Chicago 10/15

[King Tubby]

Despite my increasing feeling that the band needs to take a break and recharge after these past few years of constant touring, I have to say that they were as good as I’ve ever seen them last night. They’ve definitely settled into a deep groove, and J rarely — if ever, except when he’s getting ready to end a solo — looks off to his left, but he doesn’t have to, since Lou and Murph are locked in so damn tight. The set was:

Thumb
In A Jar
(from here it’s out of order)
Swan
Get Me
Pieces
Plans (which sounded amazing — J seemed the most into playing this one)
Over It
Imagination Blind
Back to Your Heart
I Want You to Know
Wagon
Feel the Pain
Freak

Encore:
Heaven
The Lung

It looked like J and Lou were getting ready to play I Don’t Wanna Go There to end the main set, but Murph jumped up and pointed at the obnoxious digital clock on the stage, which evidently showed that they were getting close to cut-off time.

(When the fuck did that start happening, by the way? It seems like shows in most venues these days have curfews — back in the day [to pull the old man card], bands played for however long they felt like playing. Why is fun these days so totally regulated straight up the goddamn ass?)

J looked momentarily confused, then suddenly said "Thank you, good night" and walked off with Murph, leaving Lou standing there wondering what just happened. While I could’ve done without Just Like Heaven (which, along with Freak Scene, has replaced Feel the Pain on my "must be deep-sixed" list), the version of The Lung they ended the show with was ferocious.

The band looked well rested, and J’s playing and singing were totally spot-on. I like how Lou for this tour is locked in tight with Murph on stage, hanging next the drums for basically the whole show. It’s like a comfortable acknowledgement of the Dino dynamic: J and his Marshall mountain being supported by Lou and Murph (who played great too — he was really hammering away and throwing in lots of great fills all night). Something about it visually screams "team-work!" to me.

Lou and the Missingmen were good. Sensitive indie boy stuff isn’t my bag, but the breezy countrified style of a lot of the songs was both a sonic contrast to the Dino assault that would follow, and a stylistic bridge. The relative mellowness of the set, though, makes it seem (to me, anyway) more suited to a sit-down venue with cafe tables than a beer-swilling standing crowd that’s waiting to be blown away. The crowd finally took to it by the end, though. But it did take a while (for me too, honestly).

So, overall, a great show. I’ll see them once more in Minneapolis, and then that might be it for a while. Unless, of course, they just keep going like the Energizer bunny.

[Obseqio]

Honestly I hadn’t noticed just how much Dinosaur has been on tour since 2005 until I looked on freesofree.com and looked it up. I hadn’t seen J since the solo tour in 2002 and Dinosaur since the 1997 tour before they broke up. So I’m just getting back into it and ready for the next time they come to town which I expect will be next year some time.

Sorry to hear that they seemed like they were on a tight schedule especially because you may have missed ‘I don’t wanna go there’ That doesn’t seem cool at all. I agree with you though the band sounds tight and I really hope that it will begin to expand from there i.e. more tunes that fans want to hear that are rare. Personally, I’d love to hear two album sets with just them and no opener. On a marketing level I think a lot of fans would go for this peaking interest in those who in might be waning.

[King Tubby]

At least I got to see them play I Don’t Wanna Go There in DeKalb back in the spring, so I don’t feel as ripped off as I otherwise might. But I was really looking forward to it.

[marcoco]

Great assessment of the vibe onstage, Tubby. I agree completely, Murph and Lou on the right just absolutely seem locked in, Murph wailing and Lou totally jamming, it’s a lot of fun seeing them play. And J in front of the Marshalls, kind of swaying to the songs… always enjoy seeing them in that zone.

Totally lame about the "timer" thing, glad you got to hear "I don’t wanna…" in Dekalb. It was one one of the highlights for me at the Madison gig.

[Annastefka]

"King Tubby" wrote:

Despite my increasing feeling that the band needs to take a break and recharge after these past few years of constant touring, I have to say that they were as good as I’ve ever seen them last night. They’ve definitely settled into a deep groove, and J rarely — if ever, except when he’s getting ready to end a solo — looks off to his left, but he doesn’t have to, since Lou and Murph are locked in so damn tight.

So glad to hear it. Makes me feel happy for the band (and the customers), although I still think I’m gonna watch the rest of this go down from a distance…your words are swoon "y" for the Gemini…..after finding Lou attractive this morning, taking lunch to my guy in a most romantic way and then coming back to Freakscene this afternoon and getting turned on by the words you chose to use in your review of the show….I have to agree with my Latina Scorpio friend..it’s probably best to refrain from writing on the computer after ingesting "cannabutter" cookies while ovulating.

I need to get back to Putting on Thomas the Train videos and peeling potatoes.

[xindeed]

Yes!

…to the review, not the cannabutter stuff…

[Annastefka]

…… .

[alosaur]

I didn’t make it last night but my brother went, and mentioned the weird ending to the first set. I saw them in Philly last Friday and they rocked but it was so hot. I had to see Them Crooked Vultures last night which rocked too.

[alosaur]

"Obseqio" wrote:

Honestly I hadn’t noticed just how much Dinosaur has been on tour since 2005 until I looked on freesofree.com and looked it up. I hadn’t seen J since the solo tour in 2002 and Dinosaur since the 1997 tour before they broke up. So I’m just getting back into it and ready for the next time they come to town which I expect will be next year some time.

Sorry to hear that they seemed like they were on a tight schedule especially because you may have missed ‘I don’t wanna go there’ That doesn’t seem cool at all. I agree with you though the band sounds tight and I really hope that it will begin to expand from there i.e. more tunes that fans want to hear that are rare. Personally, I’d love to hear two album sets with just them and no opener. On a marketing level I think a lot of fans would go for this peaking interest in those who in might be waning.

I think they have played more shows since 2005 then they did when they were together originally.

[tom_in_chicago]

"alosaur" wrote:

[
I think they have played more shows since 2005 then they did when they were together originally.

by *far*. Unless the lists on Freesofree are incomplete, the original lineup only played 89 shows from 1985-1989. They are playing 113 Dinosaur shows *this year*.

2005 59 Dino/6 J
2006 73 Dino/3 J
2007 99 Dino/5 J/34 Sebadoh
2008 44 Dino/4 J/16 Sebadoh/18 Witch
2009 113 Dino/4 J+Fog/1 Witch/36 Lou+Missingmen

388 Dinosaur
18 J
50 Sebadoh
19 Witch
4 J+Fog
36 Lou+Missingmen

I’m sure Sebadoh had a ton of gigs from 1991-1999 but I’d bet this is the most either J or Lou have been on the road their entire careers. This is great for the bank account, obviously, but rather hard on their wives (well, on Lou’s wife at least — can’t imagine Luisa is any different) with 2 young children and another arriving within a month. Being a single mom and a single, very pregnant mom for months on end kinda sucks.

[Author]

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