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J Mascis
Reviewed by George Palathingal
May 5 2003Gaelic Club, May 2
The lights are still up and the DJ is still spinning country-rock when alt-rock legend J Mascis trundles onto the stage.
The man who gained his reputation as the principal force behind early-’90s indie darlings Dinosaur Jr is flying solo for this tour, so the stage has been cleared except for a chair next to a table, a microphone and an electro-acoustic guitar. Looking somewhat goofy with his long, greying hair spilling over his ears from under a baseball cap, Mascis sits and tunes up his guitar.
When he’s satisfied, he gets up, fishes a plectrum out of his jeans and places it, along with the crumpled set list sticking out of his shirt pocket, on the table. He sits down, guitar in hand, and waits patiently for the DJ to notice. A couple of minutes later, the country-rock stops and Mascis begins [shame on the DJ
FC]It’s about as odd and low-key as entrances get, which befits Mascis: an eccentric rock icon who never sold out and who to this day lets his music do the talking.
Apart from his voice, which veers between a moan and a croak, the electro-acoustic is the only instrument Mascis uses during this show – but as few can make a guitar sing like he can, this is rarely a problem. By suddenly switching between electric and acoustic midsong, he further keeps his audience on its toes.
Though on lesser songs this technique can feel more like a gimmick, on his best material it thrills. Such as when, a couple of tracks into the set, Mascis cranks up the volume and launches into Dinosaur’s most beloved song, and perennial indie-disco floor-filler, Freak Scene.
This provides the first instance where you really notice that, for someone whose body movement is restricted, his fingers can really move. It’s a pleasure to watch them dance up and down his fretboard, whether he’s picking out the dissonant, bittersweet melodies for which he’s famous or power-strumming with abandon.
The songs from the current Mascis album, Free So Free, achieve a new poignancy when stripped back to vocals and guitar, indicating their strength. While If That’s How It’s Gotta Be and Everybody Lets Me Down somehow become even more heartbreaking, the set- and album-opener, Freedom, and Set Us Free become warm, almost folksy protest songs.
But the best moment of the evening comes with a rendition of Dinosaur’s Get Me. With a guitar line that starts gorgeously before howling in near tangible pain, it makes you wonder if any other instrument ever spoke so vividly. It’s a memorable display. Especially from someone who revealed recently to the Herald that he’d rather drum.
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