Dinosaur Jr @ The Senate

It's a bit of a drive down to Columbia....but it's Dinosaur Jr, so it must be done.  This will be my 10th time seeing them.

After 20 minutes of trying to find a parking spot, I walked in just after Dinosaur Jr took the stage (I would've left earlier if I could have gotten the venue to answer a call/message to find out when the band was due on stage).  The 3rd song was Out There, and I was into it.  I found a spot up the back, against the wall, where I could take my earplugs out for the favorite songs and not be assaulted by the wall of sound.  A couple of newish songs were played that I recognized , but don't know the names of.  These were good.  I Met the Stones and In A Jar were melodically fuzzy and crowd pleasers.  Mountain Man was a new one for me.  It was heavy - I may need to go and find the Dinosaur album.  Start Choppin was awesome and I love hearing the dynamics of Feel the Pain live.  It's such a good song, and live they play some of it so much faster and louder.  So good!  2nd last song was an all time favorite - Freak Scene.  The rest of the set was as good as you'd expect, but I'd drive this far just to hear that song.

For the encore I moved from way up the back and got closer to the front, right in front of Mascis.  The Wagon kicked of the encore - a definite crowd favorite.  I didn't know Budge, and I thought it would be an unusual song to finish on, and after a false start we got our Just Like Heaven cover.  Recent shows I'd seen had them played TV Eye for an encore - but they've gone back to my favorite cover.

On stage they are the Dinosaur Jr, that are always there.  J looking like the guitar is an extension of his body and playing these songs is as easy as pouring water.  Murph the steady, driving force in the middle, and Lou sweating through his shirt top to bottom, rocking out harder than everyone else combined.  Visually making it hard to know where to be watching.

Bring on show number 11.

Dinosaur Jr Setlist

The Crap Facts:
This is my 489th concert.
This is my 2nd concert at the Senate.
This is my 3rd concert in Columbia.
This is my 6th concert in South Carolina.
This is my 290th concert in the USA.
This is my 10th Dinosaur Jr concert.