Austin Chronicle – March 16, 2001

[jeremiah]

Again, it has probably been posted….

---

Live Shots
BY MICHAEL CHAMY

March 16, 2001:

J Mascis, Ron Asheton, Mike Watt
Tower Records, Friday 16
Back in the early Eighties, Dinosaur Jr. formed from the remains of J Mascis’ old hardcore punk band Deep Wound, and the era’s hardcore movement remained a strong influence on Dinosaur’s early material. To longtime fans, therefore, it came as no surprise that Mascis and Fog member Mike Watt, another SST underground hero whose music was informed by punk rock, lured Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton to join them at both their Thursday night South by Southwest showcase and at Friday’s in-store at Tower Records on the Drag. Though Thursday’s roaring show at Emo’s featured as much Mascis as Stooges, the Tower show was a Stooges revue through and through. Two generations of sweaty, fiery rockers belted out the proto-punk anthems that served as the grimy, blood-splattered ground floor for everything to come, from Rotten to Rage. The frosty-bearded bassist Watt, clad in a jean jacket, took center stage, relegating Mascis, sporting a black Sabbath T-shirt, to the unfamiliar role of sideman. The set consisted entirely of songs off the Stooges’ first two albums, and if Watt can’t quite match Iggy Pop’s stage presence, he definitely pulled off the trick in terms of sheer volume and intensity. "I Wanna Be Your Dog" found the ex-Minuteman pouring out every ounce of raw-throated, vein-bulging fire in a primal punk display that was even more jarring given the squeaky clean Tower backdrop. The stout, goateed Asheton kept to the front of the stage, poking his guitar out in true interactive form. The first-generation punk legend looked hardly any older than either Watt or the frosty-haired Mascis, who spent the entire show bobbing his mop up and down as he churned out wild screeching solos and his trademark fuzzy wah sound to complement the piston-charged rhythms of Watt, Asheton and ex-Dinosaur drummer George Berz. A smattering of old-schoolers in attendance got their rocks off in a big way, but even the later generation couldn’t escape the crushing waves of sound ping-ponging off the store’s high walls and ceiling. Unfortunately for those there to see Mascis, the tightly knit Motor City romps left little room for the Bostonian to stretch out with his wild, elongated solos, nor did he take a single turn up to the mike. But that was a moot point by the time the foursome churned out a roaring version of "No Fun," a runaway locomotive that slammed into the sound barrier, causing a violent aural explosion that brought the fiery affair to a fitting conclusion.

---

Original Source + picture : http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2001-03-16/music_live20.html

[Author]

Posts