Music

Dinosaur Jr. At Sonic Boom In Toronto

by Ciaran Thompson

In the basement of Sonic Boom, a small audience has turned into a large audience. And a large audience has turned into a pit of sweaty bodies squeezed together around the rug covered corner stage.  Seeing the number of amps, which is practically three times less than at any other Dinosaur show, nobody bothers to give up their spot for ear protection. Finally the trio arrives and sets up, but the man behind the kit is new. “This is Mike,” singer J Mascis says. “They wouldn’t let Murph into your fine country this time.”

Later that night, Dinosaur Jr. played a sold out show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, as part of a a tour that will take them all the way to Singapore in support of their latest album, Farm. Their ninth studio album and second since re-uniting in 2005, the band takes no new musical direction on this album and delivers hard alternative rock tunes.

With no set list and a limited amount of time, Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow and Mike get down to jamming and look to each other between songs for someone to decide what to play next. “Play Goin’ Home” a member of the audience yells. Coolly Mascis replies, “sorry, don’t know it.” A band that has been around for this long isn’t going to let anyone tell them what to do. After a half hour of playing songs such as “The Wagon” and “Repulsion,” the band wishes the crowd good evening and hopes to see them later that night.