Are Your Ears Ringing?
If you woke up Tuesday morning and your ears were ringing, you were probably at the Dinosaur Jr concert at Webster Hall. That ringing in your ears is the sound of you ear cells dying. Its pretty ironic how the presence of a sound lets you know youre going deaf.
So basically, Dinosaur Jr still play deafeningly loud, even after all these years. Even with earplugs in, the sound was as loud as going without earplugs at a non-Dinosaur Jr concert. As I looked around me at all of the future hearing-aid users, I couldnt help but wonder how anyone could show up to a Dinosaur Jr concert without earplugs. All these young fans seemed unaffected by the sheer volume pulsating through the speakers. Were they already deaf? Probably. Aside from being violently loud, J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph put on a solid show, playing plenty of their early material, that opened the doors for grunge, as well as songs from their wonderful new album, Beyond.
In cooperation with the animal theme presented by sponsor Camel and headliner Dinosaur Jr, Dr Dog opened the nights show. The always-impressive Philadelphia band once again conquered a crowd with material off of their 2007 hit, We All Belong, which is easily one of the best albums of the year. The band was highly energetic bouncing around the stage while their catchy pop fused with Helter Skelter-riffs had much of the crowd bouncing along with them. For the nights most ironic momentin a room glowing with Camel signage, Dr Dog performed from song Die Die Die. The song opens with the line It turns out cigarettes can kill you, which kind of felt like the bands own surgeon generals warning.
Dr. Dog will be back in town to play Bowery Ballroom on November 9th, after playing a bunch of shows across the U.S. with Wilco.
Dinosaur Jr
Dinosaur Jr
Dr Dog
Dr Dog
Dr Dog
Photos courtesy of [Jonny-Leather]