Dinosaur Jr

The anticipation for tonight’s performance increases exponentially with every excruciating minute before Dinosaur JR – albeit lacking drummer Murph due to illness – eventually emerge to a hero’s welcome.

Beginning, surprisingly, with a cranked-up version of ‘Thumb’ from 1991’s Green Mind (the first record not to feature founding member, Lou Barlow), the set soon doles out the fan favourites in quick succession – from the epic melodic noise-fest of ‘The Lung’ to the spluttering singalongs of ‘Freak Scene’ and ‘Feel The Pain’. Despite picking rather frugally from last year’s Farm, nearly every facet of the band’s sprawling back catalogue is touched on, however briefly, and despite a near-drastic loss of vocals in the mix tonight, sonically, the band are on top form.

Mascis’ guitar-led ear butchery is particularly potent tonight; the grey-haired shredder effortlessly spraying solos into the air and casually swaying like a kid in his bedroom, whilst Barlow’s energies manifest themselves in a much more physical fashion, battering his rich bass tones from wall to wall, with every collective note meeting a sea of smiles and raised fists.