Last night I enjoyed the delayed portion of my birthday present: seeing Kim Gordon live at The Opera House. It was our first visit back to that venue since seeing Waxahatchee there eight years ago, and man do I wish they would book more shows I’m into. It’s a good venue, and it’s SO close to my house. Anyway.
After a hefty meal at White Lily we got to the OH just before the opener, Voyeur, went on. They were…well, embarrassing. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the whole band is an art project that just got away from them. It’s like they put up a poster for band members that specified “Must not be able to sing.” It seemed a little on the nose that they’re on tour with Kim Gordon given how hard they’re trying to sound like long-ago Sonic Youth, managing only the affect and not the substance. Anyway, they weren’t on long.
Kim Gordon (and her excellent backing band) came out and played her entire new album, PLAY ME, front to back. Lots of the electronic elements remained, but propelled by such a talented band, the songs took on so much more depth and impact. After those 12 short songs they pivoted into three consecutive songs from her last album The Collective, followed by two more from her debut solo album — and my personal favourite — No Home Record. After that they walked off. I wasn’t expecting an encore, but they came out for one: an unreleased song called “Cigarette”.
The last three songs might have been the highlight for me, but the whole set was remarkable. There’s no other word for being in a band as seminal as Sonic Youth and now, in a solo career at age 73, producing music this vital. She’s about as indie-iconic as it gets live too: no banter with the audience (except to apologize for the American president), just the presentation of her art as she choose to issue it.
The setlist, per setlist.fm:
- PLAY ME
- GIRL WITH A LOOK
- NO HANDS
- BLACK OUT
- DIRTY TECH
- NOT TODAY
- BUSY BEE
- SQUARE JAW
- SUBCON
- POST EMPIRE
- NAIL BITER
- BYE BYE
- Trophies
- It’s Dark Inside
- Psychedelic Orgasm
- Paprika Pony
- Cookie Butter
- Cigarette (encore)
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 