Dinosaur Jr. are “still making excellent records for new listeners and older ones who made the band part of their lives” (Wall Street Journal). Today, they release Emptiness at the Sinclair, an album that captures the essence of why the band has been such a staple in live music for decades. Recorded live at The Sinclair in Boston, Dinosaur Jr. play many tracks drawn from Sweep It Into Space, released earlier this year on Jagjaguwar, plus classics like ‘Just Like Heaven‘, ‘Start Choppin‘ and ‘Freak Scene‘. 

Listen to Emptiness at the Sinclair in full here: https://dinosaurjr.jagjag.co/emptiness-at-the-sinclair

Lou Barlow elaborates: “It was odd going back to Harvard Square for the Sinclair show, lots of closed shops, less car and foot traffic, my first time back in a big-city since it all went down. I had lived in Boston for about 10 years from the late 80’s-90’s and the bustling square was a common destination to look for records and meet with friends. The empty pandemic feel spooked me.

“Playing for a livestream is like pushing a rock up a hill trying to recreate the vibe of a real show. The isolation of the last year had made me nervous about performing again, especially in the context of Dinosaur Jr. where I typically rely on the energy of our crowd. Playing to an invisible audience and a real-time sparsely populated room of people doing their jobs (running lights, sound and staring at screens) was something different and, again, weird.

“Despite all my lockdown doubts once we started playing things clicked. My mind didn’t highjack me and it quickly began to feel like a real show. Having a few decent gigs on the Sinclair stage before, it began to feel familiar and, for lack of a better word, friendly.  It will be much more of a relief to get back on tour but, this Sinclair show was a good band-aid, so to speak.“

Dinosaur Jr.’s European tour begins in Dublin on March 27th at Vicar Street and run through April 13th where it culminates at Berlin‘s Columbiahalle before a return in June for dates at Barcelona and Porto‘s Primavera Sound festivals respectively. Tickets are on sale now.

UK/EU Tour Dates:

Mar 27th | Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
Mar 28th | Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz Manchester
Mar 30th | Hull, UK @ Asylum
Mar 31st | Glasgow, UK @ QMU
Apr 2nd | London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
Apr 3rd | Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
Apr 5th | Antwerp, BE @ Trix
Apr 6th | Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle Hamburg
Apr 7th | Cologne, DE @ Carlswerk Victoria
Apr 9th | Lausanne, CH @ Les Docks
Apr 10th | Paris, FR @ Le Trabendo
Apr 12th | Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
Apr 13th | Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
June 2nd | Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
June 11th | Porto, PT @ NOS Primavera Sound Festival