Wednesday Night at The Casbah: J Mascis and Luluc

After hearing the new J Mascis stuff all over XMU, I can't believe tonight's Casbah show isn't sold out, but you know, we're San Diegans and we never plan ahead and we don't subscribe to satellite radio and we only care about a show AFTER it is already sold out. Whatever. Tickets will be available at the door tonight, but it's only two bands, so don't be late because J could start as early as 10:30. If you want to be on the safe side and buy advance tickets, grab them here until around 6pm.
I'll be there after I'm done working at Hot Water Music at The Irenic (which is a REALLY early show...I don't have set times but shows END at 10pm, so do some reverse math and figure it out. Doors at 7pm.)

Dinosaur Jr. Setlist and stuff

Dinosaur Jr. are pretty nice dudes, and their tour manager is awesome (I love that he set up all the merch, by size and design, way before I got here). He let me snap a photo of the setlist before the show, too.

The band after sound check:


And here's just some random crowd photos:





I just wish I could see inside because Murph told me it was so hot it was gonna be hard to keep his clothes on...ooohlala.

Dinosaur Jr At The Casbah

Life is so funny, isn't it? Today I'm selling t-shirts for Dinosaur Jr., watching the daytime drinkers and smokers blinded by the sunlight, yet at this time tomorrow I'll be making lunch for daycare kids that I'll be watching for the next two weeks.
Earthless is on stage right now, I think Dinosaur Jr wandered off to get coffee at Gelato Vero, and people are really excited for this show. Let this be how the week continues because last week (personally) sucked ass.



By the way, O was shooting photos throughout the entire soundcheck, so be sure to check out his blog What O Saw in the photo links in the sidebar later this week for more pics. As I'm working I probably won't be shooting anymore today.

Thursday Recap: Dinosaur Jr. ("J. Mascis and Friends) @ Casbah San Diego

I had no intention of going out last night, but then I figured I could at least try to go to see Dinosaur Jr. at the Casbah. I would at least ask my friend and he would say yes or no. Still, it took me some time to motivate, I watched all of Gray's Anatomy, so by the time I arrived, the second opener was finishing up. I heard a lot of grumbling later that the opening bands "didn't fit" with Dinosaur Jr. and people were disappointed.

When Dinosaur Jr. was ready to take the stage, several friends helped usher me up front and center (thank you all!). The band had a whole jar of earplugs that the sound techs handed out to the crowd. Even with earplugs, even now, my ears are ringing a little. The band literally had a wall of sound, almost completely obscuring the famous naugahyde Casbah wall with stacks of amps.





J. came out with a Wipers t-shirt:



and the signature Dinosaur Jr. Nikes



and without his glasses on, had a two page huge font setlist





The show was really, really, really loud, but equally good. They alternated between stuff from the new record and old stuff. They completely messed up on Feel The Pain but nobody cared. As they prepared to play the next song, "Almost Ready", Lou pointed out the contradiction, saying something like "maybe we're just not ready for this tour." When someone in the crowd yelled back, "thanks for testing it out on us", Lou joked back, "Yeah, thanks for your money."









The set rocked on for a little over an hour when they finished the setlist and left the stage. For the encore they came back and played a couple more songs and the crowd seemed stoked with what they all witnessed. I promised some people some pics, so that's why this post has more than usual. I had a great time at the show and it just goes to show that you never know what can happen on any given night in San Diego.

Tuesday Newsy Bits: The Sess get a label, Arcade Fire, Absynthe Minded

You probably know Action Jackson from the great shows he puts on at Scolari's, The Ché Café. and occassionally other venues like the Ken Club. Or maybe you know him for his band The Vision of A Dying World. Now you can add label owner to his credentials. Craig of the Powerchords and Jackson are starting a label called Single Screen Records. The first album they put out will be from local boys The Sess. Jackson says they will focus mostly on the San Diego market in both bands and promotion, booking and sales.
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Bad news from Arcade Fire. This is the letter posted by Win on the band's website:

Hello Friends,
I am backstage at the venue in Oslo and I just had to make the very sad decision to cancel the rest of the European tour. I have been suffering from a sinus and bronchial infection for the last 3 months, and last night in Stockholm I finally pushed my voice and body farther than they are able to go. Last night I kept yelling at the monitor guy because I didn't recognize the sound that was coming out of the monitor as my own voice, and it took me until the second song to realize that the sound was coming from me. Today I can barely speak, or make any sound, so finishing the shows is no longer possible.
I have had several doctors advise me to cancel shows weeks ago, and I have been trying to push through, but for my own health and safety I need to have sinus surgery so I can get better and start the recovery process. We are all very sad, because we were very much looking forward to playing these shows, and we could not imagine cancelling a show unless it was physically impossible to do. We apologize to the fans that have been waiting to see us, and we promise to try and come back as soon as it is humanly possible...
We would like to thank everyone who has been coming to the shows, and the outpouring of love and support for our music that we have felt. Wish me luck with the doctors,
And see you soon
luv,
Win

There is no other information, but as yet, no American dates have been cancelled. And let's hope that none of the dates are dropped.
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Not that this really clears anything up, but Dinosaur Jr. is reuniting but when they start the tour at the Casbah, the show is listed as J Mascis and Friends. The Casbah newsletter says "May 10th you might as well call it Dinosaur Jr, but it is listed as J Mascis and Friends! Although all shows billed immediately after the Casbah show are listed as Dinosaur Jr..." Um, thanks for clarifying.
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I never make a big deal about MySpace friend requests from bands. I listen and sample the music, and approve or deny based brashly based on how I feel about a song in the first 20 or 30 seconds. Today I got a request from a band called Absynthe Minded from Belgium that I am really digging. You might, too. Check them out here. Vocally, they kinda remind me of Midlake. They're signed to Universal in Belgium.




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Some of today's new releases:
Kaiser Chiefs- Yours Truly, Angry Mobsters
John Butler Trio- Grand National
Kate Havenevik- Melankton (good for fans of Imogen Heap)
Grant Lee Phillips- Strangelet (playing at the Belly Up April 23)
The Klaxons- Myths of the Near Future
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Black Wax is putting together a compilation CD of local San Diego music. Here's the blog about it:

We are currently working on a local music compilation that will be available at Black Wax in El Cajon, Ca along with other suppliers! The CD will be available in about 2 months and will feature a variety of different musical tastes! It will be co-sponsored by local music supporting companies and bands! The CD will be most likely free but if not then it will be dirt cheap. We are working out all the details now and will soon have more info and updates including the names of some of the bands featured on the compilation! If you are a band or company that would like to co-sponsor this project then just send us a message and let us know! The more sponsors, the more copies of the CD can be made and distributed. So all of you music fans and local music supporters keep your eyes and eyes open for updates and you can anticipate an amazing compilation of music!

That's a lot of! Exclamation Points! But if you're interested in contacting them, click here for the MySpace page.