My mamma never said knock you out, but she did always tell me if you cant say anything nice, dont say anything at all. If I were to take her advice, however, I would
A) Probably never say anything at all;
B) tell you that Sonic Youths last encore almost made it worth sitting through a dull and lifeless set; or
C) say that Comets On Fire are one of my new favorite bands.
Yet I digress. Counting from spring 2003 to now, me and my girlfriend; your talented photographer, have seen Sonic Youth about 12 times, and believe it or not, there was never a time that I felt robbed, cheated, or bored. But it looks like 13 may in fact be an unlucky number. Friday nights show at the House of Blues in San Diego, CA was bad for many reasons, but the most important to you is that SY was really flat and off for most of the show.
Even when the band did pull it together for songs like Erics Trip and Rain On Tin they were missing the usual cohesion and kinetic energy that bolsters a typical SY set. And, the songs from Sonic Nurse, which made up most of the set, sounded as if they were trying to learn them all over again, or just werent into playing them.
The one exception to SYs poor performance was the choice of Expressway to Yr Skull as the last encore, which was accompanied by a balls out flurry of sound manipulation that featured Thurston Moore humping the amps; Kim Gordon, her bass, and a huge sheet of foil; and Jim ORourke slapping a measuring tape around like a construction worker on a job that just turned sour. It was at this moment when everything felt right in the world again, witnessing one of the greatest bands of all time, and certainly of the so-called indie/alternative era, re-staking their claim as the forbearers of sound manipulation and pop experimentation. The final 15 minutes or so of the show therefore was a thing of sheer beauty, to be enjoyed by the true fan who is able to put behind him the fact that they still play Bull In The Heather at most of their shows, and that they leave an entire catalog of gems (Washing Machine and A Thousand Leaves) still untapped.
