Hey there, the RAT’s here filling in for the Abang. And for the next couple of days, I’ll be clueing you in on the second half of the Mosaic Music Festival starting with… a blast from the past!  

But enough of my shortcomings. I’m an unabashed kid of the `90s and know how much this trio consisting of Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph were influential and peer to the bands and rock sound I grew up with. So without further ado, here’s a list of why Dinosaur Jr took me back in time. In a good way. 1. Black t-shirts. No one wears black t-shirts anymore. Everyone’s all stylo mylo these days. But all three of them did. 2. The obsessive tuning and re-tuning of guitars. It’s irritating if you’re watching a concert. But when J Mascis does it, I think of an obsessive, nervous kid. I have an ex-bandmate who used to do that. Sometimes he messes up. Then we all have to tune our guitars as well. It’s somewhat similar to… 3. The restless guitar noodling in-between songs. Who does that nowadays?! That long white Gandalf `do hides a kid named J. 4. The bassist-as-guitarist-songwriter-just-waiting-to-come-out. Some friends of mine actually flew in because of Lou Barlow, courtesy of his Sebadoh side-project when he got kicked out of the band. Everyone knows the Barlow-Mascis love-hate relationship. Like Pixies’ Black Francis and Kim Deal. Kim Deal is more charismatic, can sing harmonies, plays the bass and made a killer song. Just like Barlow – who got to sing a couple of songs in this gig too. The only difference between Barlow and Deal is that the former played power chords on his bass. And that Deal is a girl. 5. The whole I’m-not-going-to-do-banter-because-I’m-shredding-over-heavy-distortion (Mascis) or alternatively, the whole I’m-going-to-be-the-nice-guy-here-because-our-boss-is-too-serious-but-I’m-also-in-my-own-world-so-once-in-a-while-I’ll-turn-my-back-to-the-crowd-and-face-the-amps (Barlow). 6. The retro guitar effects. Phaser, wah pedal, loads and loads of distortion stompboxes. Mascis’ wall of noise was exactly what every kid in a band in the `90s wanted to create. Unless they were into Four Non-Blondes. 7. The fan who climbs up on stage. And does the rock sign. And before the bouncer catches him, stage dives. Okay so no stage diving took place, but two people actually went up onstage. How often does that happen at a rock concert at the Esplanade? Props dudes! You’re probably not from Singapore.