J Mascis’s last record, Tied To A Star, was far more subtle than Dinosaur Jr.’s power-trio theatrics normally lend themselves to. Mascis, the lead guitar-player and vocalist for the Massachusetts alternative rock legends, turned in his thundering riffs and blazing solos for a gently picked acoustic guitar and meditative falsetto. While his fluid electric guitar stylings would occasionally make themselves known in Tied to a Star’s more dynamic moments, it was still largely another Mascis acoustic album.
I had the privilege of a brief interview with Mascis to preview his High Noon Saloon concert. Mascis said he’d be tackling the stage solo, playing guitar to the crowd as he’d sing and croon through a career-spanning setlist. I didn’t expect him to expand from beyond the brooding psychedelic folk that made up the twenty songs between Tied to a Star and its predecessor Several Shades of Why; Mascis solo almost seemed too absorbed with his gloomy folk music to want to leave that behind when he took to the stage.
Before Mascis took the stage, Australian indie folk duo Luluc introduced the show with a patient-minded set of duets. Singer Zoë Randell operatically dominated the microphone, an acoustic guitar in hand. To her right, guitar player Steve Hassett added ambiance with restrained guitar leads and the occasional tepid bass line. They never let themselves get overtaken by the music, instead surrendering to their gentle rhythms in a way that never ignited an audience-wide fire but was still awash in their captivation.
Mascis took the stage with few words and almost immediately began the set with an acoustic-themed “Stumble,” one of the many Tied to a Star cuts to be featured that night. The next song, “Me Again,” hinted at what was in store for the night; Mascis showed his hand and revealed that he’d be looping his songs, meaning he wouldn’t be limited in structure to simple folk songs. If that wasn’t convincing enough, his following rendition of a fuzzed-out “Little Fury Things” blew apart any expectations of Mascis playing the straight-faced troubadour that night.
J Mascis, varying between tender folk songs and explosive punk guitar theatrics, spread out across the Mascis catalog; Tied to a Star was well represented, but its softer moments were often juxtaposed with Dinosaur Jr. songs that inspired guitar hero worship. Mascis’s acoustic guitars danced across Eastern rhythms like the instrumental “Drifter” that led into “Heal the Star,” and then cranked up the dirt for fuzz-ridden guitar solo after fuzz-ridden guitar solo. The concert also saw Mascis pulling up a cover from his days with the Fog (“Ammaring”) and Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You.”
The show came to a climax with Dinosaur Jr.’s 1990s opus “Alone,” which saw Mascis slowly build the song into a dramatic hurricane of wah-wah addicted theatrics and fretboard drama as the guitar player folded years of playing into a single moment of six-string volatility that echoed off of the High Noon’s walls.
“Thanks!” was all Mascis said as he finished the song, feigning conclusion as he left the stage before returning for the obligatory encore. Shuffling between the crisp tone of a natural Martin and burning distortion, Mascis finished off the night with the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” a song that the equally pop-minded Dinosaur Jr. notoriously covered back in the day.
Marred by occasionally jarring transitions, like the cluttered “Quest” that saw everything from tender tunings to blazing fuzz to a guitar-slapping drum roll, Mascis both reaffirmed and blew apart his soft-voiced solo identity. Though he took it gently at times, adding a ghost-like cry to the likes of “Not the Same” and “Heal the Star,” Mascis was just as likely to tear into whirlpool guitar solos and distorted riffage. But as he rolled between the two, Mascis’s songs never lost their common ground—that quiet, melodic soul sitting behind the guitar.
