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2003-02-13 - 12:40 p.m.

Ah, Jury duty...I feel live I've been doing acid for the last two days just being in a courthouse and having to go through this whole weird process of elimination game. I was one of the first to be picked and one of the first to be let go, kinda funny. I dunno what they based their opinions on as far as what makes for a good juror. I guess I was too quiet and if ya watch court movies...it's the quiet ones ya gotta watch. Last night I ventured into Chapel Hill to see Ben Lee and J. Mascis and The Fog. My ears are still ringing from J.'s set. Ben was really great, I wasn't expecting so much energy from him as he does practically solo performances but I can see even more so now that he has alot of passion for what he does and it gives me that much more respect for him. This one guy that was behind me and then sitting on the side stage during his set was a huge fan, at times he was singing the songs louder than Ben...I had to lean over the lip of the stage at these points so I could still hear Ben. There were a few assholes who kept saying "get off the stage dude" and shit like that, which I still don't get. If you aren't interested in an opening act for a show then come to the show an hour after it's supposed to start. You don't have to fucking be there and there's no reason for you being a fucking bastard while they perform. Even when I don't much care for an opening act I don't sit there and yell out insults at them. I wait till they're done and get psyched up for who I'm there to see the most. When J. came out I made it a point to be right up in front of his mic. I've read many reviews of his live shows from his time in Dinosaur Jr. till now and all of them emphasized his notoriety for being one of the loudest stage shows ever. Sure enough, they were right. His Marshall stack amp rig was fucking taller than he was and he had that stack rigged up to a second Marshall head which was hooked up to this stack of effects processors. I watched eagerly as he brought out his guitar rack made up of nothing more nothing less than three vintage Fender Jazzmasters from over the years, one of which I am pretty sure he is playing in the 1991: Year Punk Broke video. Then a fourth Jazzmaster is brought out as his chief guitar, an odd purple paintjob with little flower and sun decals you can buy in packs at walmart decorating the entire body and headstock. The next thing I know he brings out this gigantic pedal board and sets it down in front of the stage where he will be standing...most of the pedals I've seen before, vintage pawn shop finds...but then there is this huge motherboard setup that takes up the majority of the board with all sorts of switches on it connected to a smaller silver pedal for preset sounds. J. would be using this pedal alot tonight, getting flanger and phaser type effects going. Looking over his shoulder, I notice that before the main marshall setup connects to the second marshall head on his effects processors it is connected to what looks like a tube screamer effects box which remains turned on the whole show. This means that even when J. is playing undistorted on his pedal board his clean tone still has a bit of a crunch to it. Finally the rest of the band takes the stage, all of them being a direct contrast to J. whose thick glasses and beyond shoulder length straight grey hair make him stand out the greatest onstage and anywhere for that matter. From the first note of The Lung to the last bit of feedback in the lead out solo of The Wagon it was fucking awesome and totally loud. The improv moments were awe inspiring, the band rocking out distorted riffs as J. rocked back and forth in front of his amp shooting out off the cuff solos and noise like it was being channeled through him from some higher place. My ears are still ringing, funny that they didn't really get all bad and muffled until I got home last night...but it's well worth it. I'd definitely see J. again if I got the chance...but this will be down the road as my ears need to rest!

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