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********start*********Dinosaur Jr.: Beg, Borrow And Wail

September 1, 2006

By ERIC R. DANTON, Courant Rock Critic
Despite the theft of all of the band’s guitars and cymbals the night before, Dinosaur Jr. managed to pulverize Toad’s Place in New Haven Wednesday with borrowed and rented instruments.

Someone broke into the influential alt-rock band’s trailer Tuesday night at the trio’s hotel in Long Island City, N.Y., and stole five guitars, two basses and some other gear, including guitarist J Mascis’ custom pedal board, the collection of electronic effects and gadgets that allows the taciturn musician to turn his guitar sound into a howling vortex of overdriven rock-sludge.

Somehow, Mascis managed without, and though bassist Lou Barlow tried to lower expectations at the start – "This is kind of a sad show for us, but we’ll do our best," he said – Dinosaur Jr. roared through a 75-minute set like it was 1988 all over again.

That was a good thing. The Amherst, Mass., band’s contributions to the ’80s alt-rock underground helped the movement break into the mainstream in the ’90s. Fraying relations in the band led to Barlow’s departure in 1989, but the original lineup – including Murph on drums – reunited last year with a series of club shows and a spot on Lollapalooza.

The set list Wednesday wasn’t vastly different from a show last summer in Northampton, Mass., (though Barlow seemed to sing lead on more tunes this time) as the band thundered through songs from its first three albums on a murky stage wreathed in smoke from a machine that spit out bursts of fog at regular intervals during the set.

Mascis’ guitar shrieked like a jet engine pushed to the point of disintegration on "Kracked," and it sounded as if the gnashing distortion he dialed in on "Sludgefeast" was blasting through smoldering speakers with cracked cones. Surely Doomsday won’t be any louder than "Little Fury Things," and there was a moment or two when the noise from road construction outside the club seemed to mesh with the sonic maelstrom raging inside.

After an hourlong main set, the band returned for a three-song encore, including two of its most loved songs: a squalling cover of the Cure’s "Just Like Heaven" and its own "Freak Scene," a catchy nod to dysfunction. Barlow seemed to have technical difficulty with his borrowed bass on the latter tune, but by that point, Dinosaur Jr. had already demonstrated that a little theft can’t stop rock ‘n’ roll.

Contact Eric R. Danton at edanton@courant.com