J Mascis + The Wounded Knees

So perhaps it is fitting that the second time I see J Mascis live, he's supported by The Wounded Knees - a duo who manage to create an impressive wall of sound with their flute, guitar and vocal combination. Not only that, but I find out later that the singer/guitarist is Jimi Shields, brother of the Valentine's Kevin, who is apparently in the audience tonight.

I suspect Kev may have been impressed with the intensely distorted sound created by his brother's acoustic guitar, which unexpectedly generates a considerable amount of noise. Apparently J's been a fan for a couple of years now, and it's easy to see why.

Shortly after The Wounded Knees leave the stage, J shuffles on with an acoustic guitar and fiddles with his pedals. "Don't stop talking on my account," he remarks in a rare intonation to the audience. But when he suddenly stands up with: "Thank you and good night!" and strides off stage, we're worried. Has J gone all temperamental on us?

No, he must have just forgotten something, as he returns in a jiffy. Phew. After launching into a chord sequence however, he stops halfway through and retunes his guitar. Halfway through he changes the song to The Lung, and at some point launches into Freak Scene. It's a sign of things to come, i.e. the gig is almost like witnessing an extended practice in his room.

But hell, this is what we all came for - to see the man at work. One thing which probably doesn't need explanation is J's astounding guitar playing. It's not just the fact that he can play a million notes at once - there are poodle rockers aplenty capable of that - nor is it his ability to play loud (again, some might say there are too many guitarists whose amps go up to 11). It's all of this, combined with the sheer melodic quality of J's solos which make them so palatable to the ear.

His voice is in fine fettle too - it's easy to dismiss it as nasal but live it's effortless and perfectly complements the ferocity of the guitar sound. And there's some blistering guitar work going on - all executed with the same unassuming demeanour my dad might have while attempting to rewire a plug.

Fans of J's earlier work are treated to a set comprising almost entirely of Dinosaur Jr songs. Using a clever delay device, he's able to solo along to a chord progression he's just played, thus defying the limitations of the one-man-band setting. That said, Wounded Knees flautist Suzanne Thorpe joins him for a gorgeous version of Thumb and a 15-minute version of Alone, which rounds off the set by attempting to make everyone's ears bleed with the sonic overload.

While everyone recovers their hearing, J comes back for a crowd-pleasing encore of Wagon and Just Like Heaven, proving once again that it's the tunes which make the man so special, not just the fact that he practically invented grunge. Which he did too, of course.