So Friday night finally saw the arrival of the long awaited Sonic Youth Daydream Nation gig. I decided to take Stuart with me as he was quite keen to go as he had never seen them before and I was quite keen to pop his Sonic Youth cherry (sorry mate, I couldn't help it! Wasn't it great though?) It was at the epic Roundhouse, a historic venue that I had been desperate to experience (other pivotal moments at the roundhouse include The Ramones UK debut, Patty Smith's first UK tour, oh and its also where both The Clash and the Pistols used to hang out)
They opened with Teenage Riot, the opening track off the album which had me pinching myself that I was really there. I've never heard them play it live and it kick started things off nicely. They then played the album in its entirety, pretty much as per the album. Nothing got a huge reworking, nothing really surprised me. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing to get to experience daydream live because with such a mammoth back catalogue, anything pre 'A Thousand Leaves' rarely gets an outing. I think I even creamed my pants a little when they played Silver Rocket but I have to say it almost felt a little mechanical. Like they were doing it out of duty to there long standing fans and for them alone. The breathy whispers of Kim on The Sprawl were there, the high pitched whine of feedback was still being vomited in my ear but I felt no love. Like a mother (them) who is forced to love an ugly baby (us) because they created us and, well, they have to.
After they performed daydream and came back for an encore, you could almost here them breath a sigh of relief at getting to play some newer tunes. To quote Lee 'Enough of this old shit. Lets get back to the 21st century!' The band really seemed to liven up at getting to play some newer tracks (the encore included both Jams Run Free and Do You Believe in Rapture? which were stellar) and they finally partook in a bit of crowd banter. Thurston and Lee both showing off in their too cool for art school way while Kim danced circles (literally) around them.
Its a funny thing to witness an album that has such nostalgic ties live. Although I was a little young to experience it when it was first released, I soon found the error in my ways and it later became a huge part of my youth. It made me think of the first time I heard it and how it seemed to sum up all my teenage angst and fear and loathing for the universe. It makes me think how timeless Sonic Youth are and how although they are all well into their 50's, they are still so relevant and relatable to the new gen Y, or gen X or what ever friggin generation we are in now. How at any moment they are ready for a teenage riot...
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You still got to hear Daydream Nation live! I must admit, last year when I finally saw SY play live for the first time, I felt like they were running through the motions a bit (I creamed when they played Eric's Trip though!). I LOVE them, but I wish I'd gotten to see them in their prime.
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