dinosaur jr 2005 / not on a school night

Not on a school night!

Thursday was an eventful day, much to my chagrin.
Work went as uneventful as it can possibly go, which is neither good nor bad. But I had other things on my mind, - the original line-up Dinosaur Jr extravaganza which awaited Petka, myself and a select other of our acquaintances in the evening. The Professor, who had managed to get a ticket to see them the night before, was quickly roped in to joining us for his second night. Due to a late cancellation, he was able to get in for free on the guest list (which seemed to really impress him, bless), and he and I met up at Kentish Town tube around 7pm. I had already had two beers on the four-stop underground journey, and a couple more were consumed once I arrived. The ticket touts (losers), clueless, ignorant and drunk as per usual, kept trying to ‘buy or sell tickets to dinosaurs’. Now I know that Mascis, Barlow and Murph are no spring chickens, but they are hardly ‘dinosaurs’!
Around 8pm Petka showed up with an old friend in tow. None of us (apart from Petka) had seen Kennedy for years, and at first it didn’t click. On second inspection I could ascertain that he had, much like us I suspect, not changed a bit. Shorter hair and fulltime employment had done little to dilute Kennedy’s ‘unique’ take on life.
The standard exchanges of ‘what is up?’ / ‘it has been a while’ / ‘fancy a beer/’ / etc taken care of, more beer was purchased and consumed.
I was getting well fired up at this stage, and couldn’t quite believe what I was about to witness. But it was real, and I was not to be disappointed.
We entered the Forum around 9.45pm, dropped our shit in the cloakroom, and purchased more beer.
The Professor had relayed the previous evening’s escapades to me earlier that day, and he was right in the sense that 99% of the audience consisted of people our age or older. One cannot be chastised for assuming that it was exactly the same group of musically enlightened people as I rubbed shoulders with in 1994 when I last had the fortune of seeing J Mascis perform. This night was going to be different, though.
This was not be a J Mascis plus a band kind of performance, this was to be J Mascis plus equally legendary Lou Barlow and Murph playing only material from the first (and in many juniorites opinion best) three albums. So in essence, this was a pure Dinosaur Jr gig. After Kennedy had poured beer over the Professor and Petka (successfully offending them both AND the people next to us in one foul swoop), more beer was purchased.
Sometime after 9pm the band took to the stage, looking relaxed, happy and rearing to go. J Mascis was wearing a tracksuit top, hair still long and unruly but almost entirely grey (this was debated, - some insisted that he had simply bleached it. It doesn’t really matter; we weren’t there to look at a group of middle-aged people we were there to indulge in our ‘childhood fantasies’).
They opened with xxxxx ( I couldn’t remember the track name at the gig, and now my memory is completely shot…), which neatly set the scene for what was to come. I am pleased they chose a song with Lou Barlow singing as their opener, this was truly going to be early Dinosaur Jr stuff. Second track ‘In a jar’ kicked in and the crowd was enthralled. I’ve never seen so many late-twenties / early-thirties somethings moshing around with such vigour. Third song of the night was ‘Bulbs of passion’, another classic from their first eponymous album. I am not sure how many people were aware of that first album but I was pleasantly surprised to see that I wasn’t the only one familiar with the material. After that rendition, I gave up on the set list and joined the heaving throng of sweaty bodies pulsating merrily to the soundtrack of their youth. The professor went over, and I lost the crew. It didn’t matter; I was there to see the band, not to socialise. 20-30 minutes later the Professor re-emerges in the crowd, informing me that a much-needed beer was waiting at the bar.
I went over and headed bar side.
The sound was not as good from that vantage point, but overall it still pissed on the 1994 performance. I was amazed at how they played.
The rest of the gig was observed from the bar as I was exhausted by this stage and very drunk. I’ve seen a lot of bands in my time, but none better than the three-piece line-up we were exposed to this night.
As we left extremely satisfied and inspired, Petka suggested we head for the O Bar to purchase some coca and continue the shenanigans. I was (and still am) completely broke, so I agreed only on the basis that I wouldn’t be able to contribute anything but my company. By 11.30pm I found myself in Camden, about 3 liters of bodily fluids lighter and definitely satisfied. Compared to the 1994 show in Brixton Academy this was beyond scrutiny. The vibe was awesome, and to those who intimately knew all three albums being played I salute you. In the last 12 months I’ve seen Sonic Youth, the Pixies (twice), Zeke and Death From Above 1979. This gig was better than all of those combined.
I feared that anything after this would prove an anticlimax, and when Petka and the Professor discussed the procurement of class A’s with ‘the Fridge’, I was miles away.
When my attention returned to the matter at hand, it transpired that the evening’s menu consisted of £90/0.8g’s. I wasn’t paying, I wasn’t going to, so I didn’t really care. I was still on a buzz from the gig, and let my friends get on with the bartering.
£90!!! Fuck it, I wasn’t paying…
For once everyone was busy sorting out coke except me. Had I had any money I am sure I would have been party to the negotiations, which by now were getting serious. £90 is just a little steep for 0.8g’s of coke. As my wallet had snapped close several days prior to this one I was luckily left with one option, - to be at the mercy of my friends. Finally Petka and the Professor agreed to the purchase, and we headed for my place. Around 1.30am we arrived, and quickly took three massive lines each. Now to be fair, the coke was actually really good, much better than anything else I’ve ever done in this country. We listened to Dinosaur Jr and chatted shit until the coke was gone. By that stage it was 4 in the morning and we all intended to go to work that same day. In a futile attempt to rest I tried to crash. At 6 or 7 in the morning the professor left for surrey to move his car and go to work. None of us had slept. I managed to compose myself and headed for work around 9am. Halfway there I realised that I had a dentist’s appointment that morning at 9.30 in Harley Street. It bought me some time. I headed home, cancelled the dentist and tried to sleep. Petka had just called work and told them he was too hung over to show, so he spent an hour or so sitting with his head in his hands trying desperately to summon the strength to head home. The Professor called, asking if he could come back to mine and crash.
He appeared at 10am, looking and sounding like shit. He had managed to arouse the suspicion of his boss and probably the whole company through a series of ill timed and poorly executed phone conversations. This, coupled with severe alcohol angst and remnants of potent cocaine still rushing through his body, solicited a strong bout of guilt. I welcomed him to my world, and he had to admit he failed to understand how I managed to live my life like this for so long. Stupidity I answered. Because the truth was, I was getting really sick of lying and scheming to compensate for my lack of disregard towards my place of work, especially seeing as I lost the previous one under similar circumstances.
By 11.30am I called work, told them I had finished with the dentist and was heading in their direction. I managed slip in that I felt like someone had hit me in the face with a hammer, and my boss asked if I was cool to still show up. I didn’t expect to be handed a cop-out on a plate and failed to pounce. Irritated, and set on not going to work (I was still feeling like shit, still very much high and time seemed to not move), I called back ½ hour later and more or less told them I wasn’t coming. Because I am used to such behaviour, it didn’t fill me with as much guilt as it would have The Professor. That doesn’t mean I liked it, but that’s all water under the bridge.
The rest of Friday was spent trying to regain my body’s equilibrium, watching TV, smoking spliffs and trying not to be sick. Rock and Roll.
I’ve always said, if you gotta fuck up, do it in style. Just not on a school night anymore!