[narlus]

Sonic Youth is the most important and influential band of my generation. consider the amount of people they've inspired, played with, or confounded, be it listeners, writers, other bands, or slavish imitators. their wake is wide and considerable; throw in the multitude of side projects from thurston and it's like trying to count all the kids from Warren Jeffs: they are legion.

SY successfully bridges the gap between an art and punk rock background, and they've gradually finetuned this approach over the last 2+ decades. the turning point was probably the 1st SST record EVOL; manic/metal percussionist bob bert left to bang w/ pussy galore, and crucif#cks drummer steve shelley came on board. the songs took a different life, though still fully informed by the unique playing and tuning style of lee and thurston. if you've ever seen SY play, it's not unusual for them to play a different guitar tuning for each song. [more info on their gear than you'd ever need...i guess they do play Gibsons]

i've decided to cheat a little by also including a song from their widely-acclaimed high water mark Daydream Nation; though it was issued originally on Enigma on US dirt, Blast First still had the UK market covered, and they were a sort-of sister label to SST, in much the same way Glitterhouse (germany) played that role for Sub Pop releases. the other songs are from EVOL, Sister, and the Master Dik 12". awesome. they were under the influence of beasties during that song...

Tom Violence

Expressway To Yr Skull

Catholic Block

Master Dik (beatbox version)

Candle

 

[mert]

one of the few regrets in my life is missing them on the daydream nation tour. they played in front of about 100 people in a teeny venue...

 

[narlus]

where was that?

1st show i caught was in early '90, before _Goo_ came out. they played a pro-choice benefit @ the paradise. yo la tengo and blake babies opened. saw 'em about 5 months later @ the orpheum; 3rd row seats and a head full of psylocibin made for an unforgettable experience.

 

[mert]

where was that?

1st show i caught was in early '90, before _Goo_ came out. they played a pro-choice benefit @ the paradise. yo la tengo and blake babies opened. saw 'em about 5 months later @ the orpheum; 3rd row seats and a head full of psylocibin made for an unforgettable experience.

i actually went to the sy sight and found the very date. 12/09/88 at the old cat's cradle in chapel thrill(here i must declare my hate for carolina...i'm a NC State grad).

and of course here i sit in eastern mass 3 days before they play and chances of me going...0...

 

[narlus]

you need a ticket? I've got 2 extra.

 

[mert]

you need a ticket? I've got 2 extra.

don't save them for me, but i might actually be able to sneak out this weekend. thanks, i'll try to let you know as soon as possible.

 

[stevew]

The last time I saw them was in Denver at the Ogden when they were touring after washing machines came out I think.

Having hair down past the middle of my back and a Lincoln-esque beard when brushed out, I must have been asked about 20 times if I had weed/rolling papers/acid and or mushrooms.

It was loud as usual.

 

[narlus]

the thing about loudness and SY shows is that they usually sound ace; i've been to a lot of other shows where it's loud and sounds muddy or just like crap, but never one w/ SY, even at the same venues. not sure if they have their own sound guy, but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[urbaindk]

Jerk roommate. Stealing my Daydream Nation CD... I ought to drive down to NC just to kick is ass.

Hey mert, I'm a State grad too (class of '97, '00, and '04, yeah I have too many degrees) and I lived in Chapel Hell. Talk about confusion, I never knew who to root for. Oh well at least I was reassured by my magnanimus hate of Duke.

I saw SY at the Cat's Cradle in either '00 or '01. They played a quiet, unpublisized show, a you kind of had to be in the know to go kind of thing. I stood right at Thurston's feet through the whole show and chatted with him between songs about guitars and stuff. After the show I went to Henrys for drinks and then later the band showed up and we all hung out drinking beers. Pretty damn cool if you ask me.

 

[urbaindk]

the thing about loudness and SY shows is that they usually sound ace.

I saw them at one of their Lollapalooza dates. Kim's bass was so loud that it felt as if something had picked me up by my head and was shaking me out like a bed sheet. It just sort of made my guts roll and my vision come and go in waves. I've never felt anything like it before or since.

 

[mert]

Jerk roommate. Stealing my Daydream Nation CD... I ought to drive down to NC just to kick is ass.

Hey mert, I'm a State grad too (class of '97, '00, and '04, yeah I have too many degrees) and I lived in Chapel Hell. Talk about confusion, I never knew who to root for. Oh well at least I was reassured by my magnanimus hate of Duke.

I saw SY at the Cat's Cradle in either '00 or '01. They played a quiet, unpublisized show, a you kind of had to be in the know to go kind of thing. I stood right at Thurston's feet through the whole show and chatted with him between songs about guitars and stuff. After the show I went to Henrys for drinks and then later the band showed up and we all hung out drinking beers. Pretty damn cool if you ask me.

sorry you had to live so close to "Orange county Tech"(what those of us from raleigh call unc)! i graduated and left dec. 01. i remember that show too, but was jaded and over driving all the way to chapel hill...

 

[narlus]

I saw SY at the Cat's Cradle in either '00 or '01. They played a quiet, unpublisized show, a you kind of had to be in the know to go kind of thing. I stood right at Thurston's feet through the whole show and chatted with him between songs about guitars and stuff. After the show I went to Henrys for drinks and then later the band showed up and we all hung out drinking beers. Pretty damn cool if you ask me.

that's awesome. i've had a couple of very brief conversations w/ thurston (@ terrastock V) and lee (ran into him @ the Art Institute of Chicago the day before they played) and they were both super nice and laid back.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Good stuff.

 

[narlus]

'expressway to yr skull' should be an anthem everyone knows.

epic. i hope they play it on sunday.

 

[urbaindk]

that's awesome.

Apparently Thurston doesn't memorize the lyrics to all the songs either. He had me holding cue cards up for him so he could read them better. I thought that was pretty funny. Especially since I can't ever memorize lyrics either and always need cheat notes if I ever have to sing anything.