Sonic Youth/New Haven/2/15/07
 

Just got back from the SY show at Toad's Place....

IT was a bit sloppy a first. Someone (Thurston I think) really bungled the first half of Mote. Other parts were a little loose. Not bad though. The show really started to take shape towards the end.

Set List:
(Not in order, and possibly incomplete)

Candle
Reena
Incinerate
Mote
World Looks Red
What a Waste
Jams Run Free
Teenage Riot
The Neutral
Pink Steam
Or

I left a little early, so I missed a couple of Encore songs.

They started the encore with The Neutral and, I gleaned from some over excited young fans in a nearby Pizza Restaurant, that they closed the Second Encore with Teenage Riot.

I hope I didn't miss XPRESSway.

Who was there? What did people think?

GUSTON

thought it was good show although the sighteilnes from the +18 section were tough.
was that mark ibold from pavement playing with them? where was jim o'rourke?

yup, im almost 100% sure that was ibold...i remember reading he was touring with SY last year i think. i kept wondering wtf the 5th guy was, i knew it wasnt orourke.

they also played schizophrenia, kinda lackluster IMO.....Candle to open the show was awesome though..and great to hear Teenage Riot close out the night.....just wish they were louder, i could barely hear thurston singing teenage riot and the bass was overpowering the guitars.. kinda a sloppy show all around, but hey, i was glad to see them in new haven again...HUUUGE crowd too, i cant rememeber the last time i saw toads so packed

shaking hell was also played

yeah, me being short, i was stuck at the back , occasioanlly id see one of their heads , hahaaa

Still no Sleepin' Around. Two nights in a row! Somebody must hate playing it. It's kinda like Dripping Dream on the Nurse tour. RARELY played! And both are faves. <sigh>

Here is a more complete/orderly set list...

Candle
Reena
Incinerate
Mote
Do You Believe In Rapture?
What A Waste
Schizophrenia
Turquoise Boy
Rats
World Looks Red
Jams Run Free
Pink Steam
Or

The Neutral

Shaking Hell
Teenage Riot

=)

thanks for reviews!

Thurston seemed way spaced at the outset...bungled the intro to Incinerate,and seemed lost during Mote.... the long noise outro to Mote saved the night,cuz after that they really hit their stride.The atmosphere on stage seemed rather "snippy",and I believe this made them play with an even greater edge.Steve's the engine,and he played amazing.The extended ending to Riot featured both Lee and Thurston dragging their guitars across the upper lighting rig.....coupled with the strobes and the noise this made for a spectacular conclusion.

yes, toad's sucks and so does new haven. but given those things, it was still lovely to see sy last night. i cut everyone who comes to the hayve a little slack.

mote and schizophrenia weren't nearly as fantastic as they can be, and i really can't get that into most of the new songs. but the encores were super start to finish. a little double gnarly guitar mashing in the midst of teeming youngsters ended it well.

kim was more on than she sometimes is.
i was right in front of thurston and we had a wnba moment.

holla!

It was a great show. The band was really amazing. Nothing from Evol or Bmr but eh, what can you do? Unfortunately people were behaving like obnoxious buffoons. They didn't even give the opening act a chance and were blabbing at the top of their lungs during their entire acoustic set, and they proceded to act like jackasses during sonic youth's set. That's Connecticut for ya.

yeah, toads was also close if not SOLD OUT, which i have rarely ever seen for toads....the crowd for SY was waaaaay larger than for dinosaur jr last august...now THATS connecticut fans for ya, they didnt let the fact SY hasnt played new haven or CT in 16 years or the fact SY has screwed CT in the past few years with cancellations stop them from going, or the fact the show was an outrageous $25.......theyre lucky anyone showed up

Uggg... yea, people there were being really rude. I'm surprised that people would pay 25 dollars to go to a show and then not watch the bands/listen to the music and talk instead. I wasn't that into Wooden Wand, but I still thought it was pretty lame for most of the crowd to jabber during their set. Really, really lame.

I've never seen Toad's that packed. I had to relocate to the staircase in the back to see SY.
I was pretty happy they played World looks red. That, for me, was the highlight. Really raw and noisy and great.

Yeah, World looks red and Teenage riot were the highlights for me. I was so psyched to see Sonic Youth finally play CT, and all the Yale morons had to be obnoxious. Seriously every one you talk to in CT who attends concerts, always says Yeah I'm going to the Boston or NYC one because people in CT are assholes. And they are right.

The only bands that ever get booked to play here anymore are either country, metal, or classic rock. Connecticut really changed after Bush took office, so now nothing can get booked unless it pleases the mullets. The only date on Lollapalooza 03 that got cancelled was the one at the Meadows in Hartford

Toads is a shit hole...thats for sure.

sleepin around was played at most of the shows in 2006, before they started mixing more old material into the sets. that and 'lights out' seemed to fall away to be replaced by 'candle' etc. at the beginning of the rather ripped tour they were playing every song from the album nightly.

i can't believe somebody would actually miss sleepin' around!

well, its more the fact that bands can draw more in Boston and NYC, so they skip CT, since its not that long a drive for us...which sucks, but it has been like this for years...bush took office in 2000, SY hasnt played CT since 1991 i beleive, so i dont see how that matters...ive heard over the years the booking people at toads are real assholes and very cheap, thats more of the reason.. when clubs like The Tune Inn, Tuxedo Junction and the El N Gee (which is reopening) closed...its got lame fast in CT. NYC shows for me seem to be the best for crowd reaction..boston i find bad, ive gone to the middle east a bunch of times, and people actually have thier back to the bands and try to talk over the music. i guess that was goin on at toads too last night, but it was so packed...i think people wouldnt have talked so much if SY was louder, i couldnt even here the lyircs at times..especially during teenage riot. i also agree with eyeball about the yale student presence at Toads for shows...they always seem to never really be into any show, i guess they rather talk equations and theories, hahaa

The Toad's place show was just plain horrible. Sonic Youth were not horrible, but the crowd was not only disrespectful, but down right rude. This is why bands don't play CT people. I don't know why everyone has to be a jackass on Thursday. Seriously! I even had to lash out at some people. And if those some people are reading this...Thanks for being a douchebag! Like I said to you, next time you want to be in the front swooning over Thurston Moore, show up 2 hours early to save your spot. I don't need to smile in order to have a great time. Asshole!

And a big thank you to Toad's Place for not letting them play their whole set. Way to go!

Northampton was way better.

lmfao

was there some guy that yelled out "Thurston have my babies!"

is that what any of you are referring to as the annoying behavior? i know that guy from another board.

im almost positive he also said he was touching their guitars or something while they were playing. i didnt go into detail with him so i dont know exactly what happened with that.

It's probably one of the best tracks on RR.

Yeah I completely agree! It's one of the rockinest tracks there! That's why I'm so bummed Sleepin' Around isn't on the setlist anymore. The tour last summer took them EVERYWHERE but here in the beginning so by the time they made it back to the east coast, Sleepin' Around was AWOL!

NOW I'm trying to find a way to see that Gypsy Tea Room gig from TX that'll be broadcast on HDNet. Sleepin' Around is in that set! The problem is that nobody carries HDNet even if you HAVE high definition TV. Doubt I'll find a way to get at it.

There is a vid of them doing it in Toronto on YouTube however.

Where's the Providence setlist?

cool tune, i guess, but abysmal lyrics. i liked that pre-RR instrumental version they had on the site for a while (and may still, for all i know).

Dude, Jim hasnt been with the band since '05. Where have you been?

How is $25 dollars outrageous? They're a BIG name band on a major label and are some of the most important musicians of the 20th century. I'll pay 25 bucks to see them cuz I know it's worth even more.

I paid $50 for Bob Dylan (pricey but worth every penny), $40 for Flaming Lips (pricey but worth every penny), $35 for Mission of Burma/Pixies in Amherst (pricey but sooooooo worth it). Yeah it may not be a $7 Fugazi show but they need to pay their mortgage man!!!!

it sure is outrageous, all those acts you listed are waaaaaaaaaaaay mroe popular mainstream wise than SY....and $35 for MOB AND pixies is well worth it, 2 great bands, not just 1.

lets not get crazy with a big name band label....the average american has no idea who sonic youth are, but they know who eminem, 50 cent and britney spears are...not saying that a good thing, but you cant call SY a big name band....they barely had that status at the height of thier popularity. to us, people who ignore the mainstream for the msot part altogether, sure SY is a big band, one of my all time favs, but you cant compare their ticket prices to like U2 or Madonna and say its reasonable...for the bands i go see on regular basis..$25 is outrageous, but i guess with 5 members now on tour...its acceptable

Despite the crowd and such, I loved the NH show, thought it was great. Sure can't complain about paying $25 to see SY, that is just plain absurd. Worth every nickel. Toad's sucks, but at least there wasn't that silly fence for this show. Thanks to whomever posted the setlist, nice to fill in the pieces that memory (and beer) has obscured. Shaking Hell!

hahaha

ummmmmmm the fence was not only present, but even more egregious than usual! i guess maybe the place was pretty full by the time you got there?

yeah, the fence was there, but it was so packed it was almost invisiable...yeah shaking hell was sick

It was a different fence this time. I've seen shows where the fence towers over everybody's head. This one was about waist high and vanished in the crowd.

ohhhhhh
yeah, that's the old fence.

a fence in a rock venue, only the hayve has such class.

Yeah the last 2 times I saw them it was just the four of them. Now they have a 2nd bassplayer who I swear is from the band Pavement, but my friend says otherwise.

yes, it was mark ibold from pavement

Can someone hook me up with this show?

$20-25 seems more than reasonable to see SY at a club. Theyaren't showing up in a van and carrying their own guitars. They have support people and mgmt to pay. Its not so simple they just split the money 4 ways (and give Mark beer tickets). There is an organization there. How many people do they travel with?

But is $40 +10 fee to see the Stooges fair?

And all those Nels Cline shows next month at the Jazz Standard @ $25 a set are giving me a heartpain - 3 goddamn sets in one night!!!!! How to choose?

my god mote! im so so jealous right now thats up in my top five!
great gig i bet!! i would love to see them in the us one day. better hurry up though i guess.