Other bands have chemistry, but Dinosaur Jr. has somethingbetter than chemistry: tension. Unlike the bassist who replaced him afterguitarist J Mascis kicked him out of the band, Lou Barlow doesn’t bow toMascis’ every whim. Instead, he pushes against the grain, playing harder,heavier and faster, countering Mascis’ guitar gymnastics. From the beginning,Barlow was the band’s link to punk and hardcore, and it’s his presence thatmakes the group’s reunion relevant and their new output so vital.
When the band began its precarious reunion in 2005, theircautious sets revisited only the band’s Barlow-era albums but their sets haveexpanded over time to include not only the group’s recent comeback albums, butalso group’s early ’90s, post-Barlow output. These are some of Mascis’signature songs, and it was a pleasure hearing him revisit them again Thursdaynight. Mascis opened with his own personal “Free Bird,” Green Mind’s “Thumb,” and followed throughout the night with thatalbum’s charming single, “The Wagon,” a couple choice tracks from 1993’s Where You Been (the baleful “Out There”and the gloriously twangy “Get Me”) and the 1994 hit “Feel The Pain.” 
Barlow should resent that song the most, but he played it as if it weren’t justMascis’ hit but also his own, leaving his stamp on its frantic tempo andsinging co-lead on the chorus. When the song ended the group returned todysfunctiondrummer Murph disappeared from stage without a word, while Mascisand Barlow noodled on their instruments without addressing each other until hereturned, sans explanationbut while they were playing it was easy to envisionan alternate reality where Mascis never jettisoned his band mates and they allshared in the success of “Feel The Pain.” It’s an alternate reality wheremaybe, just maybe, these guys didn’t absolutely loathe each other.
Photos by Cj Foeckler
