Opening the night was Factory Floor. Over-hyped in the press and so hip it hurts, this band don't really do it for me. You get the feeling that, if asked, they would say they were trying to break boundaries, but these boundaries were broken so long ago that it just comes off contrived. That said, they had their moments and were compelling to watch live. Perhaps I'm just getting too old to listen to a wall of noise, but I really prefer my songs with more... song.
Having been a short-lived cult band, the recent reformation of The Pop Group is quite a big deal within the right crowd. From what I've heard, the set they played was a lot more accessible than some of their material but their funk-tinged style seemed a little out of place on tonight's bill.
Shellac were on storming form. No one can deny Steve Albini his influence and status within the alternative music genre and you can really see why here. Perhaps the Gem of the was “The End of Radio”, which closed the set and has such raw force experienced live. In one of their customary impromptu “Q&A” sessions Bob Weston fielded a question for Steve about his shoes, about which he didn't seem overly enthused, but it was fun to witness none the less. Although almost everyone who knows anything about rock music will know who Albini is, Shellac are strangely under-rated, which is a huge shame. If you do one thing this year, buy a Shellac album. You will not be disappointed.
Headliners Sonic Youth came on just moments before midnight. Thurston provided the obligatory count-down, followed by huge glitter explosions. Sonic Youth have been playing together so long that their sets are tight and go smoothly are always a pleasure to watch. The set contained a good mixture of old and new songs, with less tangental jamming than you sometimes experience at one of their shows. The only slight worry tonight was that Thurston seems to have forgotten the names of their songs and referred to “Schizophrenia” as “Sister”, but with a back catalogue as big as Sonic Youth's, who could blame him? Plus, either way, it was a very welcome addition to the set. A rose by any other name and all that...
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