The SPOT anniversary show is always an event to behold. I’ve seen some amazing shows over years: Avail with Hot Water Music and Radon, Against Me! with Smoke or Fire and the Soviettes, so on and so forth. But this year promised to be one of the most amazing anniversary shows ever because somehow the fine folks at SPOT pulled a major coup, and got the legendary Dinosaur Jr. to play a one off show to celebrate their 14th year in existence. To say that I was excited was an understatement.

Dinosaur Jr. was one of those bands like the Pixies, Husker Du or Mudhoney that sparked my interest in all things alternative and punk. I remember staying up late on Sundays to watch 120 Minutes and seeing the video for Feel the Pain, instantly getting hooked. I never got to see Dinosaur Jr. (or Sebadoh either) when I was in my teens, so now I would finally get the chance. And that they were playing with the Beat Buttons, one of favorite newer indie bands, was only icing on the cake.

We arrived at the Cuban Club to a huge line and the Beat Buttons already playing, but luckily we got tickets in advance so our wait wasn’t as bad as it could have been. One thing that disappointed me was the lack in execution of getting the free beer wrist bands out in an efficient way. If you’re going to advertise 14 free kegs of PBR, then don’t have one random guy at a table passing out wrist bands to well over 500 people. The lines for a beer would be a reoccurring theme that would haunt me the whole night through.

Like every other time that I’ve seen them, the Beat Buttons were on point, focusing largely on playing songs off of their Self Titled CD. What I love about them is that the bass and drums really push the music, where as the vocals and guitar almost mimic each other, carrying the melody. If you’ve never heard them, then you have no idea what you are missing. The venue’s sound definitely left something to be desired during their set which put a bit of a damper on things for me.

I ventured out to get a drink thinking that I’d be able to hit the bar, and then hurry back to see Dinosaur’s whole set. Literally and hour later I was finally close to getting one, and Dinosaur Jr. was already 30 minutes into their show. The bartenders made absolutely no effort into expediting things. There were not enough of them to service the amount of people at the show, and those that were there talked to one another more than they actually poured. At least I got to hear Freak Scene and Feel the Pain even if I didn’t get to see it close up.

I was able to catch the rest of the show from the side of the stage and I’ll be damned if they weren’t impressive. They sounded as tight and amazing as the first time I heard them so many years ago. The guitar dork in me was very excited by the amount of awesome amps that J. Mascis played through, making him sound loud and dirty like on their older releases. And besides the fact that J. has long grey hair making him resemble a witch, it was hard to tell that the members were well in their 40’s. They definitely played a long, very spirited set which made all of the beer line hassle not seem as bad.

It was just awesome to see them play songs from their 10+ year career. It was even more awesome to witness them play with their original lineup. I’ve heard that they recorded a new album that will be out sometime this year, so hopefully there is no bad blood between the members which was the driving force with Lou Barlow exiting the band way before they even had their minor radio hit. Hell, maybe they’ll even tour for the new record!

I like the review and the analysis of Dinosaur Jr.’s playing.

After the skating on Friday there was a party at a place called the
Cuban Club with music provided by Dinosaur Jr. and free beer provided
by the skatepark. The show was insane, about 3 thousand people showed up for the beer and Dinosaur Jr. Around 10pm, three really old sketchy looking dudes got on stage, without an introduction or anything, and J mascis went to the mic and said, “I’m wearing my dino shoesâ€