Lou Barlow Dingwalls, London 2/2/10
3/5
By: Matt Tomiak
“I used to wear nice shirts” ponders Lou Barlow, clad in a grubby old plain black tee, before launching into the title track from last year’s warmly-received Goodnight Unknown album. “Um, until I rejoined Dinosaur Jnr....”
Not that the abrasive, turbulent wail of the Massachusetts proto-grunge titans who Barlow rejoined to play bass with after stints in Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion in 2005 has much in common with the ponderous lo-fi folk rock emanating from this bespectacled, slightly befuddled fellow perched on the Dingwalls stage. He’s a reluctant hero, avoiding eye contact with the audience and offering convoluted, Curb Your Enthusiasm-worthy anecdotes about his wife being sequestered in an LA mall bookstore due to a police stand-off instead.
Barlow commences with a trio of fragile solo numbers before being joined by bassist Tom Watson and drummer Raul Morales, until recently both regular members of the touring band for Mike Watt, the prolific founder member of San Pedro punks Minutemen.
“I can’t actually hear what you’re saying” he confesses apologetically in response to a series of appreciative heckles, before expressing his fondness for the venue and this city. If only all alt-rock pioneers were this self-effacing, eh...?
Artists in this article: Lou Barlow
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