In their first official show of their world tour, Dinosaur Jr. treated last night’s show in West Hollywood like the warm-up gig that they probably booked it as – sticking to new songs, tracks from the first two records, and only a few of the hits, including that Cure cover that sounds exactly like the Cure.

They also seemed to forget to hire a competent sound man as the one running the board last night either hated J Mascis’ subtle and easy-going vocals, or was memorized by the guitarist’s blistering leads too much to equalize the levels.

Booming bass dominated the mix at the Troubadour last night and the vocals were all but absent during the first half of the hour-long show. But nothing could stop the shrieking leads from cutting through, and that’s what most of the people wanted – shredding. And they got just that.

Almost half of Dinosaur’s set included new songs from their recently released cd Beyond which will satisfy any fan of Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow, and drummer Murph. It’s classic Dinosaur with sweet lyrics, plenty of guitar, solid rhythm, and enough magic that you thank the stars above for this amazing band… who have sweet, melancholy vocals… which would have been nice to hear last night.

In fact some say the contrast between Mascis’ dry, casual singing and his barbed, aggressive, metal-tinged guitarwork is one of the secret weapons of this band. Hopefully they will get this fixed as they travel around the country this summer before hopping the pond to open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and play huge fests in Europe.

One thing we really did like seeing was Henry Rollins in the audience. The show was sponsored by Indie 103, where Rollins has a show for two hours a week. But instead of pulling the VIP move and climbing up the stairs of the Troubadour and watching the show from the special balcony in front of The Loft, Rollins stood in the back of the club, center, right in front of the bar, and grooved his head just like any normal fan there. Rock on, Henry.

Setlist:

The Lung
It’s Me
Lightning Bulb
Back to Your Heart
What If I Knew…
Little Fury Things
Pick Me Up
This is All I Came to Do
Feel The Pain
Forget the Swan
Freak Scene
Sludgefeast
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Just Like Heaven