José González at Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, October 1, 2015

As if there were any lingering doubt, even the calendar now confirms that Rocktober is officially here.  What better way to confirm the season than a show by José González at Variety Playhouse, with none other than our old friends Luluc opening?

"Old friends" - we've seen Luluc perform once before, back when they opened for J Mascis at Terminal West during Rocktober 2014.  They were great then, and they sounded just as great last night - a sublime start to an enchanting evening.

Of course, headliner José González, playing his streams of mesmerizing music, made everyone forget not only the openers but at times their own names.

We've seen José perform before as Junip, once at Terminal West and once at The Earl (with Sharon Van Jones opening and joining him on a cover of U2's With Or Without You!) but never before on his own.  Last night, José performed his own songs, including several from his excellent new album Vestiges and Claws, as well as several Junip songs, such as Walking Lightly.

To be honest, there isn't too much difference between a Junip set and a José González set - in both settings, the band lines up in a semi-circle behind José, and in both cases the band includes keyboardist Barbarosa (who got a chance to sing one of his own songs last night during José's set). Perhaps the most notable difference is Junip includes more electronic instrumentation, while José's band relies more on analog percussion and guitars.  But either way, there's a pleasingly similarity to their sounds. 

I arrived at the Variety about 10 before 8:00, but still managed to get a front-row spot right up against the stage.  The place did seem to fill up behind me as the evening progressed, although I managed to keep my stage-front spot.

Here's the set list:

Bonus points for only two bands on the bill and a prompt 8:00 pm start time, meaning I got home before 11:00 pm on a weeknight.

J Mascis at Terminal West, Atlanta, October 3, 2014

Rocktober continues.  Last night, it was Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis performing a solo set at Terminal West.  But first, Luluc opened.  

I first heard Brooklyn-by-way-of-Australia's Luluc this summer, and was looking forward to hearing them live.  I've previously posted a song of theirs here, and here's a video of them performing that song live.

I had imagined a fuller band based on the few recorded songs that I've heard, but the duo of Zoe and Steve performed just fine as, well, a duo,  It was their first appearance in Atlanta, and the audience seemed to appreciate them as much as I.    

Zoe announced that this was Day 4 of their tour with J Mascis.  My unreliable cell phone camera was being even more unreliable than usual and most of the few photos that I did take managed to somehow get corrupted in storage, so instead of posting my own pictures, here's a great pic from Luluc's Facebook page of Zoe and J.

After a long break following Luluc's set, Mascis strolled onto the stage, sat down, looked around, and then strolled back off to fetch his beverages for the set.  Once be did settle in, though, he treated the audience to a magnificent set of solo tunes.

The set couldn't have been more casual,  J only muttered a few words of stage banter, but instead treated the audience to the kind of set one might expect if one had dropped into a friend's living room on a summer afternoon,  He jumped from song to song without any introduction or segue, sometimes stopping abruptly to re-tune or to  start a riff over.  He made good use of his pedal board, and even though he only played an acoustic guitar and didn't have his customary bank of Marshall amps behind him, the sounds that he produced sounded every bit as electric as a Dinosaur Jr. solo.

I recognized a few D.J. songs in the set, and he played other songs from his new solo album. Covers included Mazzy Star's Fade Into You and, as my camera started to die, for his one-song encore, he performed The Cure's Just Like Heaven.

Here's a video, I don't know, maybe the video, to Every Morning, the second track from his new solo album.

Anyhow, if you're anything like me, you're probably spending the rest of your day watching the Funny or Die videos on auto-play, so I won't say anything more than "enjoy."

Song of the Day