Sonic Youth at The Forum
Sonic Youth
Hush Arbors
The Forum, 23 October 2009
Every time I've seen Sonic Youth (about four times in total) they've had a weird-ass support act, from Japanese noise bands to the free-form jazz band whose drummer attacked a heckling audience member. In contrast to these, Hush Arbors were pretty straight ahead and ordinary. I had seen them before doing an acoustic set supporting Vetiver earlier this year, and they were a pleasant listen, full of folky harmonies and sweet melodies. I did wonder how they would fit with Sonic Youth but it turns out that with their instruments plugged in they supplement the folky harmonies with fuzzed-up guitars and sounded more rocked up and interesting than I remembered them.
But Sonic Youth were the real excitement of the night. I had stupidly missed their small Scala show earlier this year and after witnessing their tremendous Daydream Nation gig a couple of years back I knew that the Youth were on top form these days. Thankfully, although heavy on material from new album The Eternal, it didn't disappoint.
Coming out wearing a black and white prom dress, which somehow still looked punky thanks to black ripped chiffon stretched across the bodice, Kim Gordon started the show off with one of the new album's stand-out tracks, Sacred Trickster, performing the only song she does without hiding behind a guitar and clinging to the microphone like the rock goddess she is. Despite being 56, on stage she looks considerably younger and her voice is the best it's ever been. Before she was the queen of whispery, spoken vocals but now she can actually kinda sing!
The rest of the set featured almost all of The Eternal album, the highlight of the new songs being Thurston's feedback-driven Antenna. Before playing the fantastic Anti-Orgasm, Thurston also amusingly slagged off the BNP and the whole Question Time controversy: "Thanks for standing up to the BNF. Fucking clowns," he said to cheers. I don't know whether he just got the name wrong or was comparing them to the National Front, but either way it was typical Thurston and pretty cool.
Older, classic songs came in the form of the blistering White Cross (which led to a frenzy of pogoing crowds and slam dancing), Sister's Stereo Sanctity, a very awesome Tom Violence and two amazing cuts from Daydream Nation: 'Cross The Breeze and Hey Joni, both absolutely superb. But the best moment of the night was the final song of the second encore when Lee Renaldo, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore all lined up at their microphones at the edge of the stage for a deafeningly cool Death Valley '69, which was absolutely tremendous. Talk about ending on a high.
They may be getting on a bit but tonight proved that Sonic Youth can still rock harder than most bands half their age.
But Sonic Youth were the real excitement of the night. I had stupidly missed their small Scala show earlier this year and after witnessing their tremendous Daydream Nation gig a couple of years back I knew that the Youth were on top form these days. Thankfully, although heavy on material from new album The Eternal, it didn't disappoint.
Coming out wearing a black and white prom dress, which somehow still looked punky thanks to black ripped chiffon stretched across the bodice, Kim Gordon started the show off with one of the new album's stand-out tracks, Sacred Trickster, performing the only song she does without hiding behind a guitar and clinging to the microphone like the rock goddess she is. Despite being 56, on stage she looks considerably younger and her voice is the best it's ever been. Before she was the queen of whispery, spoken vocals but now she can actually kinda sing!
The rest of the set featured almost all of The Eternal album, the highlight of the new songs being Thurston's feedback-driven Antenna. Before playing the fantastic Anti-Orgasm, Thurston also amusingly slagged off the BNP and the whole Question Time controversy: "Thanks for standing up to the BNF. Fucking clowns," he said to cheers. I don't know whether he just got the name wrong or was comparing them to the National Front, but either way it was typical Thurston and pretty cool.
Older, classic songs came in the form of the blistering White Cross (which led to a frenzy of pogoing crowds and slam dancing), Sister's Stereo Sanctity, a very awesome Tom Violence and two amazing cuts from Daydream Nation: 'Cross The Breeze and Hey Joni, both absolutely superb. But the best moment of the night was the final song of the second encore when Lee Renaldo, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore all lined up at their microphones at the edge of the stage for a deafeningly cool Death Valley '69, which was absolutely tremendous. Talk about ending on a high.
They may be getting on a bit but tonight proved that Sonic Youth can still rock harder than most bands half their age.
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