Having seen Dinosaur Jr. before, seeing them play at the House of Blues the day after thanksgivin’ was just the reminder I needed of why I can still render up some love juice from this city.
Walking in towards the end of the Buffalo Tom set, another legendary Boston band with driving rock distinctly their own– the crowd was brimming with a silent anticipation. With bathroom lines a mile long, the huddled masses out back next to the rain soaked interstate smoking cigarettes, I’d like to take this time to thank the lovely woman at the coat check for the free ear plugs.
Me: “Are ear plugs free at the show this time?”
Lovely Lady at the coat check: “For you honey they are.”
Having seen both My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Mary Chain and having ear plugs free at the former but not the latter, there needs to be a standard to protect our ‘things on our body that we listen to things with’ and let us have free ear buds! (maybe?)
Just what is it about DJ’s music that is so timeless and gives Lou Barlow infinite youth and musical energy? I don’t know– but J, in usual form commands the room walking out to quiet awe and Murph, always in black, holds it down center stage.
The allure of their music is in the rambling confusion of guitar riffs packed up so neatly that you forget where you are and what you’re listening to. And not to mention the obliteration of all musical standards and ethic that continues to pack such a local crowd in DJs hometown.
The set list transitioned seamlessly from old to new to really old to really new. If you haven’t checked out their new album ‘Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not’, DO IT. Some of my favorite songs played were from that record. J’s haunting folk lyrical dynamism floats over a stripped down structure with Barlow as always tearing the stage to shreds with every note he plays. Marshall stacks towering the stage, there were no distractions to take away from the three performers.
Songs off their new album like ‘Goin Down’, ‘I Walk for Miles’ and Barlow’s ‘Love is’ sound more akin to their early punk roots if it wasn’t for the songwriting of matured songwriters connecting on all levels and still hitting all cylinders of their presence and message.
Its 2016. If DJ can still produce work like this especially after the, in my mind, monumental release of ‘I bet on Sky’ one thing’s for sure — if you’ve seen DJ, or if you haven’t seen them, anytime any of the members come to town save up your money, phone your parents or wife — JUST GO.
