Wow, Sonic Youth! This was one of those shows that appeared out of nowhere; even with a new album, you would expect Sonic Youth to start a fresh tour in New York or Los Angeles, not Chicago. The Eternal is one of their best records in the last decade, probably my favorite since Daydream Nation, and it was really exciting to see it performed for the first time right here in my own backyard.
Opening for Sonic Youth was The Entrance Band, a three-piece from Los Angeles that was a fantastic surprise. These guys were exploding with folksy, rock-powered energy - the drummer busted a snare after only a song or two. These were real virtuosos as well, with some seriously impressive guitar licks, driving drums, and bass lines that explored far beyond the droning rhythms you would expect from an average opening act. What won me over completely, though, was the bassist, who I fell in love with the second I saw her. Paz Lenchantin is incredibly pretty, hot even, and was that much more impressive in person than in any old Zwan video. Plus, she plays the bass with so much passion, it's entirely impossible not to be completely captivated by her. I was ready for a full show from these guys, but after forty minutes it was time to get ready for Sonic Youth.
Lee got things rolling with a quip about this show being the first of the new tour. At first it was exciting to think we were hearing these songs live for the first time, but as Thurston and Kim started getting lyrics sheets between every song I started to get worried. Then again, what fun is a live show that sounds exactly like the disc? Speaking of the disc, the first song of the night was the first song on the new album - "Sacred Trickster":
Things were shaping up to be a shuffle of the new disc until "Tom Violence" popped up as the fifth cut, though it was immediately followed by three more new tracks. Among those, "Antenna" is definitely one of my favorites off The Eternal, and was the perfect cool-down, down-tempo moment before what was about to hit us square in the face:
"HEY JONI"! At last, a song off Daydream Nation! Singing along with Lee for the entire song, I was really getting pumped at this point and was excited to hear some more oldies before the night was through. They followed with "Anti-Orgasm", a song with one great riff and probably the weakest lyrics on the disc, "Massage the History", and "Pacific Coast Highway". After the customary pre-encore disappearance, things got immediately exciting with "What We Know" and…"SPRAWL"! More Daydream Nation! I was in hysterics at this point, singing along with Kim on one of my favorite songs from the whole album. THIS is what I came for, new album or no. After a second (SECOND!) jaunt off-stage, Kim came back with "Bull in the Heather" - another huge favorite of mine - before they finished with "The World Looks Red".
Sixteen albums and twenty-eight years later these guys can still bring it.
The set list and some more thumbnails are below, with full size versions available in my Sonic Youth set on Flickr.
Sonic Youth // Chicago, IL // June 27, 2009
- Sacred Trickster
- No Way
- Poison Arrow
- Calming the Snake
- Tom Violence
- Malibu Gas Station
- Antenna
- Leaky Lifeboat
- Hey Joni
- Anti-Orgasm
- Massage the History
- Pacific Coast Highway
- What We Know
- Sprawl
- Bull in the Heather
- The World Looks Red
Tags: Entrance, Sonic Youth, The Eternal
