Thurston Moore at Oslo Hackney

The Thurston Moore Group

Big Joanie

Oslo Hackney, 13 September 2025

This gig may well have spoiled every future gig for me now, because not only did I get to witness the genius that is Thurston Moore up close and have his brilliant and thunderous music fill my lucky ears, but I also got to pet his gorgeous dogs, as he brought them out on stage to show us! Amazing music and cute dogs too? It really doesn't get better than that.

Incredibly it's been 18 years since I last saw Thurston Moore do a solo show, which was just after the release of his excellent second solo album, Trees Outside The Academy, at the Scala in 2007. After that I did see him a couple more times with Sonic Youth until they of course broke up but I really have no excuses to why I've never went to another of his solo shows, as he's been living in London for the last eight or so years and regularly plays not just in London but around Europe. This show seemed especially appealing though, as not only was it in the intimate surroundings on Oslo in Hackney but also Big Joanie was the support act.

I feel like I've been on the cusp of seeing Big Joanie live for ages now, as they've played shows with the likes of Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill and The Breeders, but somehow I missed those shows, so it was a thrill to finally see them tonight, especially getting to see them up close.

It's, of course, unusual to see a British punk band that not only is made up of women, but black women too, but that's also what makes them so refreshing. The group is essentially singer/guitarist Stephanie Phillips and bassist Estella Adeyeri, but tonight they are also joined by a drummer (who is stylishly sporting a Big Joanie t-shirt) and another guitarist who also plays keyboards on some songs, so it's a full sound.

Naturally they look super cool when they walk on stage, Phillips wearing a black floaty chiffon dress that Stevie Nicks would fully approve of while Adeyeri had a long black skirt with a high split and a beret. There was something really joyful and welcoming about them, I immediately loved them.

They began with a new song called Turn On The Light, before playing the driving Happier Still, which definitely has big Sleater-Kinney energy, while Taut, really lived up to its name, with its rhythmic distorted guitars, and Phillips' emotional vocals.

Your Words, with its moody synth accompaniment, sounded sad and desperate and really reminded me of the band Scrawl, another fantastic and definitely underrated all girl alternative band from the 1990s. They then go on to pay tribute to another great female artist, Solange, with their brilliant reworking of her song Cranes In The Sky. Phillips tells us that she wrote a book about her called Why Solange Matters, which came out a few years ago, and urges us to buy it as she makes so little doing music! It was riveting to watch her go crazy on her cool bright green guitar at the the end of this one.

The last few songs we were encouraged to dance and there was definitely good feeling with the almost poppy In My Arms, the all out punk of It's You, which had Phillips trading vocals with bassist Adeyeri, and finally, the older track Fall Asleep, which was loud and full of energy, definitely not something to fall asleep to!

The last song was another new one, apparently called Speak For Me, which they said they hoped they would record for their third album. This one had a strong synth sound and maybe signals a slightly different sound for the record, but it sounded superb and made it excited for what they do next! They were definitely a good fit for tonight's show and went down a storm. Of course they are on Moore's record label, Daydream Library Series (and in fact was his first release), and they thanked him tonight for all his support over the years, but regardless, as a double bill this was a pretty magical one.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised but it was cool nonetheless to see Thurston Moore come out and set up his own equipment. Obviously this is a small venue but Moore is a music legend and icon now who has even published his own acclaimed memoir (I own it but I admit I haven't yet read it and I know I need to!). There were plenty in attendance you could tell were die-hard fans but there was a laid-back vibe to the whole show where, despite his impressive history and people's reverence for him, you felt Moore didn't hold himself above his audience: it was very punk rock in the best possible way.

The show started with the noisy and yet hypnotic Forevermore from his 2014 album The Best Day, Debbie Googe's thunderous bass shaking my insides: it sounded fucking awesome and although it lasted well over ten minutes, I was deep in its groove and could have listened to for much longer.

Moore looked as youthful and cool as ever (it's crazy to think he's almost 70 now), wearing a loose velvet shirt and jeans, and playing the most bashed up and well used Fender Jazzmaster I've seen in a long time: there was something reassuring about it, knowing this guitar has been lovingly played at so many shows with abandon. 

But I also have to mention the absolutely amazing Debbie Googe, who radiated such supreme coolness and such pure energy, I felt almost bathed in it being so near her. She looked so effortlessly stylish in her black shirt and short hairdo, always standing in a stance that felt like she was holding her bass (a Squier bass VI no less, it had six strings!) like a weapon. It was so powerful to see her and be in her presence and see and hear her do her thing. I had seen her before with My Bloody Valentine but it was something else to be so close to her. At one point she saw me being utterly mesmerised by her and smiled at me and I couldn't help but grin back! She truly is the secret weapon, or maybe not-so-secret!, in Moore's band and she added so much to tonight's show.

Interestingly a lot of the material tonight came from Moore's 2020 album By The Fire, more than his most recent release Flow Critical Lucidity, which came out last year (he did play three songs from it though). A lot of this material has a more Sonic Youth feel (Hashish in particular definitely is reminiscent of 100%) but that was more than alright with me, and I loved how these songs were often sprawling affairs, allowing Moore to fully let loose on the guitar and show off his distinctive style.

There was a fantastic cover of the Velvet Underground's Temptation Inside Your Heart, with a gloriously chugging guitar part and some snarling vocals (this cover was only recently released so it makes sense that they are playing it tonight), which ended with Moore going crazy making interesting and cool sounds on his well-worn Jazzmaster. 

It was about halfway through the show that Moore and his band got to the songs from Flow Critical Lucidity, starting with an extremely jazzy intro to the song Sans Limites, with Moore and his bandmate, having a rather nice interplay between guitar and the clarinet. The clarinet also popped up at the end of Hypnogram, almost acting as a guitar solo, seeing out the song and ending in a wave of shimmering feedback.

The riff-laden Cantaloupe (which actually featured a rather traditional guitar solo courtesy of Thurston's guitarist in the band), seamlessly led into the more ominous sounding Aphrodite, which started with a very long and intense instrumental intro, and ended with lots of feedback and distorted jamming, eventually getting quieter, as Moore's guitar playing slowed down to the sound of an Eastern flavoured clarinet solo and stopped suddenly when Moore jumped on his guitar pedal, for a powerful and abrupt end. Moore gathered his lyric sheets (which he had been using throughout the show on a music stand) and the band left the stage.

I did wonder if there would be no encore, as the whole thing felt very punk rock, but the audience was so enthusiastic, it did feel pretty genuine when they returned, Moore again with his lyric sheets in hand. Moore apologised for not being very talkative during the show, which was certainly true as he had barely said a word, letting the music speak for him (which was more than fine with me!) but having heard him entertainingly reminisce at the Redd Kross event at Rough Trade last year, it's clear Moore loves to chat (although he said that Deb Googe had been "body talking" with her moves, which seemed to amuse her and bewilder her at the same time!). So given the chance to finally speak, he told us that his dogs were at the gig tonight with me. Unusually for me, because I truly get the fear of shouting out or saying anything in public (I could not have been a rock musician!), I shouted out "Where are they?" because obviously I was excited that dogs were in the building, somewhere out of sight but Moore misheard me and responded "what are they?"

So again, incredibly weird for me, I said again "Where are they?" Moore was looking at me at this point so heard me correctly and smiled and said they were tied up somewhere backstage. "A lot of people have allergies," he said, making excuses, but then clarified "some people don't want dogs on the couch, but I say, then don't sit on the couch" which is truly a sentiment I can get behind. Dogs deserve to be on the couch for sure!

And then, maybe due to my enquiries about where these mysterious pooches were, suddenly they were let loose on the stage and Moore, looking radiantly happy, went and picked up one of the dogs and brought him over to the microphone and introduced him to the crowd, craddling the beautiful creature like a baby. The other dog was getting lots of pets from those in the front and actually came up to me and sniffed my nose and let me give him (or her! I wasn't sure) a good rub on his head. It was so nice!

Moore said what breed they were and their names and told us they were twins, but I must admit I don't remember most of what he said because I was so enthralled with meeting his dogs, they were so cute! He let down the first and picked up the other dog, to introduce him too, so both got their moment on stage. But I've never been to a gig before where dogs came out on stage, let alone the dogs of a genius and a music legend, so it truly was a magical one-off experience! What a cool thing to happen and I can't thank Thurston Moore enough for letting us all meet his wonderful dogs!

Then the band of course returned to the music, and interestingly it was again tracks from both By The Fire and Flow Critical Lucidity, that ended the show, starting with The Diver, which was a more slow-burning number, and then the far more intense Locomotive, with its pounding drums and crazy descent into experimental sounds and feedback, made a fitting ending to a fantastically thrilling show (Moore also once again jumped on his guitar pedal to get that abrupt cut out to show it was all over.)

But what an absolute blast of a gig! It was strange and amazing to be up close to Moore and experience his genius just inches away from me. When I found my place at the front I wasn't quite sure where the band stood, I just chose my spot by what was available (the first people in went to the other end of the stage so I assumed they were going to stand in front of Moore) but as it turned out I was right in front of Moore and Googe so I got to be incredibly close to both and I found myself constantly turning my head between the two all night, as they were both so thrilling to watch: I feel incredibly lucky, that's for sure.

This of course would have been a fantastic gig regardless, as it was amazing to finally see Big Joanie and have them live up to expectations, and the Thurston Moore Group, were not only as brilliant as expected but actually genuinely blew me away, but the little moment with Moore bringing out his dogs to meet us, just made it all the more special, so much fun and most of all, genuinely memorable for everyone there.