Jon Crispin's Notebook

Today was a good day to make a vegetable stock.  I have been saving scraps all summer and the bag in the freezer was full to bursting.  Here is some history.  It smells great and will make a nice risotto.

My friend Tom from Outer Stylie told me last week that Dinosaur Jr. would be playing an unannounced set on the Amherst Town Common today at 3.00 as a warm up for Riot Fest in Chicago.

I have been wanting to see these guys locally for a long time.  J Mascis grew up in Amherst and started the band just after high school.  I see him around town all the time riding his bike or at the coffee shop or walking his dog (this is a great video).

They are LOUD live.  They played a gig on the top floor of  Laughing Dog Bicycles once that I missed but that apparently shook the building to its foundations.

J plays these great old Fender Jazzmasters.

Lou Barlow plays his bass almost like a rhythm guitar.  Love the hair.

They were set up on the town common under some trees, and Murph’s drum kit kept moving around.  At one point his tom fell over and this symbol lost its footing.  Some guy came up from the crowd and reset it for him.

It was particularly exciting to see a band that is so seminal in rock and really quite famous setting up in the middle of town and playing a set for anyone who happened by.  It is nice to be reminded that well known, creative people live lives very much like the rest of us.  They live in towns, they have families and friends, and occasionally they play a very loud set on the Amherst  Town Common. I wonder what the folks staying at the Lord Jeffrey Inn thought.