Sonic Youth: 30 Years of Daydream Nation
 

Sonic Youth: 30 Years of Daydream Nation
with Steve Shelley, filmmaker Lance Bangs and SY archivist Aaron Mullan in attendance
Hollywood Theatre Portland, OR October 20, 2018


Sonic Youth released their sixth album Daydream Nation on October 18,1988. The album was an immediate critical success. Robert Palmer wrote in Rolling Stone that it “presents the definitive American guitar band of the Eighties at the height of its powers and prescience”. Time has not dimmed the album’s lustre: It was selected to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry in 2005, and in 2013 Consequence of Sound declared “the record simply rules.”


In celebration of the album’s 30th anniversary, Sonic Youth, in conjunction with the Hollywood Theatre, filmmaker Lance Bangs, and SY archivist Aaron Mullan, will present a program of Daydream Nation-related films on October 20th. Two are rarely-screened archival pieces from 1989, in brand new restorations. Lance Bangs will also present excerpts from his new concert film of the band performing the album in its entirety in Glasgow in 2007. A few unseen gems from the band’s archives will round out the bill.




Put Blood in the Music 1989 Dir. Charles Atlas (SY Edit): Charles Atlas’s first major recognition came for his work with Merce Cunningham as the company’s filmmaker-in-residence from 1978-1983. From this pioneering work establishing the field of ‘Dance for Camera”, he went on to make the faux Cinema Verite Hail the New Puritan for BBC4 about the Scottish dancer Michael Clark, featuring music by Glenn Branca, Bruce Gilbert (of Wire), Jeffrey Hinton, and the Fall. Then Atlas was approached by the Irish writer David Donohue, asking him to do a movie about music in New York.


CHARLES ATLAS: This was really the first documentary that I made. For me, I’d done a lot of pieces for television, art pieces. And I knew about the downtown New York music scene, having worked with Merce Cunningham, John Cage and Rhys Chatham and also knowing Glenn Branca.


I really wanted it to be green screened and I really wanted to have New York backgrounds, but we didn’t have time to go around shooting against New York backgrounds. So I had separate days to shoot New York backgrounds. I wanted to mix it up, and have it be really visually busy, like New York. A lot of people ended up copying the “interviewees against green-screened backgrounds” idea.


I knew that I was editing it, I wasn’t making it for someone else to edit. So I told the Director of Photography “It’s too boring to have the talking heads static like normal. Just do whatever you want. Make it interesting” and then I had to work with what he did.


I kind of wrote it by editing the clips of the people, which was something I then did in subsequent work. I’ve been criticized for not letting people speak the way they do in documentaries, with pauses. But I still had an American sensibility, even though I was working a lot in Europe, and I wanted things to change. I didn’t want any dead air at all.


We thought of a lot of different people to feature in the documentary, but I really wanted to do people who I thought would do well as television personalities; who would talk about their work in an engaging way. In retrospect it’s really quite star-studded, Hal Wilner and Karen Finley, in addition to the people already mentioned. It was really about downtown art, and the whole downtown music scene, and we just had to choose some people to represent that. I thought it was at a really critical moment for Sonic Youth. We went to great expense to record live performances, because I wouldn’t dare ask them to mime to playback. But then shortly afterward they signed with Geffen and there they were…


It was also the moment before the band had really gotten their press image totally together. Thurston was already like a late-night talk show host, but when they went more mainstream they got that part of their stuff together more. So it was interesting, because it was quite real. And I was quite naïve, in that it was really only later that I realized how complicated band dynamics are.





On Rust VPRO Dutch Television: Sonic Youth got some of their first European exposure via Holland. Lee Ranaldo had worked with the Dutch musician Truus de Groot in the group Plus Instruments. Lee and Thurston traveled to Holland performing with Glenn Branca, and by this time had become friends with de Groot’s roommate Carlos Van Hijfte, who would eventually book their European tours.


CARLOS VAN HIJFTE: At that time, there were TV shows in Holland, on National TV, who did interesting stuff. Dutch television, especially VPRO, had a tradition of doing that kind of stuff. They had weird shows, shows you would probably never be able to see in the States on Public TV, ever.


I watched the On Rust again recently, and it struck me how amazingly good it is. This time period; 1989, Sonic Youth were at the peak of their powers. There’s no doubt about it. People still talk about the albums they made in the late 80’s, and if you watch this, you know why: because it’s so incredibly good.


The Paradiso, where the show was filmed was packed, 1200 people. It was the first time they ever sold out the Paradiso. It was amazing. The first 3 or 4 tours they had been playing to 100 to 200 people, and all of the sudden, things happened. Because of Daydream Nation, there was a lot of excitement for all these bands, and Sonic Youth was at the front edge of it. In that year it really worked. There’s so much energy in this footage, so much rawness. At that time, things could still easily fall apart. That’s the great thing about rock shows, when you feel like it’s on the edge of disaster, but it holds together. That can create amazing music.





Daydream Nation Dir. Lance Bangs 2018 Lance Bangs's new Sonic Youth concert film "Daydream Nation" presents the band performing the titular double album in Glasgow on August 21st and 22, 2007. Bangs blends HD footage shot in Glasgow with fragments of personal Super8mm and 16mm from his archives of Sonic Youth over the decades.


Sonic Youth performed “Daydream Nation” in its entirety less than 20 times during a 2007 tour, often at festivals or outdoor venues. This document captures one of the few indoor club performances; a setting SY member Thurston Moore always claimed was the type of venue for which the songs were written. Glasgow had been a great city for the band’s tours, and the live sets shown in the film received a 5 star review in the Guardian.


"Daydream Nation" the film features multitrack audio of this material with a fidelity beyond any 1980's documents, and offers a performance of this material by musicians who are simply more experienced and more adept with their instruments. The joy of the band and the audience are a sight to behold; the band and the fans joined together in celebration of this landmark album (10/10 NME, 10/10 Spin Alternative Record Guide, 5 Stars in The Rolling Stone Album Guide, 10.0 in Pitchfork, A from Robert Christgau in The Village Voice).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=Xe1_J7yJFLk

God I want Aaron Mullan's job.

thanks!

In '88, yes. In 2007, when the deluxe edish came out, he gave it five stars in Rolling Stone (which would be an A+ in The Village Voice).

http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rs/sonicyouth-07.php

also for newyorkers

http://classicalbumsundays.com/class...ydream-nation/

and happy 23rd bday to Washing Machine too!

Wow the Lance Bangs concert film looks amazing! I had no idea they filmed any of the the DN shows so this is a total surprise to me, and a pretty fantastic one at that! I hope there are plans to release it on blu-ray or digital download so that fans everywhere will get to enjoy it! Has anyone heard whether that's in the cards?

Loved the promo clip, some of the Lance Bangs DDN footage was posted on you tube a few years ago…



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn7DQvx9eOA


I was lucky enough to see them in London on the same tour as the Glasgow concert film and the band were phenomenal , really hope that the film gets some kind of release on DVD or Blue ray too.

I live in Portland. I've got my ticket. They've just added a second show! I became a fan in '89 and didn't get to see them support Daydream. First S.Y. show was the Goo tour in Portland three weeks after my 21st b-day. I'll never forget Kim standing next to me at the back of the Melody Ballroom intently studying Nirvana during their set.

Sonic Youth: 30 Years of Daydream Nation new screenings announced:
10/21 Hollywood Theatre Portland, OR
8pm
10/23 Regent Theatre Los Angeles, CA 8pm
with Kim Gordon, Steve Shelley, Lance Bangs and Aaron Mullan in conversation
10/24 New Mission Theatre San Francisco, CA 7pm

Philly Premiere with director Lance Bangs and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley in attendance - November 18, 2018 7:30pm.

In celebration of the landmark album’s 30th Anniversary, PhilaMOCA presents the Philly Premiere of DAYDREAM NATION, a new Lance Bangs-directed concert film featuring Sonic Youth’s 2007 live performance of the double album in full. Bangs will also be screening rare archival footage of the band.
$15 adv / $17 day-of / Doors 7:00 / Movie 7:30
PhilaMOCA
531 N. 12th Street

http://www.philamoca.org/

new Sonic Youth screenings announced:
oct. 21 Hollywood Theatre Portland, OR
oct. 23 Regent Theatre LA
oct 24 New Mission Theatre SF
nov 12 Alamo Drafthouse Austin, TX (Ritz)
nov 18 PhilaMoca Philadelphia, PA
nov 19 Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn , NY

Damn I want to make that Austin screening. Crossing my fingers for a New Orleans screening and a nice blu ray release.

gotta make that Austin screening!

Pitchfork gives the following listing:




will there be any similar screenings in Europe?

so cool. love to hear about the interview session and what you thought about the film

Life has been 100% crazy lately, but I will try to attend tonight’s screening in LA. If circumstances allow me to make it, I will wear this jacket with a backpatch made from a tee I got at the 2007 Daydream shows. Might try to record the interview too, we’ll see.
https://imgur.com/gallery/SVMAMOY

That'd be mighty bitchen.
:)

Never made it due to extenuating circumstances

I was sick. :(

Overall the show was very nice. Steve was asked about a reunion. He said Sonic Youth will not be getting back together. Lance Bangs '07 footage is amazing! Hoping beyond hope he will release the full concert!

December 8 and 9 – Sao Paulo, Brazil FREE – Cine Olido

Will this be available on DVD at some point? Streaming? I live in Lincoln Nebraska, aint no way that movie is showing up here. I'm a long time SY disciple and hate being left out of the loop...

I am sure they will release it at some point.

From the town of Lincoln, Nebraska
With a sawed off .410 on my lap
Through to the badlands of Wyoming
I killed everything in my path

Two new screenings of 30 Years of Daydream Nation announced!
1/11/19 - Crosstown Arts - Memphis, TN
with Robert Gordon, Lance Bangs & Steve Shelley
http://smarturl.it/SY_DN30_Memphis

1/19/19 - The Loft Cinema - Tuscon, AZ
with Howe Gelb, Aaron Mullan & Steve Shelley
http://smarturl.it/SY_DN30_Tuscon

Steve has just mentioned on Instagram that the UK will be next!

January 16 Athens, GA – Cine w Lance Bangs, Andrew Rieger of Elf Power and Dave Barbe in conversation – music at 9:30pm/movies at 10:30pm

January 19 Tucson, AZ – The Loft Cinema w Howe Gelb, Aaron Mullan and Steve Shelley in conversation

January 27 New Orleans TBA

March 3 London TBA

New Orleans! This makes my year already

January 27 New Orleans, LA – Ace Hotel with Lance Bangs and Steve Shelley
February 23 Glasgow, Scotland – Glasgow Film Festival Premiere of Daydream Nation concert film in it’s entirety with Lance Bangs, Stephen Pastel and Steve Shelley
February 24 Manchester, UK – Gorilla with Steve Shelley in conversation and Q and A
February 25 Edinburgh, Scotland – Cameo Picturehouse with Lance Bangs and Steve Shelley
February 26 Leeds, UK – Hyde Park Picture House with Lance Bangs and Steve Shelley
February 27 Liverpool, UK – Picture House At Fact with Lance Bangs and Steve Shelley
March 3 London, UK – Rio Cinema with Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley, Lance Bangs and Aaron Mullan in conversation
March 4 Brighton, UK – Duke of York’s Picture House with Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley, Lance Bangs in conversation

I don't understand this line. Have other venues been getting a truncated/edited version?

The New Orleans show is being rescheduled. Is there anyone on this board in southern Louisiana anyway?

London show listing:

Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley, filmmaker Lance Bangs and Sonic Youth archivist Aaron Mullan are celebrating it by presenting a jam-packed programme of films. See the rarely-screened 1989 doc Put Blood In The Music, which has been newly restored, gems from the band's archive plus excerpts from Lance Bangs's new Daydream Nation concert film.

Would be nice to get the complete DN film screened but nonetheless looking forward to what should be an interesting evening.

UK dates, a bunch of them will go on sale Monday


February 23 Glasgow, Scotland – Glasgow Film Festival

Premiere of Daydream Nation concert film in it’s entirety with Lance Bangs, Stephen Pastel and Steve Shelley

February 24 Manchester, UK – TBA

February 25 Edinburgh, Scotland – Cameo Picturehouse with Lance Bangs and Steve Shelley

February 26 Leeds, UK – Hyde Park Picture House with Lance Bangs and Steve Shelley

February 27 Liverpool, UK – Picture House At Fact with Lance Bangs, Steve Shepherd and Steve Shelley

March 2 Dublin, Ireland – Irish Film Institute with Lance Bangs and Steve Shelley

March 3 London, UK – Rio Cinema with Thurston Moore, Steve Shelley, Lance Bangs and Aaron Mullan in conversation

March 4 Brighton, UK – TBA

I want it. Make it available - I'll buy it. DO IT.

I’m going to the March 4th show in Brighton, it’s being advertised as having a Q&A with Thurston, Steve and Lance Bangs at the end. Is anyone else from here going?
What should I ask Thurston?!?!?

Also, Should I take my first pressing of Daydream Nation on vinyl with me and try to get it signed? What are the chances Thurston and Steve will just be hanging around in the bar afterwards?

The latest issue of The Wire (issue 421, Stephen Malkmus on the cover) features a review of Lance Bangs' film. Since I like to keep magazines in print I won't post it here (buy it!)... but I will show you some pics:

thanks!

I was from approx 2002/2003 through early 2005. Lucky I left when I did, or my bones might still be there.