[Moshe]

so messed up

dd 12:00 AM

For once I will not bury the lead. I was lucky enough to experience a solo performance from Aaron of Tall Firs (his first, apparently) and it was an unexpected beautiful experience. Sounding about halfway between vintage Xpressway material (This Kind of Punishment, Alastair Galbraith) and A THOUSAND LEAVES-era Sonic Youth (one of my favorite and most under-rated albums), with possibly a Dirty Three reference audible in the shifting feel of the songs when heard with full band. I am particularly fond of
"So Messed Up".

A little back story as to how this happened: Sonic Youth played a show Saturday night, once again presenting DAYDREAM NATION. I wavered about getting tickets because their performance in Barcelona left much to be desired, and once I stopped vascillating the point was moot: it was sold out. To add insult to injury, the opening act was announced as the Dead C., who despite living in New Zealand for four years I've never seen here.

Then, to remove insult from injury (if such a tortured metaphorical construction is permissible), the Dead C. announced their own solo gig the night before. Further tantalizing was the rumor that a "super special secret guest" would be playing prior to the Dead C. Given that Lee Ranaldo of SY and Michael Morley of Dead C. have recorded together in the past, that was one possibility. Perhaps a whole Sonic Youth secret show, busting out the jams from albums that didn't come out 20 years ago? At the Dog's Bollix, an intimate venue, there was no way this could be missed.

And so I got there ludicrously early after online warnings: "Door sales only! Arrive early! Special secret guest!" etc. With my general lack of persuasion skills, combined with a previous experience recommending a live Dead C. show to someone who still hasn't recovered from it, I found myself alone at a bar. Did I mention I can't drink at the moment?

(I forgot to mention: the special guest was billed online as "The Tall Sirs". Tall Sirs. Tossers. I get it. Funny self-deprecation.)

So I wait around a generally unpopulated club an hour plus to start, writing to myself in my journal and continuing to drown in self-absorption, notice Lee Ranaldo, think about saying, hey, I interviewed you a decade ago, decide against it, go back to writing, til finally Surf City starts. They're pretty okay, although the fact that I saw them just the night before opening for Interpol with a better light show dims my enthusiasm somewhat. They end, I wander back to a table, do some more writing, and then at some point I realize the guitar coming from the stage isn't the house mix but somebody's starting playing.

I make my way to the stage, where basically nobody is paying attention, and a guy's sitting in the corner of the stage, playing these songs. And ... well, this is where we started. Despite the asshole standing at the front of the stage with his back to the stage talking to the friends, or the charming lady who would rather look into the distance then look at the guy putting on a kickass show five feet away from her, it was pretty outstanding experience.

The punchline, I discovered later when I went to another club, was that a bunch of people had skipped the show when they discovered that the secret guest was ... Sonic Youth's soundman. The joke's on them - I enjoyed Aaron's set much more than I'd have enjoyed 30 minutes of Lee Ranaldo pouring feedback through the speakers.

(Summary of rest of week: The Dead C. were a lot of fun, body-shaking noise with plodding rhythms holding it together. I smiled. After the show I wound up at the Whammy Bar, my favorite venue in Auckland, where The Mysterious Tapemen rocked the house with their debased version of surf rock. Huge fun, though still kicking myself for completely dropping the ball with this cute blonde woman who unsolicitedly danced with me. This hasn't happened to me since Crash Worship, so I don't expect it to happen for another 16 years.

Thursday was Interpol, and it was about what I hoped for from an Interpol show - good sound, they played their best songs, decent lighting and video.

Monday was Explosions in the Sky, and I loved it. I wish I could live in their songs. Some locals complained the show was too long. In my mind, that's a ridiculous comment to make about a headliner unless they're playing games like Guided By Voices and saving their hit songs for the third hour of the show. Opening act Eluvium hid quietly in the corner and made nice atmospheres with looping guitars, noises, and keyboards. And I've forgotten the name of the opening band, but their atmospheric metal style was slightly leaden due to their drummer's overreliance on the metronome in his ear.)

[Moshe]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/stor...ectid=10492984

Review: Sonic Youth at Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna

5:00AM Monday February 18, 2008
By Scott Kara

 

Songs on Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation album still sound potent and current today.
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Like many in the sold-out crowd, I was nearly hoarse and soaked with sweat after hooting, howling and carrying on as Sonic Youth ripped through their classic 1988 album Daydream Nation.
Hey, you don't get a chance to see a band play an entire album very often, and it's an even bigger occasion when it's a record that made the world sit up and bristle with sonic punk rock excitement 20 years ago.
And songs like rebel anthem Teen Age Riot, the sprawling and swirling Hey Joni and Eric's Trip, and the rampant chaos of Cross the Breeze still sound potent and current today.
This isn't just a concert, this is an event.
Sonic Youth are the sort of band who would rather play new songs, or songs off their latest album (which they get to do after playing Daydream).
Last year when they were presented with the idea of reprising the album for the Don't Look Back concert series, in which bands like the Stooges and Dinosaur Jr have played their classic albums live, they weren't convinced.

They love what they do. They take music seriously, but they have the all-important rebel attitude and mongrel to make songs seethe.


Drummer Steve Shelley is a time-keeping animal; guitarist Lee Ranaldo performs his axe wizardry with a wry confidence; bass player Kim Gordon is stunning, be it when she downs her bass to twirl her way around the stage, or spit the "give us a kiss" mantra of Kissability; her husband, Thurston Moore, is the most unlikely looking guitar hero, with his dopey mop of blonde hair, but as he tortures his guitar he shows why he's one of the best in the business.
If there's one song that sums up the show it's the demented noise punk of the album finale, Eliminator Jr. As Gordon shrieks the line "poor rich boy coming right through me", and the lads conjure up a fire storm of their own, it's as if it's all about to fall apart. But it never does. Daydream's 14 songs all have that same unbridled impact and that's why it's a classic.
As support act, New Zealand's own noise kings, the Dead C - a reclusive yet prolific trio whom Sonic Youth are big fans of - did an excellent job of warping our brains to prepare for the main event.

[sonicl]

Ooh... I wanna see Dead C again.

[Protectmeyou]

16 hours to go!!!!!!!!

[Protectmeyou]

my head hurts. I'm in pain. finally crashed at 6:00am. haven't drunk like that in years.


but fuck it was good!!!!!

that was one serious gig I saw last night. they played brilliantly. they kicked off with "Teenage Riot" of course and just worked their way through to "Trilogy". it was just the 4 of them on stage for the Daydream Nation songs. and although age has slowed them down someone somewhat (poor Steve looked like he was doing it tough on Silver Rocket) their professionalism was still 100%. Thurston was going off, playing like a man possessed. I love the way he plays guitar - it's so unique. and Kim Gordon was just her amazing self. how a woman of 55 years can look so friggin FIT is just mindblowing . she was dancing around the stage.
the encores were 3 or 4 songs off Rather Ripped and to be honest I probably enjoyed those songs the most - Reena, Incinerate, What A Waste, the ALMIGHTY Pink Steam and they also played The World Is Red from the "Confusion Is Sex" album. Bonus!
The crowd was great. I went to the mens during "Kissability" and all of the blokes taking a pee were singing you've got kissability..... at each other! brilliant.

Met an old friend there and I ended up hanging with him so that was cool. Got a shirt Got a nice text message from somebody just as I was leaving. Was abit too drunkies to text properly so I gave up

 

I know the qualities abysmal, it's the best my shitty camera phone can do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUh6qV-BQMk

[ohfuchsia]

ok i'm pissed off that you got the world looks red.

[ZEROpumpkins]

Sounded great, Protectmeyou. I lolled at the Kissability part (Hey, that's the song I would have chosen to miss if I had to go to the bathroom).

I got the orange Daydream Nation shirt and the stripy green and white Ecstatic Peace! shirt. I wanted the black one with SONIC YOUTH in big letters but they sold out of them right before I got to the counter.

[Moshe]

 

[ZEROpumpkins]

What an unflattering shot.

[uhler]

Originally Posted by Moshe

 

ahhhh that's scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ALIEN ANAL]

tomorrow is the big day
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: SONIC YOUTH

[spekkie]

on Monday night..there was no room to dance on the dance floor. it was too crowded and they seperated the floor which sucked the big one. A hell of a show though, they were the best. my neck is still as stiff as from getting down.

hehehe

[ZEROpumpkins]

You're not really meant to dance. Just mosh.

[ALIEN ANAL]

Originally Posted by ZEROpumpkins

You're not really meant to dance. Just mosh.

noooo
moshing is borring unless its a punk gig
your spose to dance you damn roller skating foreskin!

[ZEROpumpkins]

Pfft, dance as in how, headbanging, jumping up and down? Or dance like Kim </burn>

Anyhoo i'm off, good luck with SY in Perth, Dan. And srsly, ask your girlfriend if you can move into her house.

[sonicl]

If any of you Australians get the chance to speak to Lee this evening or tomorrow, please can you ask him how many Text of Light shows he's playing in Europe next month. And report back here.

It'll be much appreciated. Thanks.

[spenno]

Just got home from the Adelaide show, fucking magnificent.

It was outside and sporadically pouring with rain and so the entire audience was saturated by halfway through the show...didn't matter, just made it more memorable in a way!

Setlist:

Teenage Riot
Silver Rocket
The Sprawl
Cross the Breeze
Eric's Trip
Total Trash
Hey Joni
Providence
Candle
Rain King
Kissability
The Wonder
Hyperstation
Eliminator Jr

(Encore 1)

Incinerate
Jams Run Free
Pink Steam

(Encore 2)

Drunken Butterfly

...

What a great night!

Anyone heard of setlist for the Melbourne shows, any surprises?...

[terminal pharmacy]

daydream adelaide - awesome gig, sy were brilliant, the scientists took up until about swampland to warm up though. incinerate was first song of encore, mark ibold is on the tour and only comes out to play the encore set. they also played jams run free and im a bit drunk and cant remember the rest of the encore set. hey joni was probably the highlight of the daydream stuff except for my all time favourite sy track ---- silver rocket. the crowd was a bit fucked though, lots of the older 40+ fans pushing people around as if they have some sort of right of passage. that is not a go against those over forty on this board though. just the cunts in my town. also they spec'd the midas xl200 console which i have used on tons of occasions, so next time i mix on it the preamps will be that little bit sweeter, not for nay reason other than just because though.

[Moshe]

Originally Posted by sonicl

If any of you Australians get the chance to speak to Lee this evening or tomorrow, please can you ask him how many Text of Light shows he's playing in Europe next month. And report back here.

It'll be much appreciated. Thanks.

check the news section for details.

[sonicl]

Oh yes... I didn't see that. I must visit the News page more often