[pantophobia]

it's been ten years since my first Sonic Youth show, I wish I could remember it better

the opening acts were Erase Errata who kicked ass, then Kim came out with them in this hoods and played a short set as Anxious Rats, that was a nice treat

Mary Timony was mystical, coming off the Golden Dove material, enjoyed that immensely

when SY took the stage, about two songs in during Kissability, nearly got knocked over by this guy that was just super excited, getting Brother James as the 2nd encore

my worst experience was Montreal 2004, had this asshole security guard get all pissy at me for taking pics, so I couldn't get any shots of SY, then later during SY's got kicked in the head by a crowd surfer, and some mohawk guy jumped onto stage and tried to grab Kim, so that was Security's priority i guess, SY never played a club show in Montreal again, coincidence? would not have gone to the show if it wasn't for the fact Les Georges Leningrad opened, and they were the best thing the whole night

best? hands down Brooklyn 2011, the set list, triple encore, INHUMAN?!?, STARFIELD ROAD?!?!?! the friends, SY was super sharp as well, Kurt Vile was amazing, and Wild Flag were stupendous, they raised the bar, Thurston I recall stayed on the side of the stage the whole set, mesmerized, in the past I hadn't notice him that transfixed by opening acts, very rarely, if that is the last SY show I see from them, then it's a great way to go out

[the ikara cult]

lovely 2011 memory, the bit about Thurston at the side of the stage especially

Ive only ever seen Sonic Youth once, during the Daydream Nation redux shows in 2007. It was good of course, but it wasnt really the same as a normal gig where you arent sure what theyre gonna play. And on the encore they played Schizophrenia, which i dont like at all, when on the other dates theyd done Expressway. My biggest regret is not seeing them on the Nurse tour or at that ATP

[toxic johnny]

I guess the first one that you see is always going to be the best... The London ICA show in my case, I remember a genuine feeling of "OMG I've never seen anything like this before in my life" just thrilling and truly game changing.

Quickly off the top of my head the others that have stood out for me have been both Brighton Beach shows, the London show on the Sister tour when Iggy came on for the I Wanna Be Yr dog encore (I had been tipped off about this so the surprise was ruined but it was still m i n d b l o w i n g)... also Lydia joining them for DV69 at ULU on the EVOL tour.
The Diamond Sea every time I saw them play it... my memory is failing me now as I went through a period of getting totally off my head at gig's and consequently can't remember a lot of them.
The NYCG&F tour is one of my absolute favourite tours... loved the songs live and also the visuals courtesy of Mr Habib were stunning. The Goodbye 20th Century show at the Royal Festival Hall is definitely in my top 10 best gigs ever list (another game changer)
Also the extended noise jam ending of Expressway at Brixton Academy on the Nurse tour was truly monumental...
The New Years Eve Brother James opener on the stroke of midnight 2010/11 gave me one of my biggest ever SY thrills... if that's possible!!!!

I feel really lucky to have seen so many amazing SY shows

[whorefrost]

Me first Sonic Youth live experience was in 2000 at the Shepard´s Bush Empire. Bloody great. Opened with Teenage Riot. Also played Sunday.
I saw the Daydream Nation show three times, twice in Glasgow and then in London. The London performance probably my second all time favourite show.
Best show - Manchester Academy 2002. Opened with Bull in the Heather. One of the best moments of my life. Was at the show on me tod but ended up chatting to plenty of folks, Mancunians are a right friendly bunch no denying that.
Other fond memories - La Villete Jazz festival in Paris where they played a long improvised piece with Jean-Marc Montera, Mats Gustafsson and Michael Doneda. They also did a straight up song set opening with the Sprawl and World Looks Red. Pete Brotzmann was the opener, Hans Bennink was supposed to play with him but never made it.
Saw Mirror/Dash and Dream Aktion Unit in Stirling at the Tollbooth. Incredible. Got me Mirror/Dashed 7" signed by Kim and Thurston.
Saw Text of Light in Dundee, another of my favourite live shows ever.
Christ, enough boasting.

[Lazewski]

Those are some great memories. I have never seen SY live sadly. I really wanted/want too. I guess I'll stick with dreaming.

[Savage Clone]

1990, First Avenue MPLS. Everyone I knew was there. For most of us (being late teens), it was the first time seeing them. Specific song memories are sketchy as I was definitely not of clear head/mind, but it was heavily DDN/Goo oriented (Goo tour) and I was suitably mindblown. I do remember Kim walking right past me and feeling very intimidated by her. I didn't say hi. Too scared.

I saw them a few times after that, but the only other memory is that of being totally mortified on the Murray Street tour. I got to live the dream of opening for them, but the band I was in at the time was in its lamest phase (went through four phases, three of them really quite good) and though we could have presented a set that would have been awesome and more appropriate for the slot, we played material the album we had just released, which would have been better for an opening slot for the Brian Jonestown Massacre or something. We all now agree it was our worst album and one of the biggest blunders we ever made. I walked offstage more embarrassed than elated. Could have been one of the most triumphant experiences of my life. We were certainly capable. They were still super nice to us, even though I am sure they were not into our set in the least.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

I got tickets by a miracle to my second ever sonic show, and it have been eight years since my first by proxity sonic gig. it was pure magic. I had a theophany that night on the dance floor, and I met Lee during the opening band. then I got in trouble later here for spreading gossip on sonic gossip about Jim toking it with Thurston with a friend of mine. Jim politely PMd me to tell me his only vices were coffee and cigarettes and that my friend was mistaken. there was the barnsedale art park show.. that was cool. the sound was shitty so I had to wander around the field to find pockets of good sound. then my ex-wife found me, which was awkward to say the least, I hadn't seen her in two years at the time. she was trying to lure me to her house to have sex, but I'm not quite that stupid and the highlight of the night was ostensibly spurning her advances and burning her

we saw em at Jimmy Kimmel live, where we taunted and heckled Jimmy Kimmel until he looked visibly distressed. Sonic played a full kick-ass set from the Rather Ripped tour.. Every time the over-head crowd shot camera came by, me and my friend flipped it off obnoxiously or were smoking a joint obnoxiously. If you watch the show, you well NEVER see an overhead pan shot of the crowd, they were all edited out because of our hooliganism

I remember hiding from my friend at the Thurston Moore and WhiteOut gig at the Spaceland because he wanted to leave to smoke a hug rock of crack the size of J-Lo's wedding ring, and I wanted to catch AT least 45 minutes of that set so I kept moving around the floor hiding in corners and cuts until he finally found me and dragged me out like security

We tried to get into the free show at the Urban Outfitter store in Santa Monica. We even tried to convince Steve to get us in, and while he was cool enough to chat with us for over 20 minutes before the show and he remembered me from the Filter Magazine party secret show in Korea town warehouse where we talked about the Dead with Lee, he said he didn't want to diss the promoters by getting us in. So we flirted with the chick with the clipboard at the door and she let us in, but after three songs the dickhead doorguy from the front who kicked us out the first time saw us, and dragged us out. When Steve saw us at the end he asked, "Did y'all sneak in?" We said, "Yeah for three songs!" too which he gave us a huge smile and massive high five! Fuck yeah Steve!!

[EVOLghost]

I screamed like a little girl when they played Tom Violence.

[evollove]

Thurston had to tell a drunk, screaming guy, "Dude, you have to shut up."

I was ashamed of the city I was living in.

Thousand Leaves tour, Columbus OH. Check it out on a live recording.

[_slavo_]

Originally Posted by pantophobia

the opening acts were Erase Errata who kicked ass, then Kim came out with them in this hoods and played a short set as Anxious Rats, that was a nice treat

Mary Timony was mystical, coming off the Golden Dove material, enjoyed that immensely

when SY took the stage, about two songs in during Kissability, nearly got knocked over by this guy that was just super excited, getting Brother James as the 2nd encore

You gotta be kidding me. I was at that show too! It was in the 9:30 club in a rather ugly DC neighborhood, true?

I worked in Baltimore MD at that time and when I saw that SY would be playing in DC, I didn't hesitate a minute, took a day off at work and went on the first Greyhound bus there. I remember being the very first person in the queue for the show, as I arrived at the spot at about 2pm and the door didn't open until 7

Yes, it was my first show ever. The fact that I was alone there and it took place in a foreign country made it totally exciting experience. And yes, the show was totally awesome.

[pantophobia]

indeed, and this is before I met Jennifer, she was on the other side of the stage

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by _slavo_

You gotta be kidding me. I was at that show too! It was in the 9:30 club in a rather ugly DC neighborhood, true?

I worked in Baltimore MD at that time and when I saw that SY would be playing in DC, I didn't hesitate a minute, took a day off at work and went on the first Greyhound bus there. I remember being the very first person in the queue for the show, as I arrived at the spot at about 2pm and the door didn't open until 7

Yes, it was my first show ever. The fact that I was alone there and it took place in a foreign country made it totally exciting experience. And yes, the show was totally awesome.

Baltimore to DC is like going from the South Bay or Long Beach to Downtown or the Valley.. Just yesterday I hopped on a local bus for 4o miles to the San Gabriel Valley.. the East Coast is a small place, that, or LA commuting is insane