Dv8'S The Place: L7, Dinosaur Jr. Headline Two Happening Concerts

DV8 - you KNOW what it used to be called - has pretty much become the only all-ages venue in the city where you can see national acts perform without the audience confines of the traditional seating found in theaters. That means maximum moshing, with perimeter seating for the easily crushed.

This week DV8 has two major alternative headliners and some pretty substantial support acts.

Wednesday night L7, one of the best reasons to have been at Lollapalooza this or any year, brings its no-nonsense nonsense and noise to the Taylor Avenue club. L7 - Jennifer Finch, Suzi Gardner, Donita Sparks and Demetra Plakas - are simply brutal and relentless rockers. They amp at "11" from the start and usually stay right there 'til they drop. Occasionally they might run a little short - energy this primal, like fossil fuel, isn't infinite - but should that happen musically, they'll find something to break or abuse. If you need a preview, rent "Serial Mom." They're one of the best bits in the movie.

L7's latest album is "Hungry For Stink" and that fits. Also on the bill are the masters of sludge rock, the Melvins, and Wool. -- Thursday night DV8 goes Jurassic with Dinosaur Jr., the band that guitarist, drummer, singer and songwriter J Mascis built. Mascis' meld of melodically metal slack-and-slash grabs a bigger portion of the mainstream audience with every album he puts out. His seventh, "Without A Sound," is more of the same: angst, anger and anxiety with a perversely humorous undercurrent. His video for "Feel The Pain," the song that begins with the line "I feel the pain of everything, and then I feel nothing," has Mascis in knickers, doing doughnuts in a golf cart, chasing the golf ball that never lands. All in all, it's ambitious, inventive stuff. -- Ween, as in Dean and Gene Ween, is from New Jersey, and the duo's fourth release, "Chocolate and Cheese," boasts some of their most eccentric and oddly accessible songs to date, along with a cover photo the likes of which probably hasn't been seen since the glory days of the Ohio Players. Songs range from the scraggy funk of "Can't Put My Finger On It" to the mysterious beauty of "A Tear For Eddie" to the just creepy "Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)." Palm Desert metalers Kyuss open both shows at the Crocodile Cafe Monday and Tuesday. -- CD Release Party Dept.: Diamond Fist Werny makes it official tonight at Moe with its self-titled six-song release. The work nicely captures Werny's intriguing sound. Opening will be Red Shoes For Nancy and, from San Francisco, the countrified alternative sound of Tarnation, featuring the talented Paula Frazer. Monday, Moe features, from Amsterdam, the excellent Dog Faced Hermans. -- Longtime scene queen Laura Love presents her new "Helvetica Bold" at an early (8 p.m.) show at the Backstage tonight. Jambay plays at 10 p.m. -- Medicine Hat introduces its first CD effort tomorrow at the Croc. 3-D S&M open. -- And Duffy Bishop returns to the Fenix Underground Tuesday with her new release, "Bottled Oddities." The Amish Cowboys open. Welcome back Duf. -- David Lindley, world-renowned stringed-instrument master and collaborator with Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Ry Cooder, Warren Zevon and many others, plays the Backstage Thursday. Truly a musician's musician. Also at the 'stage, ska tomorrow with the Toasters, guitarist/songwriter Patty Larkin Sunday and blues guitarist Kenny Neal Wednesday. -- The ever-popular San Francisco band the Strangers are back for a series of Seattle shows beginning with tonight's appearance at Under The Rail. Zero opens. Smokin' Joker, an Australian band formed from the Australian band Sideffects, is at Captain Cook's tonight with Mumble Yak. -- The Improv is now the Showbox Comedy & Supper Club, and the new owners Barry Bloch (Rattler's) and Tony Riviera (Tony Maroni's Pizza) promise all manner of changes, but this weekend it's comedy as usual with Tommy Sledge. -- Tomorrow night look for Flop and the Presidents of the United States at RKCNDY. Sunday the fabulous Fretblanket - these guys kill - with new find Shag do the RK.

Next week we'll tell you about the Mezzanine. Be patient.