The dream of the ’90s was alive and well in Detroit Thursday, as noise-driven indie rock heroes Dinosaur Jr. brought its feedback- and solo-heavy show to a heavily earplugged crowd at Saint Andrew’s Hall.
Guitarist J Mascis, surrounded by stacks of Marshall speakers, delivered walls of sludgy distortion, cranked at a level so high it was like a terrorist act against your eardrums. Framed by his long, ghost-white hair, he stood in place and played as if he was still a stoned teenager in his parents’ basement making as much noise as humanly possible, as if in a competition with himself for how loud he could get. He awkwardly waved to the crowd near the show’s close, one of the few times he interacted with the crowd.
Drummer Murph and bassist/vocalist Lou Barlow aided Mascis as they drove through the band’s nearly 30-year catalog, including the band’s latest, this month’s quite good “I Bet on Sky.” It was a close-your-eyes, get-lost-in-the-sound kind-of night, like a ’90s fever dream come-to-life. Dinosaur Jr. hasn’t changed a bit; 10 years from now, they’ll still sound like 1993, and that’s perfect.
Barlow. (Adam Graham/ Detroit News)
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