Thurston @ Maxwell's
 

http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.s...see_sonic.html

Rock fans line up to see Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore

by Carly Monday September 24, 2007, 11:34 PM




Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, far right, meets fans outside Maxwell's.

The crowd outside Maxwell's tonight smoked lots of cigarettes and talked shop - Sonic Youth's cult following, their influence on today's rock scene, and the guitar genius of Thurston Moore, who took the stage around 10 p.m.
Rock devotees came from near and far to see Moore - Sonic Youth frontman and founder - play tonight at legendary Hoboken music venue Maxwell's. Moore was "almost" solo tonight; he was joined by Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, a Hoboken resident who also co-owns Maxwell's.
"I'm excited, and a little nervous," said Moore, before taking the stage. "It's the first time doing the new album." Moore kicked off a 12-city tour tonight of his latest album, "Trees Outside the Academy."
Moore (in the red plaid) chats before the show.
"I came all the way from Montana to see him," said Bob Furu, 34, of Bozeman. Well actually, Furu was planning to visit cousins in Milford, PA and then re-scheduled his trip around tonight's show. "Sonic Youth is the greatest invention in rock history. If there was no Sonic Youth, there's no telling what rock music would be like today."
"I've been seeing Sonic Youth since the late '80s; I've never seen Thurston Moore solo before," said Paul Anderson, 53, who traveled from...(hold your breath)...Paramus to see the show. "It's great to see him in a small space. The last time I saw Sonic Youth was at McCarren Pool in Brooklyn in August of 2007."
"They have so much influence on alternative music in the late 80s and 90s - they helped Nirvana get signed," continued Anderson. "In New York, I used to see them at the old Ritz, Roseland, CBGB's, but this is the best club in the tri-state area, in my opinion. It's the most comfortable, you can see the bands - Maxwell's feels like a neighborhood place."
And here's some more love for Hoboken's best-known live music spot:
"Maxwell's is the best venue in New Jersey. Anybody that was ever cool played here," said Dan Hewitt, 27, from the Bronx. "It's better than most comparable places in New York." (En-Jay in the hizzouse!)
"Yeah, everything's been Clear Channeled up!" agreed his friend, Kayla Bradshaw, 25, of Queens.
It's OK, Kayla, I think Maxwell's is in good hands. I can't see someone from Sonic Youth selling out to corporate media.

It was really awesome.

Your signature worked really well with that last post, haha.

really good show. i was eating at the table next to thurston's. got a picture with him and steve. cool guys

anybody have an actual set list?

let's see the picture! did you talk to them?

More on Moore

by Hoboken Now Tuesday September 25, 2007, 6:00 PM

 

Mike McLaughlin/The Star-LedgerA file photo of Thurston Moore performing with Sonic Youth at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park in 2004.

Speaking of what's going on inside bars, The Jersey Journal's Michael Venutolo-Mantovani checked out the scene inside Maxwell's last night, where Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore took the stage (along with drummer Steve Shelley). Here's Mike's report.
It looked more like a block party as they filled in the small, humid back room of the legendary rock club. There were representatives from all walks of life; punk-rock kids rubbing elbows with aging hipsters, rock aficionados chatting with Wall Street yuppies, even a mom with her son. In front of the packed Maxwell's crowd, Moore kicked off the first of 13 dates sparsely spread over the next two months in support of his new effort, Trees Outside the Academy. It's his first solo record since 1995's Psychic Hearts.
Recorded at the Amherst, Mass., studio of J Mascis (of grunge-guitar icons Dinosaur Jr), Trees Outside the Academy is a divergence from the post-punk-no-wave signature that Sonic Youth has been crafting for the last two decades, and that was evident last night as Moore employed mostly acoustic guitars and a violin. It was not quite Crazy Horse, not quite late-era Doors - not quite anything you've ever heard.

As Moore and his band (using the moniker the Leaky Lifeboats), took the stage, Maxwell's tiny sanctuary became almost silent, waiting to hear what would come out of this amalgamation Moore had created.
At first, the room didn't seem big enough as the 6 foot 6 inch Moore looked like he would whack his head on the ceiling at any moment, but as soon as the band lolled through its opener, a droney, guitar driven tune, the space opened up and seemed to accommodate all of us just fine.
It could have been the mix of acoustic guitars with points of heavy distortion. It could have been the airy atmosphere of Samara Lubelski's violin criss-crossing over Thurston and Chris Brokaw's often dancing guitars.
Whatever it was, it gave the feeling of riding through a desert in a Sonic Youth world. To separate the Trees Outside the Academy tunes from anything Sonic Youth has created would be nearly impossible as they both have Moore's indelible guitar-god stamp on them.
In fact, the Leaky Lifeboats at some points sonically resembled old Sonic Youth -- with hints of 1992's atmospheric Dirty when Moore stepped away from the mic and let the songs sing for him. And when Moore employed his baritone voice, the band evoked a feeling of pure songcraftmanship similar to 1988's indie-rock masterwork Daydream Nation.
The songs themselves had a life of their own as they shifted more than a NASCAR driver on too much caffeine. Choruses and verses danced around each other like boxers as the songs went from dark, foreboding and ugly to super-sweet and uplifting at the drop of a dime and the change of a chord.
Moore played what seemed like most of the new record, layering instrument upon instrument to create an overwhelming sense of fullness in the tiny back room.
After the show, Steve Shelley - who now has been the drummer for both Sonic Youth and the Leaky Lifeboats - said that this was a chance for them to put on new hats.
"We're all just excited to do some new stuff," Shelley said. "And we're really looking forward to having a chance to try some new things out."
It seems the new things they tried came about with great success.
"I'm just excited to see them in a place like (Maxwell's). These are guys who can play shows at such bigger places but they come here and it's so much more personal," said Kayla Bradshaw of Queens. "They were awesome."
Agreed.

http://www.nj.com:80/hobokennow/inde..._on_moore.html

Did Thurston play acoustic the whole time? Did he sit or stand up? Did anyone play bass at all?

no, electric during the encore. stand up. yes.

You were eating during the gig? Was Thurston also eating at the same time? One handed guitar?

haha nah, before the gig. that would be awesome actually now that i think about it. i told thurston to kick ass and said i was a big fan. it's amazing how fucking uncool i felt sitting next to him. i didnt expect to meet them so all i had was my shitty camera phone.

what about the merchandize? was there any? was he selling the cd with the sampler?

Those photos actually look really cool.

man i think i'd go ape shit if i met him.

Queen Bee

Frozen GTR

Thanks! Really nice to see what it was like there.

I really enjoyed the set, this was a really hot band, really dug the way Samara's violin added to the sound, almost a Bardo Pondish sheen...new songs hold up to anything he's written lately...the band was very tight, they must have done a bunch of rehearsals, it was not 'free improv" in any way. They did the trio of P-hearts songs like Sonic used to do the blast of Ramones covers. It rocked.

and I found 5 Euros on the floor waiting for merch.