Dinosuar Jr./Lou Barlow & the Missing Men - 9:30 Club - Oct 8 2009

Lou Barlow and the Missing Men - Lou Barlow does double duty tonight which has happened many times during recent Dinosaur Jr. tours. This is a new three man group (fifth show together, he stated) assembled where Lou plays guitar, bass, and bass pedals with a guitarist and drummer. The music is close to Sebadoh but a bit more ragged and less edgy (although it depends which Sebadoh you are talking about and I probably shouldn't open up that issue anyway). Some nice songs here which does not surprise me in the least, but quite sloppy even when you don't mind that sort of loose feel.

Dinosaur Jr. - This is the third time I have seen them since their reformation and I got the usual guitar based music I would expect. Since they are carrying on quite enthusiastically, I wanted to hear the new material more than the old this time around. I found it quite excellent and every bit as enjoyable as the older classics. The band has graduated from selling out the Black Cat to playing the larger 9:30, albeit with the stage moved up. Good crowd showed up which makes me wonder why we can't have a little more room in the back to not jostle each other when the club creates that extra space behind the stage. I'll save that discussion for later on in this blog. Good show, but there was a sense of quiet. That may be due to the real excitement I saw just the night before, but Lou Barlow commented that he always forgets how still a DC audience is. He was not criticizing per se, but I think there was just a bit less energy here than at other shows I have been at recently.

Is J. Mascis the Cool Ghoul?????

Quote of the Night: Lou Barlow, early in his first band's set-- "I think this is being taped for an NPR radio show, that's just great, wonderful." Then just prior to last (and good rocking) song - "I would like to ask NPR to erase this whole show and never have it aired".