09/03/06 - Avalon Ballroom, Boston MA
 

I just got back from this show and all I have to say is "wow."

Here's the setlist (I nabbed it from the stage):
Candle
Reena
Incinerate
Skip Tracer
What a Waste
Teen Age Riot
Do You Believe in Rapture?
Turquoise Boy
100%
Rats
Jams Run Free
Pink Steam
Or
--------------------
The Neutral
World Looks Red
--------------------
Shaking Hell

After the show I hung around for a little while and got my setlist signed by Mark Ibold who then signed my ticket as well. I found Steve mingling around and I asked him if he could sign my ticket. He didn't have a pen and neither did his wife (or gf?) so, what does Steve sign my ticket with? His woman's lip liner. She said it was Lancome. I also got Lee to sign my ticket as well.

Terrific show ALL around. I had my friend Jessy by my side. I was surprised by how many young kids were there. I counted a lot of kids with braces. They seemed really out of place. Ugh. Thurston also devoted "The Neutral" to the kids at Boston University, of which I am one.

Ahh that was amazing. I hope a recording of that show ends up traded soon.

You mean Steve didn't use his own lip liner?

just like a man, though...

i hope the whole band dedicates themselves to playing "the neutral" at atp,
they didn't play it at the last couple shows i was at. UNFATHOMABLE.

Oh come on, there's no certain age you have to be for loving the YOUTH!

Seriously. I wanted to stay, but my friends didn't really want to. Oh well, I got to shake Lee's hand!

You know how there was a part in the set where the was quite for a good minute? I was the kid who screamed out "NYC Ghosts and Flowers!" and Kim said "Be Resonable!"

Great set. Rocked my shit, but there was a surprising lack of noise. Oh well, at least we got Candle and TEENAGE RIOT!

i just got back, my full report will be written tomorrow (i hope)
but in short let me say that tonight was a life shattering aural apocolapse of excitment sweat and *insert andjective here*

I'm not sure if that was in response to you or if it was to me shouting "Box Elder" to Mark Ibold after Thurston introduced who he was. Kim was looking to the right of the stage which was exactly where I was. Either way, people were shouting out requests like it was the last song they'd hear for the rest of their lives.

I definitly didn't shout it after he introduced Mark. I think it was when they were all switching instruments for "Rats"

Shaking Hell was chilling.

Seriously. Thurston looked like he was in a trance by the end of it.

excellent show...a bit heavy on the RR stuff, but i've seen 'em over a 1/2 dozen times so i know the drill...flog the new stuff, breakout out a few chestnuts. and the chestnuts were roasted thoroughly. and, i rather like _Rather Ripped_, so it all worked out and everyone went home w/ a smile on their face and some ringing in the ears.

i was right up front, so i think i was spared some of the PA assault by being parallel w/ the stacks...for people in the back, was it really loud?

i'm going through the multitude of photos right now, but here's a couple of tasters...the rest will be up on my site later.

nice pix and good review, i'm glad you good people of Boston had a jolly old time.

I got goosebumps and my jaw dropped when Kim started to scream "Shake off your flesh!"

OH god, it was so good.


I was in the middle of the audience. The PA stacks were actually pretty good for volume. I didn't even need my ear plugs.

Also, I was the only one actually MOVING during the set, but I get Boston crowds are brainier when it comes to concerts. I hope my singing along didn't fuck up the taper who was behind me.

^ Ear plugs ? !!!

Who'd wanna stiffle a sonic assault ?

Crank them tunes, it'll keep you young. Feel the bottom shake your guts, don't let 'em stagnate !

Mind throwing up a link to your site?

will do once i get the pics all set. there are a bunch of other shows i've taken on the site too, so feel free to browse.

just a word about earplugs...i've been seeing shows for over 20 years, and wished i'd started using them sooner than the ~6 or so years i have...as it is i sometimes have a hard time picking up people's conversation in a loud environment.

hearing loss ain't cool. then how can you listen to records or show?

this senior citizen advisory is now over. :D

thanks for sharing the pics narlus,i love lee's one.

Edit : would you mind telling the camera you used?

i used a canon 30D camera, and three different prime (as opposed to zoom) lenses (sigma 30mm; canon 50mm; canon 85mm). this is the first gig i've shot w/ the new camera, i had a digital rebel XT before that.

thanks for the compliment nicfit. i was initially a bit discouraged when i went through the photos last night, but after re-assessing them and doing some post-processing, i think i'll have a pretty decent batch after all. none that make me go DAMN!, but hey...there's always next show.

hey,i browsed a bit some of your galleries,there are good shots of many great bands.i could tell it was a canon judging by the colours,but i wanted to be sure...my next purchase will be a canon s3 is , yayyy! :) :)

I have to say I got a giddy when Lee brought out the screwdriver. I knew I was in for some red-lookin world.

i met thurston briefly earlier in the day at twisted village (in harvard sq.) after missing his set with gown. gave him a dozen posters or so for the show and had a nice conversation with him about the sunburned boys and my art. show fuckin' slayed from beginning to end. way way better than the show in 2004 which killed too!!!

those are excelent pics.
thanks!

more photos and a link to the motherlode can be found here:
http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/sho...125#post171125

What can I say? Excellent fucking show. I've been waiting for SY to return to Massamachusetts for over 2 years now and I must say, they did not dissapoint. Tight set. Sonic Youth is one of the most well dispiclined bands around. That is what makes them so great. Not only do they create marvelous art, but they are consistantly genius. They have never gone through a slump period like other bands. No matter what material they release, they are always in top performing shape.

I dunno, I'd argue that statement, but they definitly have the best track record for excellent albums. I hate "Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star" save for a few songs, but I mean, what albums did they make before that "dud"? Evol, DDN, Goo, Sister just to name a few... And after it? Washing Machine, ATL, NYC G+F...

hey bruce- just looked through your photos and realized i met you and your friend before the show. i was the guy with the tattoo...

i got to the show late and missed wooden wand - big big letdown. anybody know what was played? tell me about wooden wand's set!

that sucks! i had that happen to me once a long, long time ago when i was asked to shoot a MMW show. photo pass was worth shit and all the pictures were crap since it didnt get me any closer than 10 rows back... but for what it is you can still you had a photo pass for a sonic youth show!

i thought wooden wand was fantastic. i never heard any of his/their stuff until a couple months back when i got a promo of the new album and it never left my ipod. it was mostly if not all from the new album, except the 2nd song which i had never heard. it had a great swamp boogie feel to it and id like to hear it again... also i dont know if you saw him later on, but he totally looked like walter from big lebowski with his new doo, shades and choice of attire...

So has Daycare finally impressed Rather Ripped on you enough to have enjoyed that material live ?

How do you feel about it now ?

Converted yet ? I just remember you not caring too much for it, unless you changed your mind and I didn't see that....

this was such a great show. I loved how they had paint and pictures projected over the band at certain points it gave it a real trippy 60s acid happening vibe to it. The songs were all fantastic.Skip Tracer was amazing,as was the lengthy extended noise ending to Teenage Riot and the pair of songs form confusion is sex. You never know what to expect whe you see SY live but you always know you;ll come back satisfied.

To Top it all off Lee signed my copy of Goo Reissued :)

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musi...ticleid=155899

Sonic Youth matures into powerful force
By Christopher John Treacy
Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Never mind the unexplained platter of condiments perched atop its sound system - Sonic Youth has finally come of age.


Fifteen discs and a quarter century into its career, the New York-based noise squad’s ‘‘Rather Ripped” is disarmingly listenable - not what we’ve come to expect.


The band’s sold-out final summer gig at Avalon on Sunday night focused heavily on new material, but Sonic Youth hasn’t sacrificed artistic integrity to make a pop record. Judging by the positive reaction of the crowd, its fans are on the same page.
What really came across Sunday was that post-punk is all grown up, and Sonic Youth is the best possible outcome. As if to underscore that fact, the Library of Congress has opted to include its 1988 collegiate breakthrough, ‘‘Daydream Nation,” in its permanent collection.


The reluctant power couple of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore alternated lead vocals and switched between guitar and bass, playing with a confidence and synergy rarely found in the avant-rock realm. Guitarist Lee Renaldo also got in on the musical chairs, occasionally playing bass and singing lead on ‘‘Skip Tracer” (from 1995’s ‘‘Washing Machine”) and ‘‘Rats,” while drummer Steve Shelley remained seated at his kit throughout.


Moore’s math-y ‘‘Candle,” from the landmark ‘‘Nation,” gave way to Gordon’s ultramelodic ‘‘Reena,” then back to Moore for the fiery clang of ‘‘Incinerate.”


Gordon has plenty of presence, made sexier by her seeming indifference to ‘‘frontwoman” status. Dressed in an elegant vintage champagne-colored satin dress (a cool contrast), she flailed, pogoed and shimmied whenever possible. Additional touring bassist Mark Ibold subsidized Gordon’s playing, no doubt a relief since she suffers from acute tendonitis.


The backdrop screen projected aerial images of suburbia for the charging ‘‘Teenage Riot” and a capsule of Prozac swimming in liquid during the gauzy, medicated textures of the eerie lullaby ‘‘Turquoise Boy.”


The urgent clamor of the closing song, ‘‘Shaking Hell,” foreshadowed that, most likely, this melodic pocket is merely a rest stop en route to some new noisy spot on Sonic Youth’s musically congested highway.

I thought Wooden Wand was disappointing, recently got their new album (on KRS), liked it well enough, and thought their set was a letdown. But they did only play for 20 minutes.

Sonic Youth was amazing, was 2 people from the front center, Shaking Hell a great way to end it, and how 'bout that Skip Tracer?

As for Kim's 'be reasonable' comment, that wasn't really directed to anyone, a lot of people were shouting out weird stuff (I personally was yelling for Schizophrenia), hell one kid was yelling out Pavement songs.

What has with the mustard and jelly on the stack?
Anybody?

ha ha,you tried to make him blind with flash to sneak in,huh?

hey man, i was the one who talked to you and yr buddy on the green line after the show, when i saw you checking out the shots on yr camera. where were you for the show, to the side of the stage? on thurston's side i saw some guy w/ a vid camera, and occasionally an SLR, and there were a couple of kids next to him. were you behind him, or on the other side?

my wife and i got there very early to stake a claim at the front; i was right in front of kim's mic stand. it was tiring to stand for ~5 hrs but i think it was worth it.

Cool site sidemouse. Great photo's and I love your cats. :)

narlus, thanks for the pics.

what a great show.

[quote=narlus]on thurston's side i saw some guy w/ a vid camera, and occasionally an SLR, and there were a couple of kids next to him. were you behind him, or on the other side?quote]

that was andrew kesin from ecstatic peace. i have been trying to meet him for a year or more now, and we were both bummed to find out we were standing next to each other most of the night not knowing so. reena and incinerate were both dedicated to his kids. how cool is that!

by the way here is the poster for the show that i designed. appx 30 of the 50 still left. same colors on heavy chocolate colored paper for $30, shipping included... thurston received a bunch on sunday and he was way into them!