Judging from much of the audience’s excited pre-show banter, one might have thought Dinosaur Jr. was playing a surprise show on Thursday (June 6th) evening at Arch Street Tavern in Hartford. “I initially thought this was some cover band or something…” remarked one concertgoer incredulously, while several others compared how far they’d driven to catch the iconic rockers from Amherst. The buzz was warranted given that the sold-out show was just one of two east coast appearances scheduled before they were off to play various venues and festivals throughout Europe before a return to the US in August. Mark Nussbaum of Manic Productions, responsible for bringing the band to Hartford, said “they were looking for a warm-up show” before they headed down to New York City to play this year’s Governor’s Ball after party at Irving Plaza. Let me assure you this was anything but a warm-up show.
Supporting their latest album, I bet on Sky, the band’s sophomore release on the Jagjaguwar label and their third studio album since reforming in 2005, Dinosaur Jr. began their set with “The Lung”, a classic cut off of their 1987 You’re Living All Over Me. Their 16 song set featured tracks from their newest to their oldest album and even one from the pre-Dinosaur hardcore/punk band Deep Wound, which featured Lou Barlow on guitar, J. Mascis on drums, Scott Helland on bass, and Charlie Nakajima on vocals. They finished their set with a 15 minute stretched out rendition of “Forget the Swan” before returning to the stage for an encore that featured the classic cover of the Cure’s “Just like Heaven”. Lou took the mic during interludes of tunings and brow mopping, which had Hartford hooting and hollering as he shouted out various Connecticut cities. Although Lou clearly knew his Nutmeg State geography, he always seem to return to his native Westfield, Massachusetts, which he took great pride in reminding the crowd was teeming with lush gardens, beautiful flowers, and spacious parks. Not surprising Lou, Westfield is after all situated on the western edge of the Connecticut River Valley.
Geography banter aside, Dinosaur Jr. was all business all night long. Jay’s solos sliced through the crowd with piercing acuity while Lou’s bass chords pounded atop the driving beats of Kyle Spence (J Mascis + The Fog, Harvey Milk); who was filling in for the quietly absent Murph. Spence was impressive and didn’t miss a beat, pounding out new and old songs alike. They finished off the evening with a heavy fuzzed out version of “Sludgefeast” that literally had the floor of the Arch Street Tavern undulating under the weight of the capacity crowd.
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Full resolution photos can be found on Flickr.
Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Setlist:
1. The Lung
2. No Bones
3. Almost Fare
4. In a Jar
5. Don't Pretend You Didn't Know
6. Watch the Corners
7. Rude
8. Out There
9. Feel the Pain
10. Budge
11. Start Choppin
12. Training Ground (Deep Wound cover)
13. Freak Scene
14. Forget the Swan
15. Encore:
16. Just Like Heaven (The Cure cover)
17. Sludgefeast
