Friday 13 January 2012

Culture Vultures Tour 2012 - J Mascis

We decided to start our cultural new year off with a shout-out to our glory days - the 90s where we had no responsibilities other then getting to a uni lecture on time, with bonus points if that happened after no sleep the night before. The first event of 2012 saw us off to enjoy the music of J Mascis, the founder and frontman of Dinosaur Junior, in the Spielgeltent in Hyde Park where he was playing as part of the Sydney Festival 2012. Eady somehow managed to snaffle some tickets when they were first released and was giddy with excitement as the last time he had seen J was at one of the first Big Day Outs back in the early 90s, definitely a long time between drinks in anyone's pub! But 20 years seemed to have passed in a blur for most of us there, J included - Eady and I love a concert but love an early finish even more especially now that age and work commitments have wearied us. So the 7pm kick off was brilliant! Luckily it was only the start of the brilliance of the night as J was amazing. His voice has matured so much and is so deep and resonating. Without the backing of his band, the acoustic show definitely had a Country-meets-California vibe about it, even with the old Dinosaur Junior songs he played.



As for the Speigeltent, it was our first experience of this temporary venue and I have to say it was pretty amazing. The interior is like an old-fashioned circus tent with lead-light windows and a giant chandelier dangling from the Big Top. There are chairs in front of the teeny stage at one end, booths around the sides of the tent with a standing section near the entrance. It feels as if the venue only holds a handful of people and there is not one bad seat in the house, even the standing room offers fabulous views. Despite a big queue, we got ourselves 3rd row seats (after declining front row) and just chilled with some wine for the duration of the show. This really is concert-going for the old and weary!


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