Brightest Young Things

all words and photos by: Alyssa Lesser

Saturday night in the city ushered in gorgeous weather and a romantic evening (for those of us romantically involved with our music) with Sonic Youth and openers Grass Widow and Talk Normal at the bandshell in Prospect Park.

The F was running all weird so I regrettably missed Talk Normal. I luckily made it in time for Grass Widow, who proved to be a phenomenal all-girl band residing comfortably somewhere between Electrelane and The Raincoats.

When Sonic Youth took the stage, the first thing I noticed was the absence of Mark Ibold, who is busy once again with Pavement. The band was still in high spirits, and made their way as fantastically as they always do through choppy riffs, profound vocals, and booming reverb. And it was, as it always is when you see Sonic Youth, an experience.

The setlist unexpectedly furnished the Youth playing nothing from their most recent two albums, a couple of tracks off of EVOL, and mostly material from Daydream Nation. The show concluded with a brief (-er than My Bloody Valentine's "Holocaust"s or a long John Cage composition) yet substantial foray into noise that allowed Kim to duct tape the neck of her base and Thurston to wave his Jag back and fourth in front of various amps. For a few minutes.

In the winter I saw Thurston clang patriotically on a bunch of random shit with White Out; I spoke with him after the show, as he chuckled and noted how different that performance had been than those he was used to playing with Sonic Youth.

With Thurston announcing "a noise show in Bushwick" and playing sporadically still with White Out, one can only wonder whether a more experimental path is in the Youth's future, or whether the band will continue to experiment independently and toy with these aspects amidst the main structures of their songs.

Previously in Live DC:

• 2/13: LiveDC: George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic @ 930 Club
• 2/13: LiveDC: Veronica Falls/ Brilliant Colors @ Black Cat
• 2/13: LIVE DC: Steve Aoki/ Datsik/ Alvin Risk @ Fillmore
• 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
• 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
• 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
• 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
• 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre