Dinosaur Jr. live at Vicar Street in Dublin last night. Photos by Aaron Corr
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Dinosaur Jr. have announced a Dublin show as part of a forthcoming UK and Ireland tour. As well as playing Manchester, Hull and Glasgow, the J Mascis-fronted trio return to Dublin’s Vicar Sreet on Sunday, March 27 2022. The band last played the venue – and Dublin generally – back in November 2016. Tickets for the show go on sale at 9 am on Thursday, July 29th. Photo by Cara Totman.
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Not least since their much-heralded 2005 reunion, Dinosaur Jr shows have always been something of a foregone conclusion in that the following facts will almost always hold sway throughout: it will be “should-really-have-brought-earplugs” loud; the band probably won’t verbally interact with each other and – perhaps most assured of all – those who kneel at the altar of J Mascis will spend the entire mass show gawking at the frontman, agog, often open-mouthed and expectant of the next face-melting solo. Having had its doors darkened by many a revered figure this year, Dublin’s Vicar Street is no exception to that trifecta tonight.…
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“All I know is that we play hard and a lot of this shit is not fun. Playing is great but the way we live is not the life of a rockstar.” Henry Rollins’ classic tour diary Get In The Van is an hilarious and often harrowing reminder of how deeply unglamorous life on the road was for Black Flag and their hardcore and college rock contemporaries. The leading lights of that scene eventually found financial reward from their sterling work in the pre-Nevermind era, with greatest hits tours by Jane’s Addiction, The Pixies and the Replacements finding them before huge audiences that were simply inconceivable…
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To say Lou Barlow needs no introduction would be something of a colossal understatement. A founding member of Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and the Folk Implosion, Barlow is both a veritable indie rock hero and lo-fi pioneer par excellence. Having recently released his third solo album, Brace The Wave, Barlow reveals and waxes lyrical about some of his favourite tracks discovered via apps like Shazam, including Crain, Sauna Youth and Dublin’s Girl Band. I love the music-identifying apps on my phone, Shazam and SoundHound. If I hear something and don’t know what it is I tap one of these and aim my phone.…
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Currently celebrating their grand 30th anniversary with a seven-night run at the Bowery, Dinosaur Jr. have long laid claim to being bona fide indie rock dignitaries. From their 1985 self-titled debut as Dinosaur and almighty 87-89 heyday to Lou Barlow’s acrimonious departure shortly thereafter and the founding threesome of Barlow, J Mascis and Murph’s Second Coming in 2007, they have time and again re-asserted their peerless status. With every glorious hook, “Come on down/over” and fuzzed out, wailing guitar solo in mind, we’ve compiled a thirty-track Spotify playlist of our very favourite Dinosaur Jr. songs in chronological order. Check it out and keep up…
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Hands down one of the most important artists of a generation, Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis brought his stripped-back solo show to Dublin’s Whelan’s on Monday night (January, 12). Support on the night came from Lucluc. Check out Shaun Neary’s photos from the show below.
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Dinosaur Jr. frontman and bona fide axe-wielding demigod (check that – God) J Mascis is streaming a new track, ‘Every Morning’. Taken from his forthcoming second solo album, Tied To A Star, the track is pretty much an alchemical blueprint of Mascis’ songwriting style – unmistakably languid vocals, masterfully simple lyrics (“Won’t you see me?”, evocative of “You won’t see me…” from Dinosaur Jr.’s ‘The Wagon‘) and his classically melodic, Neil Young-influenced lead lines. Tied To A Star is released on August 25. Stream ‘Every Morning’ below.
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I looked down at my wrist. I held the scissors in my other hand, almost trembling with excitement. Or was it fear? I couldn’t say. Closing my eyes, I felt the pressure in my fingers, and heard the gentle sound of metal slicing through ribbon. After three years of wearing my ATP 2011 wristband, I removed it, like a surgeon operating on a tumour. I still hadn’t slept properly since The End of an Era Part 1, the first half of the festival’s great farewell, but the magic had been broken. If this was the end, then it was a…
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Until this point, noise-mongers Dinosaur Jr had never sounded so upbeat. Indeed, this seemed to be the moment that the entire American indie underground came out of its shell and decided to have some fun. But little did anyone know, this upbeat ode to joy was soon to become a fond farewell to the idealism and camaraderie of a scene that had fundamentally altered the lives of many. Goodbye indie charm, hello corporate clout. By 1988, Dinosaur Jr had silenced most of the doubters. The somnambulistic three piece had originally been the butt of many a joke, with their sloppy,…