Music Today Black Cat DC live show review 10:28:00

[OriginalPosterLost]

ummmm… it was so fuckin’ awesome. AND i got to talk to mike watt. gregarious man, that onE.

http://www.musictoday.com/news/livereview/mas.asp

J Mascis and the Fog
October 28, 2000
Black Cat, DC

review

The climate was right. It was neither cold nor hot, and the air was mild. Clearly, there was something in the air this particular fall night. Daylight savings would happen later in the evening (read: one more hour to rock), and the Fog was on the horizon.

It has been three years since J Mascis, the former Dinosaur Jr. frontman, took an electric rock band out on a full tour, so there was probably as much anticipation as anxiety floating around the Black Cat for both the audience and band, alike. The more than 400 people gathered in the intimate D.C. venue for an evening of blistering guitar rock were clearly elated from the outset to witness guitar antics from one of today’s most renowned axeman. Sweetening the deal, punk rock journeyman Mike Watt held down bass duties, playing the "thud staff" (as he likes to call it), while the locomotive kit-handling exhibition by George Berz proved that this formation of musicians was a power trio in the truest sense of the phrase.

Following longer than usual pre-performance stall tactics, the Fog took the stage shortly after midnight, immediately crushing out "Sameday," the lead track from J’s recent return-to-form More Light. The mix was superb and the audience—comprised of old fans (as evidenced by the numerous "boy in front of monster" T-shirts from way back in the day) and new—ate up every raucous bit. Mike Watt added pleasantly indecipherable back-up vocals, while Mascis did what he does best: he put on a guitar clinic representing the history of Dinosaur Jr.

Mascis pulled lightly from the newer material, only playing about half the tracks from More Light. "Waistin’," "Where’d You Go," and "I’m Not Fine" sounded tight and well-rehearsed, but it was clear that the restless concertgoers weren’t completely satisfied until Dinosaur Jr. classics "Little Fury Things," "Out There," "Get Me," and "The Lung" came pouring through the noticeably shaking PA. After a healthy set of tunes, there was no way the crowd was going to let Mascis and crew retreat into the night without at least one ear-numbing encore. The Fog obliged, playing a four-song salvo that kicked-off with the feedback-noise experiment "More Light." The song featured Mascis playing two instruments simultaneously—some sort of keyboard/sampler contraption, and his guitar—a sight reminiscent of the classic street musician who can play a zillion things at once and sound good. The final two songs of the night couldn’t have been any better selected. The seldom-performed "Freak Scene" jolted one last bit of adrenaline into all the rockers prior to the band’s last call, an extended version of the classic "The Wagon."

As the tired group of stalwarts emptied into the beleaguered Capitol City streets with an extra hour of sleep yet to come (remember, it was daylight savings), it was nice to see that the Dinosaur, in whatever form it takes, is nowhere near extinction. Literally, J. Mascis and the Fog produced More Light for the people; and at least Daylight Savings offered more rest, something that everyone required after this beautifully exhausting showcase of musical talent.

by Bret Booth

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