Dinosaur Jr. Down Under
By Nora Murphy and Ben Godin
n the last leg of the tour for their latest album Without A
Sound, Dinosaur Jr. scheduled shows throughout Japan and Australia.
Fortunately, their travel plans included three shows here in Melbourne,
Australia. On Friday April 7, the band played to an exhilarated and
anxious sold-out crowd. It was amongst these masses that one could
truly grasp the impact of this three man "archetypal slacker college rock
band."
Dinosaur Jr. put out their first album, self-titled, ten years ago. Front man J Mascis was only nineteen. Since then, the band has gone on to produce five more full-length albums. However, the band's livelihood has been the sole responsibility of Mascis and he remains the only original member of the band. In fact, most fans would say J Mascis is Dinosaur Jr. Current bass player Mike Johnson has been around for the last five years, while drummer George Berz is the baby of the band, joining only a year or so ago.
J Mascis himself contains that image of a typical rock icon. His mastery of several instruments, as well as lyrics and music theory is evident throughout all his work. His persona, however, is portrayed as sleepy and slow, hesitant to speak. His fascination with golf has reached obsessive levels and he spends a lot of time in guitar shops, especially around his home in Evelyn, New York. He keeps busy outside of Dinosaur as well, producing bands such as Firehose and the Breeders. He also wrote the sound-track for the independent film Gas, Food, Lodging. So while the Mascis man may have a reputation as lethargic and delayed, his activities suggest otherwise.
Certainly on April 7th, J Mascis was feeling anything but sleepy. Following amazing performances by local Melbourne bands Even and Magic Dirt, Dinosaur Jr. put on an unexpected show made up of an eclectic mix of their music. The set included some rare melodies such as "The Leper," "Quest," and "Repulsion," all off of their first album. Also included in the set was a nine minute version of "What Else Is New?" with a big Mascis-only guitar solo. Perhaps in what could be called the highlight of the show, the band performed the cult favorite, "Freak Scene." The band stepped back and allowed the last stanza to be sung by diehard Dino fans.
J led the band in stage presence, using the entire stage to perform his music. One had to wonder how he did it, amid that long hair covering his face. Other songs included in the show were "Out There," "The Wagon," and "Blowing It." Most notably, the two most recent singles, "Feel The Pain" and "I Don't Think So" were left off the play list. In fact, of the fifteen songs performed, only six were off the last three albums.
Amazingly enough, we were able to speak with the band about this phenomena. As it so happened, the entire band of Dinosaur Jr. turned up a local show (that we happened to be at) on their night off between gigs. Over a game of pool, drummer Berz explained that this tour was to be a mix of works from all the albums, thus explaining the varied playlist. It was certainly a thrill to be among such talent, but J Mascis remained true to form, lurking in the shadows, rarely speaking; he was a decent pool player nonetheless. Perhaps he is a little burnt out, as it is nearing the end of their tour and J was recently quoted as saying, "Touring sucks." Dinosaur Jr. ends their Without A Sound tour at the end of this month in Japan.
Special thanks to Beat Magazine, Issue 444, April 5, 1995 and In Press Issue 347, April 5, 1995 for some information mentioned in this article.
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