Dinosaur Jr & Leader Cheetah @The Gov (14/07/07)

Wed 25th Jul, 2007 in Gig Reviews

Gigs don’t come any better than this! When it was announced to the world that the original Dinosaur Jr line up consisting of J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph was getting back together it was enough to make anyone get a little excited. The result was a new album released a little while ago called Beyond but the news that pushed everyone over the edge was an Australian tour that included little – œole Adelaide.

Comebacks are usually fraught with danger and never quite the same in a valiant effort to regain and relive past triumphs but Dinosaur Jr dispelled any notion that their used by date was well passed. Honourable mention must go to local lads Leader Cheetah (the Pharaohs died and Leader Cheetah was born) for warming the stage. The future looks extremely bright for these lads as they support Blonde Redhead on the Sydney leg of their tour.

The stage and surrounding equipment was set up like a noise chamber and all I can say is thank god for earplugs because this was one of the loudest shows I’ve ever been to. It’s a shame that the sound guys couldn’t do their job properly as the drums needed a lot of work to get Murph’s acceptance before kicking and this was hardly the intro for such a revered act.

Nevertheless, the band soldiered on and proved why they are such a kick arse band and have been for such a long time. There were no fancy trimmings and trappings just an hour and a quarter of killer tunes. The only real downside was the lack of interaction with a near full house but after the antics of some fucktard down the front insistent of interfering with the band’s equipment, I’m not surprised. Even Lou Barlow said, – œdon’t come near me mother fucker’.

I have to say that J Mascis epitomised the word cool and for the ripe old age of forty he easily looked twice his age after the hard life of being a rock star. He was content to stand there in all his rock swagger belting out hit after hit. There were quite a few classics off the new album including Almost Ready, In A Jar, Back to Your Heart, Been There ll The Time, This Is All I Came To Do, Pick Me Up getting the nod. Highlights from this awesome set included The Wagon, Sludgefest and Chunks.

This show will go down in history as one of the best gigs at The Gov – bloody tops I say.

Dinosaur Jr Photo Gallery