Well folks, I bring to you another review from Phishbeard’s crazy 2012 concert tour hellride. This tale is about how I was able to take a very important band off my bucket list of must see shows. I had wanted to see Dinosaur Jr. play live, since the Where You Been album was released in 1993, but whenever the opportunity arose, I was always busy doing something else. I now know that there are not many things in life that are more important than going to watch Dinosaur Jr. play live. On tour and pubbing their newest album, I Bet on Sky, the city of Eugene, OR was fortunate enough to have the band stop by the WOW Hall to rock some people’s socks off on 10/11/12.
The opening band was Shearwater from Austin, Texas. I enjoyed their dark spacey indie rock style. I had never seen or heard of them before, but after watching Shearwater open for Dinosaur Jr., I would go see them play again. Their set was solid and the crowd was into the music, which is often uncommon for opening bands in my opinion. Overall, their music ranged from a standard form of indie rock to spacey drawn out jams, which really were what I thought was the best parts of their set.
When Dinosaur Jr. came out on stage and opened with See it on Your Side, people went ape shit. The band’s gear setup was a bit overwhelming for the small WOW Hall stage, but it was so cool seeing those 3 Marshall amps mic’ed up standing side by side, like giant speaker towers that walled in J. Mascis. This was by far the loudest show I have ever attended at the WOW Hall and definitely one of the better concerts I have been to in 2012. The event was everything I imagined and more for a Dinosaur Jr. concert. They played a good number of songs off their latest album, I Bet on Sky and also busted out a handful of classics as well. They even played a sweet Deep Wound song called, Training Ground, which was way more punky, fast, and metal than the Dinosaur Jr. songs that I am used too.
I saw J. Mascis play an unbelievable set at the 2011 Sasquatch Festival held at the Gorge in George, WA. Ever since that day, the urge to see Dinosaur Jr. rose to unfathomable heights. Needless to say that I was ecstatic to have the chance to watch him do what he does best in the small historic WOW Hall. Mascis along with the rest of the band did not let me down. When they busted out Feel the Pain, I almost shit myself, while in a state of pure bliss. About mid show they played a wicked Pond Song into Almost Fare to Start Choppin’, which had the fans dancing their asses off, while I was trying to put my jaw back into place, after it dropped to the floor.
The band ended the show with Yeah, We Know. This just so happens to be the last song played on J. Mascis’ Fender Squier Jazzmaster. What a shitty way for someone to repay this band for such a great show. Sucks that this kind of shit happens in any place, but in my hometown of Eugene, I am ashamed for what has happened. These are not the things that venues want to have happen if they want bands to make repeat visits. Low blow Eugene, low blow. If you have any information about the missing guitar, please contact the band through dinosaurjr.com or call 303-998-0001. I must say that I had a blast and was super fortunate to record video of this show, so that people can enjoy it for years to come. I Phishbeard, apologize to the band once more on the behalf of the fans from Eugene that had no part in the theft of J.’s guitar. I can’t wait to see Dinosaur Jr. play again in the future. These guys still kick as much ass as they did 27 years ago.
