Capturing the band’s spring 2021 livestream performance at the Cambridge venue
Dinosaur Jr. have released a new live album called Emptiness at the Sinclair. The record captures the band’s livestream May performance at the Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The performance took place a week after the band released its latest album, Sweep It Into Space. Listen to Emptiness at the Sinclair below.
“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,” Lou Barlow said in a statement. “I had lived in Boston for about 10 years from the late ’80s-’90s and the bustling square was a common destination to look for records and meet with friends. The empty pandemic feel spooked me.” Barlow continued:
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 realtime 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.
Read Pitchfork’s feature “36 of America’s Best Independent Music Venues on Surviving and What’s Next.”
