It may be snowy out, but Boulder's ready for a full weekend of concerts and Halloween parties.

The Boulder Theater's kicking things off Thursday night with a special show featuring Dinosaur Jr.

IF YOU GO

Who: Dinosaur Jr, with Lou Barlow and the Missingmen

When: 9 p.m. Thursday

Where: Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St.

Cost: $29.50

bouldertheater.com

The group's gone through several incarnations since the 1980s, due to all the ups and downs between band members. Dinosaur Jr founding members J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph recently reunited, and they're ready to offer Boulder the real alternative-rock experience.

"This reunion of Dinosaur Jr has been going on for four-and-a-half years," drummer Murph said. "We got back together in 2005 when we all played for a benefit. Sparks happened, and all our friends and relatives said we should get back together.

"We started getting all these offers to play, so we thought this is something we should do. We still have this chemistry that started 20 years ago. The passion never went away with this band."

Dinosaur Jr. got busy recording CDs, and the band released Beyond in 2007 and Farm in 2009.

"Our musical style's still the same," Murph said. "If anything, we've become a little more rock and a little less punk. The sound's

Dinosaur Jr pledges allegiance to one nation, under rawk.
still intact -- it's just gotten better.

"The parting of the ways gave us lots of life experiences, so we came back tougher and more confident. We also communicate a lot more. That makes it more of a fun experience to play and tour."

The updated version of Dinosaur Jr has been taking its rocking sounds around the globe, and the band's found a new generation of college fans.

"We have great fans and we've been lucky to have all these college kids coming to our shows," Murph said. "It's giving us an energy that people like to see at the concerts.

"We're now touring with our latest CD, Farm. We approach music like making a piece of artwork -- and then we just put it out there. Farm is a snapshot in time, because it reflects where we were when we made the record."

Dinosaur Jr also has been exploring the worlds of video and YouTube, and the band came up with an original clip for Farm's rocking single, "Over It." The video features the group showing off its skateboarding and bicycle skills for the catchy number.

"We were skeptical at first about making the video," Murph said. "We went down to Florida to do it and came up with a fun skate parody. It totally worked and we're super-impressed with the results."

Murph says it's been three years since Dinosaur Jr's played the Boulder Theater, so the band plans to show off the newer Farm tunes.