Live Shows: Dinosaur Jr. | Tempe, AZ
Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre - October 10, 2026
Dinosaur Jr. brought their Fall 2026 tour to Marquee Theatre in Tempe, Arizona on October 10th 2026. The tour, in support of their new album “There Near”, featured support from Stef Chura.
Chura kicked off the evening with a set that featured jangly guitars and heartfelt lyrics. Highlights included “The Concrete”, “Scream”, and “Babydoll.” Chura wrapped up the 9-song set around 8:30 p.m. After a 30-minute intermission Dinosaur Jr. took the stage. A semi-circle of beat up speaker cabinets lied dormant, each topped with an equally worn Marshall amplifier.
Guitarist and vocalist J Mascis stood serenely at the center of the speakers, his white shocks of hair protruding from under a brightly colored baseball cap. Mascis diligently twisted the tuning pegs of his Fender Jazzmaster just before the band shattered the silence with “Thumb.”
Dinosaur Jr.’s reputation as the loudest live band is warranted, as fans that did not come prepared discovered the hard way.
Just a few songs into the set, a young woman with her hands pressed to her ears looked up to see an outstretched hand. Two small cylinders of orange foam rested on the palm. She snatched them up and twisted them into her ears as bassist Lou Barlow retracted his hand and set the plastic tub of earplugs back on his amp.
The band delivered 15 songs that spanned the group’s four-decade career, from the recently released “Several Got Away” to “Mountain Man” from their 1985 self-titled debut album.
Other highlights included “Feel The Pain”, arguably the bands biggest commercial hit, and “Freak Scene”, about being stuck in a difficult relationship.
In between songs Barlow shared anecdotes about early trips to Phoenix. The stories included a stop at Alice Cooper’s now-defunct sports bar, gigs with the Meat Puppets, and mishaps with the band’s tour van. The band returned to their debut album for the final song of the set with “Gargoyle” before exiting the stage.
Dinosaur Jr. returned to the stage for a two-song encore that began with “Start Choppin’” from their 1993 album “Where You Been.” The final song of the evening, a cover of “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure, was cut short as the band exited the stage abruptly.
The Fall Tour runs until November, with stops that include San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, and Austin before concluding in New Orleans on November 7th. Tickets are available at https://www.dinosaurjr.com/tour.
