Dinosaur Jr, The Walkmen and Saviours Played Summerstage - Pictures, Review

On Sunday afternoon we, along with a slew of other fans, braved the 90+ degree heat, and made our way to Summerstage for the final show of the summer. A free gig featuring Dinosaur Jr., The Walkmen, and Saviours, it was a completely solid dose of rock and roll, and just right for the killer heat wave the city's been experiencing for the past week.

Bay Area natives Saviours opened the show with an extremely solid dose of in-your-face metal. We have to admit, when it kicked off we were skeptical as to how the crowd might take to the bold genre leap, but there was definitely unbridled enthusiasm. Given J. Mascis' massive guitar sounds and killer riffs, it follows that his fans would be open to some metaltastic goodness.

Soon after, The Walkmen took the stage, and delivered a massive set that was far more rock oriented than their show Friday night at the Guggenheim. While they still played a fair dose of their more heady material, they also dug into their rock roots, and unrepentantly delivered fan favorite "The Rat".

It's also worth mentioning that the band, despite how awesome they sounded Friday, sounded even better on Sunday. It was as though Friday had been a dry run, and Sunday was the true delivery. The band seemed more conscious of their sound, and all the playing seemed more immediate and in your face. What's more, Leithauser's voice sounded even better than on Friday, which was truly remarkable.

All in all, the band managed to offer up a killer set that completely catered to the more rock-oriented vibe of the bill, and left us with an extremely lucid demonstration of just how versatile The Walkmen can be as a live unit.

The show wrapped up with a show from Dinosaur Jr., and it was everything one might expect: the band is ridiculously tight, loud, and ready to deliver. In the blistering Sunday heat, they dove into a lengthy set of classic material and never let up.

What's more, the band did pull in a fair amount of new material, and it was remarkable just how easily it blended into the set. The trio has really managed to seamlessly return to form, and it's almost as though they were never on hiatus, and just kept making great rock and roll.

And, at the end of the day, that's exactly what Sunday's show was all about: blistering, sweaty, awesome rock and roll in the hot August heat. Between all three bands, the gamut of rock was traversed, and it balanced perfectly to round out this year's Summerstage in fine form. Well played.

Many more pictures at the HAD Archive

Dinosaur Jr. Touring For Farm, Fillmore In November

You may recall that Dinosaur Jr.'s spring tour conspicuously skipped over San Francisco, despite consisting mainly of west coast dates. Well, it appears that the band has decided to remedy that on their extensive tour in support of Farm, with a stop at The Fillmore on November 6th. If you happen to not be in San Francisco, well fear not: it appears that the band has decided to bring the Dinosaur Jr. experience to...well....everywhere. Check out the dates below.

Dinosaur Jr. 2009 Tour Dates
Jun 30 Boogaloo Zagreb
Jul 4 Halifax V-Festival Halifax, Nova Scotia
Jul 25 Fuji Rock Festival Yuzawa-machi, Niigata
Aug 8 KEXP BBQ @ Seattle Center - Free Show Seattle, Washington
Aug 14 Wellfleet Beachcomber Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Aug 16 Central Park SummerStage - FREE SHOW New York, New York
Aug 19 Oxford Academy Oxford
Aug 20 Cambridge Junction Cambridge
Aug 21 Concorde 2 Brighton
Aug 22 Pukkelpop 2009 Hasselt
Aug 24 Abart Music Club Zurich
Aug 25 Den Atelier Luxenbourg City
Aug 26 Watt Rotterdam
Aug 27 Paradiso Amsterdam
Aug 28 Kb Club Malmo
Aug 29 Samfundet Trondheim
Aug 30 Rockefeller Music Hall Oslo
Sep 5 Anson Rooms-Bristol University Bristol
Sep 6 Elysee Montmartre Paris
Sep 8 Circolo degli Artisti Rome
Sep 10 Estragon Club Bologna
Sep 11 MusicDrome Milan
Sep 12 New Age Club Treviso
Sep 14 Arena Vienna Vienna
Sep 15 Rockhouse Salzburg
Sep 16 Manufaktur Schorndorf
Sep 17 Zakk Dusseldorf
Sep 18 Muffathalle Munich
Sep 20 Mousonturm Frankfurt
Sep 21 Astra Berlin
Sep 23 Beatpol Dresden
Sep 24 Reeperbahn Festival Hamburg
Sep 30 Phoenix Concert Theatre Toronto, Ontario
Oct 1 Theatre Olympia Montreal, Quebec
Oct 2 Middle East Cambridge, Massachusetts
Oct 3 Middle East Cambridge, Massachusetts
Oct 4 Northern Lights Clifton Park, New York
Oct 7 Toad’s Place New Haven, Connecticut
Oct 8 9:30 Club WASHINGTON, Washington DC
Oct 9 Theatre of the Living Arts Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 10 Newport Music Hall Columbus, Ohio
Oct 11 The Crofoot Pontiac, Michigan
Oct 13 The Majestic Theatre Madison, Wisconsin
Oct 14 The Pageant St. Louis, Missouri
Oct 15 Vic Theatre Chicago, Illinois
Oct 16 Headliner’s Music Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Oct 17 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 26 The Beaumont Club Kansas City, Missouri
Oct 27 Slowdown Omaha, Nebraska
Oct 29 Boulder Theater Boulder, Colorado
Oct 30 Aggie Theatre Ft. Collins, Colorado
Oct 31 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, Utah
Nov 3 Marquee Theatre Tempe, Arizona
Nov 4 Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, California
Nov 5 House of Blues Sunset West Hollywood, California
Nov 6 The Fillmore San Francisco, California
Nov 7 Wonder Ballroom Portland, Oregon
Nov 10 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, British Columbia
Nov 11 Sugar Nightclub Victoria, British Columbia
Nov 13 The Starlite Room Edmonton
Nov 14 MacEwan Hall Ballroom Calgary, Alberta
Nov 16 Odeon Events Centre Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Nov 17 Pyramid Cabaret Winnepeg, Manitoba
Nov 18 First Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nov 19 Turner Hall Ballroom Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nov 20 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, Ohio

mp3: Dinosaur Jr. - I Want You To Know

Dinosaur Jr: New Track, Album Release, Spring Tour

It's been a while since Dinosaur Jr.'s much lauded reunion album Beyond, so we were psyched to see a deluge of news from the band surrounding their new release Farm. Notably, the record sees the band moving to Jagjaguar Records after a mere one album stint at Merge. Details are beginning to emerge, and among them are cover art (above), the first single, a bunch of tour dates, and some sessions over at pitchfork.tv. Whew!

The first single, "I Want You To Know" is (to our ears) classic Dinosaur Jr.: fuzzed out guitars, big beats, and super fat riffs shared by bass and guitar. To be frank, we're still reeling from the fact that the band has actually reunited, so hearing more classic-feel material continues to be a solid experience unto itself. That being said, the tune definitely isn't just a place holder, and it's ability to stand on its own is a positive indicator of quality for the forthcoming record.

While the record's release is still about a month and a half out, the band is in the midst of touring it's support. While there's no SF date lined up, the band still has dates on both coasts. If you're really craving a dose of Dinosaur Jr., you can find a way to make it happen. Meanwhile, give a listen to the new single below...

Farm is out on Jagjaguar June 23rd

mp3: Dinosaur Jr. - I Want You To Know

Dinosaur Jr. Spring 2009 Dates
Apr 30 The National - Venue Changed Richmond, Virginia
May 1 Chameleon Club Lancaster, Pennsylvania
May 2 Ottobar - SOLD OUT Baltimore, Maryland
Jun 21 The Casbah San Diego, California
Jun 22 Troubadour West Hollywood, California
Jun 23 Troubadour West Hollywood, California
Jun 25 Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, New York

Sunday Night Music: Band of Horses and Dinosaur Jr. @ Mezzanine

If you're up for some music late on a Sunday night, then you're in luck. Tonight at Mezzanine Band of Horses and Dinosaur Jr. will be doing a set that will undoubtedly follow Mezzanine's notorious late night trend. Pre-sale tickets are sold out, but depending who you believe, there are still some to be had. According to the Mezzanine web site, doors are at 8 PM and the show is completely sold. According to ticket web, doors are at 9 and there should still be some available at the door. Judging by craigslist, there are lots of "for sale"'s, and very few "wanted"'s - I'd imagine you can dig something up.

Wait-in-line time for Dinosaur Jr....

If you're planning on seeing Dinosaur Jr. and Band Of Horses at Mezzanine in September, you'd better get out your hats and mittens - looks like the pre-sale is completely sold out. Here's hoping for a little Indian Summer...

mp3: Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready
mp3: Band Of Horses - Funeral