Dinosaur Jr. and friends treated fans to a free DIY pop-up show at Tompkins Square Park on Friday, Aug. 28 to promote the release of their new album, There Near, out now on all streaming platforms.

The concert was announced early Friday morning after plans for a free Saturday afternoon show at Maria Hernandez Park in Brooklyn moved to TV Eye in Ridgewood, Queens.

Despite the last minute shuffle, people began to pour into the park as the band was finishing with sound check, when suddenly the crowd had become so dense, you could only see the tops of people’s heads. People from all across New York City came out to catch lead vocalist/guitarist J. Mascis, Murph and Lou Barlow perform together in the East Village.

The sound from the Marshall stacks shook the ground, drowning out the screams from excited fans and the whirring of the drone overhead, as people continued to pile in.

The performance featured a short set including tracks “Kracked,” “Sludgefeast” and “In a Jar” off the influential, You’re Living All Over Me (1987), and two classic cuts from their eponymous debut, Dinosaur (1985).

The crowd was about as warmed up as you could possibly get at this point, when New York City’s own Native Sun hit the stage to deliver an absolutely electrifying performance. Their set included several original tracks off their 2025 full-length debut album, Concrete Language, including a rousing encore performance of the song “Adam.”

The performance was sponsored by Fender and organized by Show Brain, a volunteer-based nonprofit organization that puts on concerts in public parks across New York City, as part of Dinosaur Jr.’s “the one. for new york” area run, which kicked off on Thursday, Aug. 27, with an intimate performance at Lucinda’s honky tonk bar in the East Village.

Following the show at the park, Dinosaur Jr. went on to perform a free show with special guest Steve Gunn at Skinny Dennis honky tonk bar in Williamsburg. The following afternoon, they performed a cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” at TV Eye, before wrapping up their New York City pitstop with one final show at Baby’s All Right in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, featuring guests Mike Kinsella of American Football and Snail Mail.

Dinosaur Jr. will return to New York City on Feb. 11 and Feb. 12, 2027, for two nights at Brooklyn Steel.

Setlist: Kracked, Sludgefest, In a Jar, Forget the Swan, Freak Scene