Dinosaur Jr. are to play 10 nights in Great Britain this May, touring in support of their latest album, 2009′s Farm. The band will be joined by Boise, Idaho’s Built To Spill.

Tour dates:

May 2010
Saturday 8th       02 Academy Oxford
Sunday 9th         02 Academy Liverpool
Monday 10th       Black Box, Galway, IRE
Tuesday 11th      Vicar Street, Dublin, IRE
Wednesday 13th 02 ABC Glasgow
Friday 14th         02 Academy Newcastle
Saturday 15th     02 Academy Leeds
Sunday 16th       02 Academy Birmingham
Monday 17th       Cambridge Junction
Tuesday 18th      02 Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Ticket prices are £18 except for London which is £20.    Door times are:  6.30 p.m.

Related links: Gig Review and Photos – Dinosaur Jr. at Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto
Dinosaur Jr. – Official Website
Built To Spill – MySpace

Review, photos and setlist by Music Vice editor Brian Banks

Gig/Concert: Dinosaur Jr. with Lou Barlow and MV & EE (and surprise appearance by Damian Abraham)
Venue: Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Date: 21 January, 2010
Headliners: Dinosaur Jr.
In one word: Colossal

According to the Dashboard on my slightly off-white wee MacBook, the temperature today in Toronto is -2 C, but the sun is shining and it’s all rather pleasant. I just took a morning stroll down the ever-colourful Queen Street West and the equally technicolour Kensington Market, throwing smiles at a couple of hundred passing strangers while hearing a mix of fleeting sounds including the car horns from impatient taxi drivers, Macy Gray, Sonic Youth, drumming from a Jamaican busker, and the usual sirens of emergency vehicles; they’d all make a mad cut n’ paste mash-up if I wanted to take a creative leaf out of Brian Wilson’s book, or for a more current reference, tUnE-yArDs.

It’s my birthday today and right now I’m sitting in a library, which might not sound like fun times but I’m doing what I love: listening to music and reflecting on the good times had last night after seeing Dinosaur Jr. at the Phoenix.

Before Massachusetts’ finest took to the stage, there was an hour or so of music by the two support acts, Lou Barlow and MV & EE. The latter are a quartet, sans drummer, who served up a whole lot of spaced-out psychedelic wah-wah heavy guitar action. It sounded more like an acid-fueled slow jam than a proper set, but that is deliberate and exactly what MV & EE are all about. Definitely one for the space cadets.

“I hope you’re ready to be dripped on when my face gets melted off!” That was the warning from a girl leaning over me as I sat behind the barrier in the photo pit waiting for the main event. But of course I wasn’t sitting down by the time Dinosaur Jr. came on, though I have no doubts that the face-melting happened.

It’s really hard to talk about Dinosaur Jr. without rehashing the obvious puns, the most used and abused one being that Dino Jr. are no longer ‘extinct’, having reformed a few years ago with the original line-up of J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph. The bald drummer Murph was missing tonight but the man who took his place on the stool did a fantastic job filling in – props to you sir, whoever you are.

In musical terms Dinosaur Jr. are a band that can be genuinely referred to as pioneers. They became a big influence to so many of the best alternative rock and grunge music that the ‘90s. If we were to draw parallels to prehistoric time periods, Dinosaur Jr. could be considered as not so much as having invented the wheels of rock n’ roll, but for helping remold them to provide a defining sound of an era.

Tonight Dinosaur Jr. were roaring at full force, with the wall of amplifiers providing that distinctly sludgy sound, while at his feet J Mascis has a pedalboard with enough buttons and knobs that it might even make Tom Morello jealous. That pedalboard became a box of tricks that Mascis relied on throughout the night for his solos – I’m not a fan of guitar wankery when its done the super-technical yawn-inducing DragonForce way (or DragonFarce, as I so maturely deemed them a while back), but Dinor Jr are far removed from the genres of super-technical metal and instead  Mascis’ provides the kind of tripped-out solos that inspire happy little zone-outs.

Dinosaur Jr. played a great selection of old and new material, with the highlight for me being the middle of the set which featured great renditions of “I’m Over It” (from 2009′s Farm) and then “Feel The Pain” (Without A Sound, 1994). Well, that was until the final song of the night… it’d had just passed midnight as Damian Abraham of Fucked Up came on stage to provide the vocals for “Chunks”. Given that this happened just seconds into the start of my birthday, I was extra lucky to see two awesome artists join forces for one of those memorable “I was there” gig moments. Freaking mega. And they couldn’t have picked a more suitable Dinosaur Jr. track for Abraham to cameo on, what with the angry Rollins-style vocal structure of the song.

A great night. Long may Dinosaur Jr. continue to roam – sure they’re getting on a bit, but don’t be deceived by J Mascis’s wizardry white hair, they’re still in their early 40′s and have a bit to go yet before they become rock n’ roll fossils like the Rolling Stones. (Albeit perhaps not capable of doing skate tricks anymore, as seen last year with the video for “Over It” which has a few dubious moments where stunt doubles were surely used – but a fun video all the same.)

Oh, and personally speaking, if Abraham’s appearance at the tail-end of this gig was the icing on my musical birthday cake, then the cherry on top just arrived in my inbox this afternoon with an advanced copy of Fucked Up’s latest record Couple Tracks. Woot.

© Brian Banks

Photos of Dinosaur Jr. at Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, 21 January 2010

Dinosaur Jr. setlist

Music Vice’s gig guide for January, 2010. These are the shows we think you should check out – some of which you might find us at too!

Shows To Go To is a new monthly preview which we’ve began to coincide with our new site design that we officially launch tomorrow night, 18 January, 2010. Look out for more Shows To Go To in February.

Australia

Big Day Out

Rise Against are part of Big Day Out 2010

Aren’t those Australians lucky? While all us poor souls in the Northern Hemisphere are freezing our butts off, Down Under the sun will be shining at the first major music festival of the year. Headliners at Big Day Out this year include Muse, Lily Allen, Kasabian, The Mars Volta and Rise Against. And yeah, we’ll be there too!

Dates:
Auckland, January 15
Gold Coast, January 17
Sydney, January 22
Sydney, January 23
Melbourne, January 26
Adelaide, January 29
Perth, January 31

Full info and tickets at: www.bigdayout.com

Canada/US

Anti-Flag ‘The Economy Sucks, Let’s Party’ Tour with Aiden, Cancer Bats and guests

Catch Cancer Bats on tour in the US with Anti-Flag

Anti-Flag are on tour across America from January 12 to February 6 with Aiden and Cancer Bats. If that line-up wasn’t enticing enough already for you then look out for special guests including Trash Talk who join the tour from January 19 to January 27 – we’ve heard lots of good stuff about Trash Talk, definitely worth checking out. Dates at: MySpace.com/Antiflag

REDUCED FEE tickets available at: https://tixx1.artistarena.com/anti-flag
USERNAME: anti
PASSWORD: flag

Dinosaur Jr.
Did you think that great fuzz and distortion-fuelled music was extinct? Go see Dinosaur Jr. for the best kind of evidence that it’s still alive and roaring like a T-Rex!

Milford, CT, January 15
Bowery Ballroom, NYC, NY, January 16
Music Hall of Williamsburg, NY, January 17
Brooklyn Bowl, NY, January 18
Castaways, Ithaca, NY, January 19
The Ale House, Kingston, ON, January 20
Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON, January 21
Capitol Music Hall, Ottawa, ON, January 22
More info and ticket links: www.dinosaurjr.com/tour.htm

Tegan And Sara
Canada’s most famous musical twins kick-off the new decade with a January tour in Canada!
6 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Orpheum
7 – Kelowna, British Columbia – Community Theatre
8, 9 – Calgary, Alberta – South Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
11, 12 – Edmonton, Alberta – North Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
13 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – TCU Place
14, 15 – Winnipeg, Manitoba – Burton Cummings Theatre
18 – Montreal, Quebec – Place des Arts
19 – Toronto, Ontario – Massey Hall
20 – Toronto, Ontario – Kool Haus
22, 23 – Ottawa, Ontario – Bronson Centre
25 – Quebec City, Quebec – Imperial Du Quebec
26 – Fredericton, New Brunswick – Fredericton Playhouse
27 – Halifax, Nova Scotia – Halifax Metro Centre
More info at: www.teganandsara.com Ticket links: Live Nation, GEG

United Kingdom

The Prodigy
Shake off your New Year hangover by catching The Prodigy, who are ripping up the UK with a January tour.
Dates and ticket info at: MySpace.com/TheProdigy

Jamie T
For something a lot less aggressive, a bit less manic but overall equally as cool, catch Jamie T, with UK dates throughout January and extending into early February. These are the rescheduled dates originally planned for Autumn 2009 – original tickets are still valid for the new dates.

January dates:
Tue 19 Nottingham – Rock City
Wed 20 Birmingham – 02 Academy
Fri 22 Sheffield – 02 Academy
Sat 23 Manchester – Academy
Mon 25 Leeds – 02 Academy
Wed 27 Glasgow – Barrowlands
Thu 28 Newcastle – Northumberland Uni
Sat 30 Preston – 53 Degrees
Sun 31 Norwich – UEA
More info at: www.myspace.com/jamietwimbledon