need a support with any kind of profile, just a ballsy live soundtrack to keep the waiting punters occupied and Black Buzzard would have done that. They played a brand of early 70s hard blues rock that Ozzy and friends would have eventually turned into metal. It was a little less clean than AC/DC but more bluesy than Sabbath and unexpectedly fitted well into the scheme of the night.

Punters appeared sceptical of the three at first or perhaps just reluctant to make eye contact for fear of starting something. By the end of the set though, people were cheering for the brutish bunch. It wasn’t all just distortion and blues licks either, they included some arty feedback flourishes and a furious drum solo attack which closed out the set to many a wolf whistle.

Despite their music being a little on the bogan side for a Dinosaur Jr crowd, punters weren’t reading to much into it. They let themselves enjoy it for what it was… and what it was was dirty.

The Dinosaur Jr crowd piled in after Black Buzzard wrapped up. They were also dirty but not in a greasy, motor oil, bourbon smelling way, more of a cluttered lounge/jam room, unwashed dishes, stale joint smoke way. It’s fair to say a lot of them would have been new fans of the band or casual fans turned addicts (this reviewer included), spurred on by the sentimentality their latest album entices.

An excited cheer met Lou Barlow and Murph as they entered, but the biggest applause was saved for J. Mascis who didn’t appear to care for such formalities as he reservedly strapped on his Fender.

Their influence on Nirvana is well documented but after seeing Mascis live it seemed Cobain had even followed his approach to performance. Mascis’s apathy for acknowledgement and crowd engagement was something which is apparent in videos of Cobain, or perhaps it was just a mindset which permeated through all alternative guitar rock bands of the time. But that’s an argument to have over beers.

Mascis’s lack of showmanship didn’t matter, as Dinosaur Jr’s music was as dense and absorbing live as it is on record. The wall of Marshalls seemed over indulgent at first but it became apparent from Mascis’s first fuzzy strum this was the only way it should be heard.

Pieces was the first track played off Farm and Barlow’s bass, as it would be for the entire night, was much more prominent than on the recording. This mix added a necessary depth to a sound which might have been too trebley in a gig space.

It was mostly a subdued and content crowd that met each song but Freak Scene got a few jumpers going and Mascis even left out few lines for the punters to fill in. Feel The Pain got the expected nostalgic reception but it seemed weird for Barlow and Murph to be playing it as it was written when neither of them were in the band.

Barlow took lead vocals for Imagination Blind which was the best song never written in 1992. Plans’ tingly emphasis on the guitar’s high end strings sent shivers down the crowds’ spines. You’re Living All Over Me favourite Tarpit’s slack power felt triumphant.

In a rare moment of engagement with the crowd, Barlow asked what they wanted to hear for an encore. In amongst the noise he heard someone say Kracked. Finishing the show was Sludgefest and it was the heaviest they got all night. Echoes of it will forever be heard in Nirvana’s No School.

Dinosaur Jr are the epitome of those stoners who never seem to be doing anything but then randomly come up with moments of genius. Their live show wasn’t a spectacle but it didn’t need to be when the music was so engrossing. To see such an important band play in an intimate space like The Rosemount was something special.

Stuo’s gallery