Seen any good shows lately? Dinosaur Jr.

(Father to a fast-moving toddler/ adoptive New Englander/ Ché fan at large Paul Kaufman currently makes it out of the house at night a couple of times a year, so they better count. This one did.)

In the future, I’ll have to contain the instinct to rile when I see current concert calendars loaded with bands you could have seen in the mid-’70s: Pat Benatar, America, Kansas, James Taylor. Sure, most of this stuff is hurl-worthy, but I can’t pretend that nostalgia is of no interest to me.

What were the last three shows I’ve seen? Sonic Youth, Pavement, and now, Dinosaur Jr. True, the first of these is a band still actively exploring new territory, but the others weren’t. The Pavement show was one-off reunion of my favorite band of the ’90s, playing their classics. This Dinosaur Jr. show was an even more specific revisit to a place and time: late-’80s Boston. “Playing the album ‘Bug’ (1988) in its entirety!” read the announcement. I bought a ticket the moment I saw the ad.

The show was at The Paradise Club in the student-centric Allston neighborhood, a few blocks and 22 years from the first time I had seen them. Back then, Dinosaur Jr. was the “it” band among the many Boston college radio stations, and they had joined the übercool SST indie label, but I was lucky to catch them at a small place (“Bunratty’s,” now defunct, still notorious.

Back in ’89, I distinctly remember guitarist Jay Mascis using his mane of dark hair as thick shield over his face, preventing any eye-to-eye contact with the audience. The other intentional barrier was the volume: I was pretty close to the stage, and got to experience a “Live at Leeds”-style decibel level in a room that held a few hundred people. But that’s their signature: wailing guitar leads, interrupted by the clicks of an effects box inverting the sound through phases of vacuum, dentist drill, and back again. It was hard to make out the lyrics, which was a shame, since the newly minted “Freak Scene” was a landmark song for that era, perfectly coupling Mascis’ trademark frantic guitar histrionics with his plaintive lyrics:

Sometimes I don’t thrill you
Sometimes I think I’ll kill you
Just don’t let me fuck up will you
‘Cause when I need a friend it’s still you
… what a mess

Well, now it’s time to see them in the 21st century. There was an opening band, of course; back when I was young, I would have looked up who it was beforehand. Some band called “Off,” never heard of it, which doesn’t mean anything anymore. The band takes the stage… lead singer is this little guy, looks to be in his mid 50s with a unique half bald/half dreadlock hairdo… voice is oddly familiar…and then that neuron fires — it’s Keith Morris from the Circle Jerks! This band is a bit of a supergroup, with members from Redd Kross and Burning Brides. And they rock! — fast paced, LA punk rock, still full of anger. My penchant for a nostalgic revisit of Circle Jerk tunes isn’t fulfilled, but the set is hella fun. Since we’re in Boston, I was hoping Lou Skum would jump up and grab the mic, just like in the Decline movie, but no dice.

To continue the West Coast vibe, Henry Rollins then interviews Dinosaur Jr. briefly onstage before they plug in. Since this is the original lineup that had some acrimony, it’s a little tense. But when they hit the stage, it’s the familiar sonic onslaught, although the sound this time is good enough to get the vocals along with crushing guitar. I find myself playing an old game with the earplugs — in or out for this tune? More treble, or fewer nerve cells? I go back and forth. …

Jay’s mane is all gray now, so he looks like an avuncular yogi rather than a young slacker. I hadn’t thought back in the day that so many bands would travel through this much life with me, but in a way they have — it’s like checking in on an old friend. And it’s great when that old friend still rocks.

— Paul Kaufman

More by Paul Kaufman:

• Father’s Day: Past present and future
• Songs for the DIYper set
• Songs that were separated at birth?
• Seen any good shows lately?
• ‘Sesame Street’: Forty years ago today …
• Beatles: Rock Band … The missing buttons
• Nostradamus I’m Not Part 3: Punk rock sweeps America!
• Nostradamus I’m Not Part 2: The Cold War
• Nostradamus I’m Not Part 1: The Final Frontier
• Sucking in the ’60s
• London Calling
• El sabor de San Diego