Dinosaur Jr at Terminal 5, Manhattan, Dec. 1 2012

By Kara Sprague

Most of alternative rock radio long ago  redefined itself as "active rock" with playlists full of semi-indistinguishable hard rock bands with names like Shiny Mud and Stonestorm (or something like that).
With that in mind,  it would be understandable that there would be a market for nostalgia for the alt-rock of yesteryear on the concert trail.
That showed itself more in 2012. The Afghan Whigs reunited for a well-received tour, for one.
But outside of a couple of digitally-released covers (including a well-chosen, well-performed version of Frank Ocean's "Lovecrimes"), the band was touring behind nothing new. As lean, mean and tight as the 'Whigs were after over a decade apart, at this point there's only a vague open-ended hope of new material.
Less nostalgic, though not a reunion, were a few of Bob Mould's shows performed this past summer. Mould's too-short-lived band Sugar didn't get back together, but Mould celebrated the 20th anniversary of that band's seminal "Copper Blue" album by performing that album in its entirety at some shows.
Mould is no nostalgia act at this point, as his 2012 album "Silver Age" was loud, catchy, crunchy rock in the Sugar vein. It's easily his best album in years, standing alongside "Copper Blue" as his best post-Husker Du work.
That brings us to Dinosaur Jr., a band that combined elements of indie, stoner rock, classic rock, punk and more into its recorded output.
The band got the reunion part out of the way years ago, after  the '90s departures of of bassist Lou Barlow (who went on to form another beloved indie band, Sebadoh) and drummer Murph.
The original trio that made up the band set aside any lingering acrimony for a series of well-received albums, 2007's "Beyond", 2009's "Farm" and 2012's "I Bet on Sky"
Dinosaur Jr. is currently touring behind the new album, but found time for a special look back with the help of a number of musical guest stars.
The result was nearly two-and-a-half hours that provided testimony to how vital the band still is and how fresh their classic work remains. And all the while, the guest stars added, not distracted from the proceedings while showing off different elements that informed the band's work.
The occasion for the special show at Terminal 5 was a celebration of the band's "You're Living All Over Me" album, the band's first album to show them as a force and an influence.
The concert was split into two halves -- the first was a performance of that album in order and nearly in its entirety. The second half was a series of other songs from the band's career along with some covers as the special guests appeared more frequently.
The one constant in the band's history is laconic guitar hero/anti-hero J Mascis, whose combination of the air of slackerish indifference combined with loud, listen-to-me guitar wankery defined a lot of the band's sound and sensibility. Not to mention that he was and remains the key songwriter. Even with Barlow much more established as a writer, Mascis carries the bulk of the writing credits post-reunion.
Mascis was his usual self, tossing out minimal stage banter, but plenty of shredworthy solos, fuzzy noise and general heroics.
Just two guest stars appeared in the album performance part of the set. Suzanne Thorpe, known for her work with Mercury Rev, played flute on the non-"Living" track "Thumb" and ex-Sonic Youth member Lee Ranaldo who took lead vocals on the second song of the night, "Little Fury Things."
The original album (and it's follow-up "Bug", for that matter) were often abrasive, edgy affairs whose production made them even edgier.
In a live setting, the songs from the album (minus only its cover of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven", sadly) gained depth. The band members, now all in their mid-to-late 40s, have enough years behind them to make up in power for the youthful edginess no longer there.
Barlow periodically thanked the packed crowd for "coming to our special show,"
At one point, Mascis said, "All right. Thanks a lot. That was side one."
Almost deadpan acknowledgements of the crowd aside, the band showed off a solid chemistry and its appreciation could be seen in the smiles that popped up, particularly on Barlow's and Murph's faces.
Barlow closed off the "Living" portion alone with "Poledo," which he not inaccurately described as the "awkward ending to amazing album" (though more because the song sounded like a dry run for some of the terrain he'd explore in Sebadoh).
With the Barlow-and-ukulele number out of the way, it was time to start bringing out the guest stars in earnest.
Frank Black of Dino's Boston-based compatriots (and masters of the earlier-in-the decade nostalgic cash grab faux-reunion tour) Pixies came out first.
He joined the band for a "Almost Fare", one of the songs off the new album before tearing into a ripping version of the Pixies "Tame" (it's not as if his old band sucked on that cash-grab tour, after all).
Opening act Kurt Vile was the next guest, giving Mascis a second guitarist to play off of in a wanktastic guitar showcase with Al Cisneros of Speed on bass and  Kyle Spence of Harvey Milk sitting in on drums.
Barlow and Murph returned for "Don't Pretend You Didn't Know" and "Watch the Corner" before it was time for the next of the next big name alt-rock heroes to come on stage.
Johnny Marr, whose excellent guitar work helped make the Smiths the seminal band they were and has worked with all sorts of people in the 20-plus years since, came on stage, as did Kevin Drew of that Canadian musical conglomerate Broken Social Scene.
Drew took lead vocals on "The Wagon" (from 1991's "Green Mind") and a cover of the Smiths' "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" that translated well enough, even if it was a departure from the jangling swooniness of the original.
The group followed by going deeper into its history to a cover of "Training Ground", a song from Deep Wound, the hardcore band Barlow and Mascis were in as teenager.
Guest stars were overlapping by this point, as Dale Crover of the Melvins handled the drums on the Smiths and Deep Wound covers, thus marking the only time those three bands have been in the same sentence.
One of the striking things about the evening was the fact that things were mostly free of glitches, outside of one instance where Barlow had to be brought back from offstage because he didn't realize he was singing lead vocal on a song.  All involved generally deftly handled the changing faces.
The next contemporary to arrive was Don Fleming, who worked a bit with the band in its immediate post-Barlow days. Fleming delivered more hardcore, this time with lead vocals on a cover of DC hardcore band Iron Cross' "Crucified."
Following up two hardcore songs was the most intense guest star of the evening.
One of Kim Gordon's real strengths in Sonic Youth was her ability to pull of quiet cool and raging intensity, depending on the song,
Saturday's appearance from Gordon was all the latter, as she brought to life to "Don't."  A song that seemed more of a listener endurance test in its recorded incarnation on "Bug" was much better in Gordon's hands.
With no concessions to age, Gordon ripped through the song with vocal cord-shredding fervor.
Even if the song did drag on a bit past its natural end point, it was one of the evening's highlights and a perfect way to end the main set.
It wasn't an end to the evening, however, as a rather interesting lineup took the stage. Mascis took his normal spot with guitar, but a whole bevy of new faces joined him. There was Tommy Stinson of the classic Replacements and the not-so-classic Axl Rose-hired backing band calls Guns N Roses these days on bass. On drums? Fred Armisen, known more for these as a performer on "Saturday Night Live" and "Portlandia" but who started out as a punk drummer. On vocals was rock veteran John Petkovic of Cobra Verde and the more recent Sweet Apples (a project with Mascis and others).
This was no alt-rock Asia, as the foursome delivered an energetic version of the Stooges' "TV Eye" with Petkovic bounding about the stage as usual.
With all of the guest star highlights, this was still a Dinosaur Jr. show after all and the original trio finished the night together with two classics from years gone by.
First, "Start Choppin", the "Where You Been" track that was one of the band's catchiest and one of the closest things to a hit they had. It retained its catchy punch.
To wrap things up, the band wisely went with "Freak Scene," arguably the band's high point on record.
The song so deftly captured either the messiness of a relationship between two people or within a music scene..or maybe both.
A line in the last verse goes, "Just don't let me fuck up will you?/Cause when I need a friend it's still you."
On a rare night with so much and so varied talent onstage, the band and its guests produced music that was never less than good and was quite stellar more often than not.
Rest assured, Dinosaur Jr. didn't fuck up and left the house with 3,300 friends who'd been highly entertained and filed out of Terminal 5 grateful for the opportunity to witness a historic night where the living history was very much alive.