Freedom At Last

Sonic Youth “Brother James (live somewhere in Europe, 1992)” – Dear Sonic Youth – Please play “Brother James” tonight at Webster Hall. It would be very rad, and apparently it wouldn’t be entirely out of the ordinary for you to play it. I may have lost count, but I’m pretty sure that this will be either my thirteenth or fourteenth Sonic Youth show since I was 14, and “Brother James” is one of the few live staples that I haven’t seen you perform over the years. (“Expressway To Yr Skull,” “Mote,” and “Silver Rocket” would be the other songs on that short list.) Thanks a bunch. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Sonic Youth @ Webster Hall, NYC 8/13/2004

I Love You Golden Blue / Stones / Pattern Recognition / Unmade Bed / 100% / Mariah Carey & The Arthur Doyle Handcream / Paper Cup Exit / Teenage Riot / Karenology / New Hampshire / Dude Ranch Nurse / Drunken Butterfly // Rain On Tin / Pacific Coast Highway /// Expressway To Yr Skull

Okay, so no “Brother James.” That’s fine. “Expressway To Yr Skull,” “PCH” and “Teenage Riot” trump that anyway.

Miscellaneous show notes:

* “Pattern Recognition” comes off much better live than on the album, with a greater sense of urgency and dynamics. I’m still a bit mystified as to why it’s one of the more popular songs from Sonic Nurse, but I think I understand a bit better now.

* I hadn’t ever paid much attention to the lyrics of “Stones,” but last night they made a lot of sense to me – it’s all about refusing to fall under the power of politically motivated fear mongering, isn’t it? Don’t bother telling me otherwise, I like the song so much more this way.

* “100%” started off with a few minutes of drumstick-guitar noise, and was played a bit slower than usual once the song proper kicked in. I don’t mean that they were playing it like some kind of ballad, it was just a lot more blues rock than punk. Thurston didn’t play any guitar until the outro freakout, and took it as an opportunity to ham it up with the crowd.

* “Paper Cup Exit” was one of the night’s highlights for me, which is no shock since it’s my favorite off of the new record. The song seems far more epic and rocking when played live. I get the sense that this song will be sticking around in the setlist after the Sonic Nurse touring runs its course.

* “Teenage Riot” was preceded by a bit of a rant about “right wing Fascists” from Thurston, who was encouraging the audience to protest the RNC when it comes to town in a few weeks. The song itself was amazing, reinforcing my perception of it being the ultimate Sonic Youth song. Those riffs and chords are magical, there’s just no other song quite like it.

* Seven songs out of the set were either preceded by or punctuated with long improvised sections, which is obviously par for the course for the band, but it felt as though they went a bit overboard this time. “Karenology” and “Expressway” already have those bits integrated into their stuctures, but the extended noise jam after “Teenage Riot” just felt a bit superfluous. It was a very loooooong show, which I definitely appreciate, but after about 70 minutes (roughly around the time “Dude Ranch Nurse” started), I felt extremely exhausted.

* “Rain On Tin” is a great live song, but it makes so much more sense outside in the sun than indoors. That song feels trapped by the roof and stifled by the darkness, you know? It’s not the best choice for an encore, either – it’s too long, it’s not old enough, it’s too easy to get distracted during it when you’re tired from standing up for four hours or so.

* “Expressway To Yr Skull” was just as amazing as I always thought it would be, and feeling quite tired and woozy only seemed to make it feel better. The same goes for that mellow middle section of “PCH,” which just felt incredibly appropriate at the time.

Magik Markers were the first of the two opening acts, and they were just unbelievably great. They played some high quality art-punk noise that sounded quite a bit like SY on Confusion Is Sex and Bad Moon Rising. The lead singer was intensely charismatic and loveable, and “shouted the poetic truths of high school journal keepers” like the singer from “Skip Tracer.” I’ll write some more about them in the near future, I promise. If you’re going to see one of the SY shows with them as a support act, please do yourself a favor and arrive early.

White Magic were a major let down. The singer was overly dour and entirely lacking in enthusiasm, and too much of the set sounded too dirgey and samey. It wasn’t completely awful, but after the Magik Markers’ rather euphoric and exciting set, it was too much of a downer.

Note to White Magic: though I realize that going back and forth between instruments throughout a set can be a hassle, I strongly question the wisdom of breaking up your setlist into clusters of nearly identical songs. Also, on those slow guitar numbers, are you attempting to be an off-brand Cat Power, or more like an Amerindie Beth Orton? Either way, if you play your cards right, you might be able to get on the soundtrack of the forthcoming episode of The OC in which half of southern California is devastated by terrorists, and Seth Cohen must struggle to nurse his orange-skinned girlfriend back to health on an irradiated beach.

This site has a series of photos from the show. There are a few really wonderful shots in there, waaaaaay above average for amateur rock show photography.