Dinosaur Jr. guitar slinger/vocalist J Mascis has turned the volume and gone it alone on his most recent tour in the wake of his excellent Elastic Days release. The Friday night December 7th show at Brooklyn’s intimate Rough Trade (a great record shop/small venue) sold out weeks in advance and whether it was the overflowing VIP balcony or the pleasant crowd on the sticky GA floor there was a palpable joy in the air on this night.
The Sub Pop labelmates Luluc originally from Australia, now from down the block in Brooklyn, opened the show with a set focused on their newest release Sculptor. The duo of Zoë Randell and Steven Hassett blend vocals in pretty fashion as they are supported with acoustic guitars, light buzzy feedback and interesting harmonies. The group played with soft levels of skittering digital beats for songs like “Cambridge”, “Sculptor” and “Genius” before the duo closed their set with “Me and Jasper”. Hassett set the crowd up for the headliner mentioning he was doing his J Mascis impression as J played a solo on the album version of their set closing song.
Instantly Mascis seemed more confident then he has on past solo outings strolling onto the small stage. Where on past tours J has played sitting down surround by his comfortable wall of pedals, this outing finds him upright for the first time, strumming with power. Opening with “Thumb” yelps instantly erupted from the fans and while Murph and Lou Barlows’ energy was missed, J’s solo take started off the night in direct fashion.
An early highlight was when Randell re-emerged to lend her vocals to “I Went Dust” just as she did on Elastic Days, her soothing vocals mixed with J’s six strings. All areas of Mascis’s career were touched upon as “Ammaring” showed up from his Fog days (complete with loops and buzzing solos) and “Heal the Star” from Tied to A Star, one of his earlier acoustic release.
Mascis used his pedals like a maestro ending the main set with three lesser played Dinosaur Jr. tracks, all of which showcased different levels of J’s wizardry as well as his supped up Gibson and effects board. “The Wagon” kicked off this closing run with huge echoes before the upbeat strumming of “Not You Again” devolved into a noisy break while set-closer “Alone” winningly employed swirling multiple levels of feedback, noise and wah-wah to blissfully gorgeous stoner rock levels.
The encore was nailed by two perfect covers, J’s classic take on “Just Like Heaven” started things but his rendition of Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” worked even better, ending an excellent night of music from an increasingly strong solo performer and guitar hero.
