Dinosaur Jr. – Wednesday, July 30, 2025 at the Fillmore, Minneapolis

Dinosaur Jr. (with Easy Action and Snail Mail)  – Wednesday, July 30, 2025 at the Fillmore, Minneapolis

Review and photos by Jim Zons

LOUD!  Soft. LOUD!  There is no other way to describe the three bands I heard Wednesday evening, July 30 at the Fillmore in Minneapolis:  Easy Action, Snail Mail and Dinosaur Jr.

First up:  Easy Action.  Easy Action is described as having a “Detroit rock” sound with a punk rock edge.  Easy Action is fronted by John Brannon, former vocalist with the Laughing Hyenas, along with another Detroit rocker, Ron Sakowski on bass, and guitarist Harold Richardson and drummer Jon LeMay. These guys are LOUD!  Man:  I don’t normally even think about wearing earplugs but wished I had them for this band!  As an opener, they put on a LOUD but hard driving set of original music.

When the second band hit the stage, I was expecting another LOUD set, so I was utterly surprised by Snail Mail. Snail Mail is an indie rock solo project by Lindsey Jordan who has been performing since she was a young girl. She released her debut studio album, Lush in 2018 to critical acclaim, and hasn’t looked back. Her set embraced that lush, indie pop sound that would find its home on The Current as opposed to a set sandwiched between two hard rock bands, and was actually a welcome change of pace in the evening’s music. She definitely had her fans in attendance, singing along to songs like “Nowhere” and “Valentine.”

Next, it was time for the headliner:  Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Junior was formed as just “Dinosaur” in 1984, eventually having to add “Jr.” to the name due to a legal dispute. The original founding members, J Mascis on guitar and vocals, Lou Barlow on bass and vocals, and Emmett Jefferson Murphy III (or “Murph” as he’s known professionally) on drums reunited in around 2005 and have been touring and releasing new music ever since. When they first started performing in clubs in Massachusetts in the 1980s, they were noted for their LOUD shows that pissed off club owners and audience members  … and I gotta say, their show at the Fillmore pretty much lived up to that LOUD reputation!  But what do you expect from a band and a guitar player with six Marshall stacks on top of each other, all putting out sound??!?  Dinosaur Jr.’s sound is a unique blend of more laid back vocals combined with pure guitar rock chords and guitar noise, with lots of feedback and almost a 1960s “fuzz” sound … played at ear shattering volumes.  I should have used earplugs for this show!  But it was still a blast, as the band went through a catalog of music that went back to their early days in the 1980s with songs like “Gargoyle” and “Severed Lips” from their first album, through some more recent music, like “Garden” which featured J on bass.  At one point, Kurt Vile (who was in town opening for the Pixies the following night) joined the band for “Crumble,” which was a surprise. Also the encore ended with a couple of covers: “Just Like Heaven” originally by the Cure, and “T.V. Eye” a Stooges cover that featured John Brannon from the opening act, Easy Action, singing (or screaming) the lead vocals instead of J or Lou. It was an interesting way to end one of the loudest performances I’ve heard in a long, long time.  If you get a chance to see Dinosaur Jr. yourself, go … but bring earplugs!