Dinosaur Jr smashed it in Melbourne for 2 sold-out concerts at the Northcote Theatre. I attended night 2 of the two shows on February 17, 2024, and there was most definitely a buzz in the air and it wasn’t J Mascis’s amps left on from the night before. This tour was in celebration of their seminal album ‘Where You Been’ which was released over 30 years ago. The crowd mixed in ages was all excited for Dinosaur Jr. to take the stage.
Up first was Melbourne’s own Stepmother, who with soaring riffs and catchy hooks were a great support act getting the crowd pumped up for Dinosaur to hit the stage. For a band that is used to playing smaller stages, they rose to the occasion and were well-received by the crowd.
Band Members:
Graham Clise – Guitar/Vocals
Rob Muinos – Bass
Sam Rains – Drums
One look at their giant Marshall stacks, we knew that this was not going to be a quiet show. They took the stage and played the opening chords of ‘Out There’, and were met with rapturous applause. The band had the crowd in a state of high energy throughout the show, and they had an amazing light show further fueling the energy of the crowd in the theater. They played their album Where You Been front to back and then played a mix of old and new songs after that.
J Mascis is perhaps one of the calmest and most intense guitarists that I have seen in a long time. He seemed to be in a cool calm state throughout the set, in contrast to Lou Barlow who threw himself into the rolling music. The band didn’t stray too much from how the record sounds, but hearing it in the live setting and with the theater’s acoustics, the sound felt accentuated, almost punched in the gut with its dynamics and subtleties that are heard throughout the album
The band had the crowd in a state of high energy throughout the show, and they had an amazing light show further fueling the crowd’s energy in the theater. They played their album Where You Been front to back and then played a mix of old and new songs after that.
Band Members:
J Mascis – Lead Vocals, Guitars,
Murph – drums
Lou Barlow – Bass, Backing and Lead Vocals
Setlist:
Where You Been
1.Out There
2. Start Choppin
3. What Else Is New
4. On the Way
5. Not the Same
6. Get Me
7. Drawerings
8. Hide
9. Goin’ Home
10. I Ain’t Sayin’
11. Garden
12. Kracked
13. Sludgefeast
14. The Wagon
15. Feel the Pain
16. Forget the Swan
Encore:
17. I Met the Stones
18. Freak Scene
Follow Dinosaur Jr Online:
Follow Stepmother Online:
Alexander Hallag, is an internationally published and exhibited music photographer who was based in Seattle during the beginning of the Grunge movement. Here he developed his visceral photographic style where the music could almost be heard in the photographs.
Alexander’s images as a music photographer have been featured in a variety of media and album cover art: including The New York Times, Juxtapoz – Art & Culture, Alternative Press Online, Fears Magazine, Red Bull Magazine NZ, and Rip it Up, among others. In 2015, the album The Colossus by Cairo Knife Fight was released (which featured his photograph on the cover. It was designed by Barny Beswick of Indium Design) and was nominated for best album art at the New Zealand Music Awards – Technical awards. Now based in Melbourne, in conjunction with his photography, Alexander hosts The Music is Talking podcast. https://www.themusicistalking.com/podcast
