Thunder lizards

Dinosaur Jr. is yet another band that few if any people could imagine getting back together, at least in its classic lineup. Low Barlow's dismissal from the band left a lot of bad blood which took about 15 years to settle. As it turned out, Ottawa still didn't get the original lineup. Lou and J Mascis may have made up, but drummer Murph couldn't make it over the border so instead we got Fog man Kyle Spence on the traps. The good thing about the Dinosaur Jr. reunion is the real creative spark that exists; they've turned out a couple of excellent albums. I saw a lot of young and old at this show, with the conspicuously grey-haired couple in front of me in the box-office lineup was joking about being two decades older than most of the crowd (and kidding about asking for a refund if they weren't deaf for three days after). On the other hand, you know a band's been gone a awhile when the 20-something security guard asks “What’s this band like, anyway?”

J's pedal board.



Mascis was a bit difficult to photograph since he was tucked away in his nook of amplifiers.



J sings!



Feedback action (which could could apply to just about every photo, actually).



Whammy action!



Rhythm section action!



Spence is certainly quite the thumper.



Lou certainly likes his bass down low.



It was really too far away for the fisheye, but what the heck.



The relatively quiet bit!



And that's it, since I was abiding by the "first three songs rule" for once. They've just wrapped up a tour of Australia and are off to Europe in May.

• Show reminder: Ornaments, Micarza Camaro and Look Toward the Sky rock The Cajun Attic; The Sidewalks, Living Sound System and Mackenzie Rhythm Section serve up a two-tone St. Patrick's Day at The Rainbow; The Sunbleached Skulls are at The Elmdale House.