Sonic Youth at Vicar Street
Dec 7th, 2009 by Jim Kennedy
I’ve discovered the best cure for a Galway stag-weekend hangover. It’s not strong coffee or a fry-up on Shop Street, it’s nothing you can get at the pharmacy store, it’s not a bracing walk on the beach at Salthill. No, to clear the cobwebs and cotton wool out of your cranial cavity, you have to take yourself to your nearest friendly local Sonic Youth show and lean your sorry skull into the maelstorm of the lovely, lovely guitar noise.
Thurston Moore announced at the start that they hadn’t had a chance to soundcheck before the show (their last one of the year) and that, therefore, it would be “raw and fucked-up.” That would be perfect, we all thought, and cheered. And then Sonic Youth did what they always do, they tore the place down with their usual combination of blistering noise, four guitarists trying to be louder than each other, immense guitars. In short, touring the world to remind you why they are still top of the pile. They’re 16 albums and 30 years in, and they still make everyone else seem tame and staid. It also helps that they still look impossibly cool - the blueprint for indie hipsters the world over: the grungy look, even Lee Randaldo’s silver fox hair, and we are not going to mention Kim Gordon, well, because it’s a family show here at Dublin Opinion. Moore’s voice is amazing - he should copyright that slacker drawl and sue everyone from J Mascis to, oh I don’t know, Iggy Pop.
Anyway, they played loads of songs, a bunch of encores, yadda yadda, but most pertinent of all to you: HandJob Films was there to get the video; this one of Poison Arrow:
They played Anti Orgasm too (can’t find an embeddable link, so go visit the source):
They also played some of the quieter songs, notably Leaky Lifeboat, but they finished with Death Valley 69 - please tell me someone got footage of that. Also, Kim Gordon is 56 years of age. Seriously, what? Who is she really - Doriana Gray? Photo of Kim from the ATP gig the night before lifted from SteveB!’s Flickr photostream
Feel free to comment about how they were better in the Top Hat in Dun Laoghaire back in the day with that support band from Seattle. I don’t mind what you say, since I’m partially deaf today.
UPDATE: LiveTalbot4 has posted a clip of Death Valley 69. Now my day is complete:
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I wasn’t on a stag weekend, but I do have a head cold, and probably could do with a sonic youth gig to clear out the clottiness of my stuffed up head. Thanks for letting me know all about the great gigs I’m missing Jim.
I think the last Sonic Youth album I bought was Goo, their sell-out record (as in the first one after they signed to [spits] Geffen. My favorite track on that was Kool Thing.
But one Sonic Youth track I really love is Superstar, and its not even one of their own. Cos I can here’s the two of them.
Superstar
Kool Thing with Chuck D
Great to see this even if I wasn’t able to get there. I love Kool Thing too… and a whole lot more on that album.
I was at the gig. Was in a similar state to Jim and beforehand thought I wouldn’t be able to go through with the gig. How wrong I was. They really showed what a proper band should be like. The songs were great and the playing were even better. I really can’t believe Thrston Moore is 51. He jumped about and played like a 25 year old. The gig also reminded me a what quality music should be like. Not like 99% of the muck that is produced my self-proclaimed artists. Roll on Pavement in May.
Donagh - Hope the head clears enough for you to do a review of Depeche Mode. Ha! I know how you’re looking forward to that one.
WorldbyStorm - They didn’t play Kool Thing, Chuck D was probably too busy to visit Dublin, or too cool entirely perhaps. I imagine he just lives in a bubble of coolness.
Jeff - ‘Snap’ to everything you said, except Pavement. I totally screwed up getting Pavement tickets. I have until May to sort it out.
Jim you don’t have to go to a Sonic Youth gig to hear Chuck D telling it how it is:
http://airamerica.com/ondemand/12-07-2009/chuckd-12-06-2009-23-04-00/
It will be a review based on the visuals of the show only, as my ears were plugged with wax throughout. Unfortunately I didn’t bring enough wax for my eyes.
Jim, you don’t have to go to a Sonic Youth gig to hear Chuck D tell it how it is: http://airamerica.com/ondemand/12-07-2009/chuckd-12-06-2009-23-04-00/
My review, once my head clears will be based on the visuals only, as my ears were plugged with wax throughout. I didn’t have enough wax for my eyes unfortunately.
At the expense of singling myself out as a philistine, I saw Sonic Youth play Dalymount Park about 15 years back, and though I was an admirer of Daydream Nation, Goo and Dirty at the time, I thought they produced a collage of infernal bullybatter that left me mystified and bored. After that I lost interest. But maybe I should re-assess.
I heard that gig was pretty shite alright. It was a windy day and the sound was awful, if I remember the account of it correctly. Of course it might have also been because they produced a collage of infernal bullybatter.