Four albums and roughly a decade since the members of the original Dinosaur Jr. triumphed over their own fragile egos to reunite, one of indie rock’s most infamously rivalrous outfits is now officially its unlikeliest institution. More importantly, it’s an institution that stops through Nashville somewhat regularly to deliver one of those most consistent rock shows on the road.
The Spin walked into a crowded Cannery Ballroom Thursday night and was promptly greeted by the opening number from long-running power-sleaze outfit Easy Action, featuring veteran vocalist John Brannon, whose credibility rivaled and likely trumped that of anyone in the room. Having fronted pioneering ’80s hardcore act Negative Approach and scuzzy art-rockers Laughing Hyenas in the ’90s, Brannon’s presence was not surprising, given Dino frontman J Mascis’ unabashed adoration of hardcore punk. Brannon’s signature howl was front and center with Easy Action, backed by muscle-bound aggro-punk riffs and blistering drums. It’s a sound you can’t quite describe as “throwback,” seeing as how it’s delivered by a dude who helped invent it. (Side note: Brannon is one of the most unlikely and entertaining figures in social media if you’re not already hip to that.)
By now a rather-packed room with with an age range mostly in the 35-to-50 zone — mostly male — Cannery erupted in welcoming applause as the elder statesmen of self-coined “ear-bleeding country” took the stage. Dino Jr. opened with “Thumb” from 1991’s Green Mind, and a familiar pattern began to emerge: alternating between cuts from the band’s remarkable post-reunion career and anthems from previous eras. This was the Dinosaur Jr. set we all anticipated when we bought our tickets.
Where You Been’s “Start Choppin” (1993), Green Mind’s “The Wagon,” 1994 Buzz Bin staple “Feel the Pain” and even the surprisingly included “Mountain Man” (bassist Lou Barlow’s lone vocal contribution to Dinosaur Jr.’s self-titled 1985 debut) were interspersed between newer jams like “Watch the Corners” from 2012’s I Bet on Sky and “Love Is” from last year’s Give a Glimpse of What You’re Not.
Though their initial reunion tour included only material from the first four albums made by Dino’s classic lineup, it wasn’t long before they started dipping into fan faves from the post-Barlow major label era, and the results have been nothing short of fantastic. Barlow’s simultaneously deft, nimble and punishing bass riffs lend songs that were initially recorded without him a rich and vibrant sense of life — a feel we wouldn’t have otherwise realized was missing. Though he played very little on the band’s ’90s output (essentially to a series of J Mascis solo albums), ever-affable drummer Emmett Jefferson “Murph” Murphy III was a reassuring presence.
Mascis — half-surrounded by a complex of superfluous amplifiers — has never given us reason to expect much in the way of crowd banter. The notoriously tight-lipped and silver-maned guitar god swapped axes between almost every song, proceeding to noodle aimlessly for 10 to 30 seconds before unceremoniously launching into the next item on the set list.
With a little coaxing, the band returned to the stage for an encore featuring a supercharged cover of The Cure’s signature 1987 anthem “Just Like Heaven.” For the grand finale, the band was joined onstage by the aforementioned Brannon, who played with Mascis and Barlow in their pre-Dino hardcore act Deep Wound. Though the back of the room was swiftly emptying, a rendition of The Stooges’ “TV Eye” sent an ecstatic shot of adrenaline through the room and closed the night with the kind of good vibes and volume that only a couple old pros can still bring us.
