Friday, April 15, 2005

Dinosaur Jr. Reunite

Praise the Guitar Gods, Dinosaur Jr. is back - in their original lineup!

For a certain strain of alternative rock fan, Dinosaur Jr. is and always will be the power trio of J Mascis, Emmett Jefferson "Murph" Murphy III and Lou Barlow. They blew the minds and ears of anyone who ever saw them play between 1984 and 1989 and before splintering apart, they etched the grooves of three classic noise albums: Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me and Bug (now available on Merge with bonus videos).

Whether they intended to or not, J, Lou, and Murph forever changed the face of rock & roll music. Their sonic wall of melodic bass, furious drums and stunning guitar wizardry, coupled with an almost laissez faire vocal delivery, became the sonic blueprint for what has become known as "alternative rock."

Today, after 15 years since their last performance together, the three will reunite for U.S. and Europe summer tour dates. Confirmed dates are as follows:

U.S Tour Dates
Thur July 7 House of Blues Orlando, FL
Fri July 8 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA
Sat July 9 The Norva Norfolk, VA
Sun July 10 Cat's Cradle Carrboro, NC
Mon July 11 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Wed July 13 Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
Thur July 14 Central Park SummerStage New York, NY
Fri July 15 Avalon Boston, MA
Tue July 19 House of Blues Cleveland, OH
Wed July 20 Clutch Cargo's Pontiac, MI
Thur July 21 The Madison Theater Covington, KY
Fri July 22 The Eagles Club Milwaukee, WI
Sat July 23 The Quest Minneapolis, MN
Sun July 24 Lollapalooza Chicago, IL

Europe Tour Dates
Wed June 8 The Forum London U.K.
Thur June 9 The Forum London U.K.
Fri June 10 Download Festival Donnington U.K.
Fri - Sun July 29-31 Fuji Rock Fest Naeba Ski Resort, Japan

More shows to be announced. Tickets for U.S. shows on sale April 26 at www.dinosaurjr.com
* All Ages Welcome
*** on-sale info for SummerStage and Lollapalooza TBA
** 7/24 The Quest 18 and over welcome

Look for Dinosaur Jr.'s reunion debut to be aired on CBS' Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Friday, April 15. A day later, at Hollywood's Spaceland, J Mascis + the Fog with VERY special guests will perform a full show to 300 lucky fans. The show is sold out. A handful of additional tickets will be released at the Spaceland box office day of show.

About the Reissues:
Originally released on two of the most influential independent labels of the times - Homestead and SST - Dinosaur, You're Living All Over Me and Bug will now be available on Merge to an entirely new generation of music fans. If there is any justice these recordings will be just as influential the second time around...

All three CDs have been remastered and will be reissued with original cover artwork but the new booklets will contain never-before seen images that are sure to electrify longtime fans. Bonus materials include a rare live track - "Does It Float" - which captures the power and sheer chaos of early Dinosaur shows, as well as videos for classic tracks "Little Fury Things", "Just Like Heaven", "Freak Scene" and a recently-discovered, never before seen video for "No Bones". Also included are extensive new liner notes for all three albums compiled by music writer/gadfly Byron Coley featuring interviews/commentary from Thurston Moore, Mike Watt and Robert Pollard. Acclaimed filmmaker Allison Anders also contributed liner notes for Bug.

But really, who needs extra bells and whistles? These albums contain so much raw power and melodic tension that they speak well enough for themselves, as seminal pieces of American rock and roll history.

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