Sentimental Me
I’ve meant to blog about the J Mascis gig at the Globe on the 14th of January for ages, but just not got round to it. The gig was significant as it marked the start of Gareth and I’s 2015 gig campaign. I’m a big fan of Mascis solo album of last year ‘Tied to a Star’ as well as being a fan of his day job band Dinosaur Jnr, so he basically could do no wrong as far as I was concerned. Plus the gig was in The Globe which I like because a) it’s a good, weird venue - an old cinema - although it does get boiling in there if there’s more than six people in there b) it’s a seven minute walk from my house. A little bonus the night of the gig was that I went for a curry with some mates beforehand, larvely.
If the gig wasn’t sold out it was pretty close to being. It was good to see the Globe so full and hopefully it’ll persuade them not to book so many forgettable tribute bands. It’s fair to say that J Mascis isn’t the most exuberant of performers. He basically came on, sat down, retuned his guitar a few times and just got on with it, which I have no problem with at all. I’ve seen him go entire gigs before without even reaching a Haiku length of words uttered. That isn’t great with Dinosaur Jnr but with Lou Barlow re-joining the band has come a much needed dollop of charisma. To be fair to Mascis he was far more talkative at the Globe gig than I’ve ever seen him, but as Graf from Spillers pointed out when he forgot to turn the effects off his mic when he asked the crowd “How you doing?” it did have a “It puts the lotion in the basket.” vibe.
Loved the gig though, it was amazing to hear the songs from ‘Tied to a Star’ live, he dropped in a few Dinosaur Jnr classics and ended with the Cure ‘Just Like Heaven’ cover (though it did miss Lou’s guttural “YOU!). I instantly bought his two solo albums on vinyl, having downloaded ‘TtaS’ previously.
The next day I unexpectedly sent to see ‘First Aid Kit’ at Saint Davids Hall (a mate had a spare ticket going begging) which was a very different proposition again. Very good, far more polished, and ity’s hard to believe that the first time I saw the sisters they were supporting Slow Club at the much missed Bar Fly.