Billboard Central Park review

[King Tubby]

So they opened with "Lose," huh? I guess the reviewer hasn’t yet heard Dino’s first album. And to say Broken Social Scene were "amazing live" has got to be the colossal overstatement of the year. "Passable," or "not insufferable," is more like it….

July 20, 2005

Dinosaur Jr. / July 14, 2005 / New York (Central Park SummerStage)

Forget about those overblown, money-driven gigs most reunited bands zombie their way through, for the true Dinosaur of rock music has raised the stakes by staging the real comeback in the year of unlikely reunions. Ten years ago — hell, even 5 years ago — the idea of putting J. Mascis and Lou Barlow in the same room together, let alone a tour bus, was laughable at best.

In the advent of the bitter split of the original Dinosaur Jr. in 1989 after a trifecta of groundbreaking albums that took the punk sound to new, psychedelic heights, these two underground titans wanted nothing to do with one another. Mascis continued on as Dinosaur Jr. with original drummer Murph and recorded a spate of spotty material for Sire Records before dissolving the group in the mid-’90s. Barlow split his talent in threes, recording under the guises of Sebadoh, Sentridoh and the Folk Implosion and helping to give life to the burgeoning lo-fi movement of the late 20th century.

However, following Merge Records’ long-awaited reissues of 1985’s "Dinosaur," 1987’s seminal "You’re Living All Over Me" and 1988’s "Bug," Barlow and Mascis shocked the alt nation by squashing their beef and choosing to celebrate Dinosaur Jr.’s 20th anniversary with a summer tour of the original lineup.

The sold-out crowd packed inside Central Park’s SummerStage area had more than a few skeptics in their midst, and rightfully so. With nearly 15 years of bad blood between them, would these guys be able to pull it off? Well, from the moment the opening chords to "Lose" erupted from the PA, the answer was resoundingly clear.

Armed with a set that stuck strictly to the first three LPs, the original Dinosaur Jr. made its first NYC show together since 1989 one for the ages. His large frame sauntering around stage with a long mane of graying hair flailing against the wind of his dynamic guitar chopping, Mascis looked like a fatter, healthier Johnny Winter, and played just as fiercely, especially during burning renditions of the super heavy "Sludgefeast" and the "Bug" highlight "No Bones".

Barlow maintained a steady bottom line throughout the performance, reminding you just how good of a bass player he really is when he’s not crying into his lyric sheets. He took lead vocals occasionally, particularly for songs from the first album. And Murph, who has maintained a relatively low profile since the initial dissolution of Dinosaur Jr., was a madman on his drum kit, a sonic octopus who laced every song with fills of fury and rumbling backbeats that were at times overshadowed by the volume of Mascis’ guitar.

When they came out for an encore to deliver an explosive version of the Cure’s "Just Like Heaven", it was loud enough to make you forget who even opened up for them: a Broken Social whosit, something about a Radio and two ladies who made a noisy racket like a remedial Sonic Youth.

Actually, Broken Social Scene were amazing live, in spite of having to play without group member Jason Newfeld, who got arrested and allegedly beaten up by NYC cops for trying to score pot in Washington Square Park the night before. Didn’t they learn from David Lee Roth?

— Ron Hart, N.Y.

[crazycloud]

hey thats a damn good review … it looks like the author picked up his starbucks thesarus before writing it.

[Author]

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