Sonic Youth Are Underwhelming

Massey Hall

Toronto, ON

on Jun 30 2009

Shehzaad Jiwani (CHARTattack)

07/02/2009 4:11pm

It's hard to criticize one of your favourite bands.

Even for jaded rock critics, it's tough to remain objective when a musician you respect and admire takes the stage. And when we do summon the willpower necessary to do our jobs with integrity, it can be painful — no one wants to bash a group they love.

This makes it hard for me to express my disappointment with Sonic Youth's set at Massey Hall earlier this week. Having never seen them live and given the intimate setting of Toronto's most prestigious venue, I was expecting nothing short of a stellar set from the legendary noise rockers. I wanted to love this show. However, due to the weak setlist and the band's overall impersonality, it was largely a bust.

Let's start with the pros. Watching the band — which, as an added bonus, now features ex-Pavement bassist Mark Ibold — is like watching a skilled magician. Everything Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo do with their guitars is mystifying, yet they make it appear deceptively simple. The duo are never ones to show off, tand their nonchalant demeanour makes them that much more impressive than other guitar heroes.

It's impossible to leave Massey Hall without admiring the impeccable sound after having attended a show there. This was especially notable for Sonic Youth, whose cacophonous noise was never once lost in the mix, and whose individual members' contributions were easily discernible through the speakers. The older tunes — particularly the surprise closer, "Death Valley '69" — were revamped with searing feedback and pounding drums, which made them sound brand new.
Too bad they only played three of them. Here come the cons.

My biggest gripe with the gig was the fact that the group decided to play their new album, The Eternal, almost entirely — at the expense of pretty much any older material whatsoever. On the one hand, it's admirable a band with nearly three decades behind them can stand so confidently behind their most recent work. It certainly helps that The Eternal is as good as it is — otherwise this would be a flat out bad review.

However, given the ticket prices and the choice of venue, you would expect the New Yorkers to pull out some deeper cuts. I'm not saying they should have played "Teen Age Riot" and "Bull In The Heather," either, but the complete lack of anything off Goo and Dirty was a shocking choice on their part — especially when you consider the one Daydream Nation cut was "The Sprawl." If you're going to play an oldie, pick a better one than that.

This wouldn't have been such a bummer if not for the complete lack of engagement on the band's behalf. They said maybe 20 words total to the audience. Hell, they didn't even break a sweat at any point during their set.

The lackadaisical manner became infuriating when drummer Steve Shelley fudged a transition during "Mission Control." This isn't just nitpicking — I'm a drummer, we all fuck up sometimes — but the guy has played slight variations on the same beat for a quarter of a century. For a band of this calibre, a drummer of his stature, a concert at this level and on a song so recent, a mistake like that is inexcusable.

From a technical standpoint, their performance was certainly enjoyable. There were never any boring moments during the set — even the 10-minute album closer "Massage The History" was thoroughly entertaining — and, from musician's standpoint, it was delightfully bewildering to watch the influential group showcase their instrumental prowess.

It's just disappointing to see the quintet so nonplussed at such a high profile gig after releasing what is arguably some of their best music in over a decade. Instead of appearing reinvigorated by the new material, Sonic Youth just seemed to be going through the motions. Maybe this was tolerable if you'd seen the band before, but for someone who hasn't, this was one of the biggest letdowns of the year.