The demographics of SY fans
 

http://www.nypress.com/20/7/music/music.cfm

ANATOMY OF A SONIC YOUTH

What to expect when Kim & Thurston take the stage


By Joe Pompeo

If you’ve been to a few Sonic Youth shows, you pretty much know what to expect in terms of who’ll be in the audience. But if you’re a newcomer to those noisy concerts during which Thurston spazzes out, Kim gets told repeatedly how sexy she is, Lee stands there looking cool as hell and Steve just kind of sits and plays the drums, you might want to consult the following guide to determine which fans you should hang with while rocking out to “Kool Thing.”


Balding Middle-Age Dad Who Still Wears Converse All Stars
Aside from Sonic Youth themselves, Balding Converse Dad is probably the most cred person at the show (he saw Sonic Youth on the E.V.O.L. tour in ’86), but also one of the dorkiest. He came by himself because his wife is “over it” and his kids are still too young to be at a concert where people pass joints around. He got to the venue early enough to secure a spot that’s ideal for taking pictures, but in which he will regret having to stand when people start pogo-moshing to “100 %.” Despite his age, Balding Converse Dad manages to look pretty fucking hip in that black Calvin Klein button-down (sleeves rolled up) tucked into light-blue Levis.


Circa ’94 College Radio DJ
Circa ’94 College Radio DJ dons the same Dinosaur Jr. ringer tee he wore to that show on the Washing Machine tour back in ’95, except this time around his beer belly is sticking out. Now in his early- to mid-thirties, he talks a lot about how he’s seen Sonic Youth so many times he doesn’t even care anymore. But for some reason he still ends up at every show, his justification being that he “got the tickets for free through the station.” C94CRDJ was one of the first people to receive a promo copy of Rather Ripped, even though he was relegated from Friday afternoons to the Sunday 2 a.m. slot to make room for those two cute sophomore chicks, whose new show, “Dirty Boots,” has been making waves on the university indie circuit.


The Requisite Alternateen
Alternateens may not be as ubiquitous as they were in the ’90s, but they remain a key element at any Sonic Youth show. Salvation Army T-shirts, baggy-esque jeans with chain wallet and shaggy hair—but not in that hipster way (see also “Manic Panic”)—comprise the wardrobe of the Requisite Alternateen, who is the person most genuinely excited to be there, especially considering Mom OK-ed the concert on a school night. He/she is also probably the least pretentious audience member, as well as the one most likely to be chosen by the band to appear in a future album sleeve. This kid practically invented the song “Bull in the Heather.”


Noise Fans
These people enjoy Sonic Youth less than they enjoy Black Dice. Their favorite Sonic Youth recordings are the instrumental SYR EPs, and they’re not big on the albums Goo or Dirty. Most people come to a Sonic Youth show hoping to hear “Teen Age Riot,” but Noise Fans are there primarily for Thurston-and-Lee’s 20-minute feedback freakouts, without which they would feel as if they might as well be seeing Coldplay.


Ex-Zine Stars/Internet Celebrities
These “kids” are somewhere in their twenties and are pretty much the hippest people at the show. Discovering Sonic Youth when they were high school freshmen made them stop playing sports and start smoking cigarettes. They used to be punk, but dress pretty normal these days and therefore don’t really stand out. But what they lack in conspicuousness they make up for in scene points. Everyone remembers the zines they used to write back in ’97 as well as their first AOL screen names. They were among the first 100 people to create profiles on Make Out Club and they even baby-sat for Kim-and-Thurston’s daughter Coco while attending college in Massachusetts. Their inherent coolness and youthful drinking abilities make Balding Converse Dad secretly feel like a piece of shit.


The Poseur
Transferred to NYU. Discovered MisShapes. Bought Sonic Youth tickets. End of story.


Feb. 16, Webster Hall, 125 E. 11th St. (betw. 3rd & 4th Aves.), 212-353-1600; SOLD OUT.

that was quite fun. American though, i wonder what the concurrent UK version would be like

This has nothing to do with demographics, and it is definitely well-worn knowledge among most board members, but at any given show, you can also certainly guarantee that Kim will be front and center, Lee with be on your left, and Thurston will be set up to your right.

This might be helpful when purchasing tickets or while helping yourself to general seating or standing before the show.

Balding Middle-Age Dad Who Still Wears Converse All Stars


hmmm, its closer than i think!

He came by himself because his wife is “over it” and his kids are still too young to be at a concert where people pass joints around.


ha ha , oh god !!!!

I was already in my mid 20s when SY came out, but I'm NOT balding, still wear sneaks ( just not Chucks lately), have no kids yet, definately secured a GREAT place to take pics, didn't have to deal with a Mosh pit...the crowd was remarkably controlled, and wore a cotton T NOT tucked into my Levi's blue jeans.

Hehehehehe....I love to rock !

wow, those were pretty dead-on!!

Sounds exactly like the dude I saw! Black Husker Du t... jeans, balding, more than definately wearing sneakers. Than again, I'm almost sure this was actually at the Metric concert... (same venue as the SY show, + I was in the same area)

NOT balding !!!

:D

Head full of hair !

Haha! That was a good read.

that was pretty funny.

I don't know where I'd happen to fit...."Internet celebrities" maybe??? :)

I think most of us twentysomethings would be in the internet celebrities category, if only for the lack of age to qualify into another section.

haha exellent stuff.

It's obviously a very tongue-in-cheek article.I wouldn't fit in any of those categories but then i'm unique and all that.

"tougue-in-cheek" means good or bad?

love it.

hah, i'm the alterna-teen. (i jest.)

I am the 33 yr old, balding, doc marten wearing profusely rocking mo fio

When i saw SY in 2004 it seemed just to be

>Indie Poser
>Indie Posers girlfriend who spends the entire time saying loudly "this is just noise can we go now"
>Chav's yes i know chavs, but i did see a few
> Real fans who look physically sick with anticipation
> and of couse Middle Age Balding Dad usually drinking a pint and sporting a nose or ear ring.
>Bleeding Ponytail/Hippy Couple more often seen at Dinosaur Jr shows, longs for pre 2000 days.
> Kim/Thurston lookalikes, sometimes in couples. Think they are the shit.

hah i have no idea where i would place myself. but i have definetely seen all of those categories at an sy show

12 to 60 is what I see at SY shows, with all the attributes crosswired !!!

All intellects have you, all brainiacs in the bunch. hahahahaaaaa....

in Mexico is the most common type, sadly....



pd. Carmen don't want to go with me.

anyone ?

i got a ticket....

pile of shit

um... yeah, me, too. dammit.

I'm a 40 year old dad of three: two girls and a boy, ages 7, 5 & 3.

I work for a small insurance agency in Ohio. Married for almost 10 years. Own my own house, drive a Lexus and belong to a country club. I have voted Republican since 1990. And I will vote for either Guilliani or McCain in the 2008 Presidential primary.

I'm probably everything that is hated on this board, but I've been attending SY shows since 1991 when I saw them headline a show in Tijuana, MX with Gumball and Mudhoney. Ive seen them nine times or so, and I can't wait to see 'em again.

I haven't owned a pair of Chuck Taylors since I was like seven years old. And I still carry a full head of hair.

The last show I went to was Steely Dan and before that, Pearl Jam with Robert Pollard as the opener.

Peace out>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

funny, hehe.
but I wont fit to any of those categories, hehe. somewhere in between, hehe.

I fit pretty securely into the Alternateen/E-Zine demographics, except I am no longer a teen (now in my early 20's), and I never needed permission to go to a concert, I just went. I do have long, shaggy hair and cheap, beat up seconmd hand clothes, but it's out of necessity rather than fashion. I dont have enough money to blow 20 bucks on tshirts all the time (I save that for special occassion i.e. concert t's) so I happen to shop at second hand stores. Im broke. I wear chucks (just nice sneakers, been wearing em since I was 6yrs old before I knew what "punk" was) and just stuck with them. I discovered SY early on in high scholl and stopped playing sports but never smoked cigs, just grass. I also try and get good positions for photos, Im into photography (but not very good at it). I also like Noise rock but I don't think SY is low on the Noise Ladder, they are innovators!! They just learned how to arrange noise in more strategic ways than strictly noise bands. SY has melody and noise, like VU.

But I'm definitely not a poseur or a '94 DJ cuz I still pay for my tickets and despite seeing SY live numerous times, I still get a huge thrill out of seeing them live!!!! It will never go fade!!!


Not that any of you probably care what I'm like, but it's fun to post anyway =)

UK Show Demographic.

1. The Blast First Posse.

Tend to stand more towards the back at shows these days. They're primarily male, 30s-40s and will usually wait until SY play Brother James before going home to listen to some Big Stick on vinyl.

2. The Wire readers.

Again mostly male, 20s-40s, usually more into checking the support band, wearing a Merzbow T, Nike sandals and sporting either a William Reid haircut or a #1 skinhead. stand close to the front so they can see what gauge strings Lee is using. Wishing they were back at the ICA so they could compare notes about frequency saturation and Evan Parker with their two friends.

3. The Noiseniks.

30s-40s, exclusively male. Come more out of ritual these days, wishing the band still sounded a bit like Swans. They'll be wearing a greying Confusion is Sex T shirt and standing at the side, right in front of the PA so they can spontaneously shit themselves everytime things get a little loud. They'll also be pretty drunk.

4. For the Love of Kurt.

Early 20s, mixed male and female, doing Fine Art at Uni, edging closer to Emo these days when it comes to dress but will definitely be wearing a Goo T shirt. Bull in the Heather and Dirty Boots will get a massive cheer. The guys will all be looking at Kim whilst the girls will be remarking just how much Thurston looks like the guy from Happy Days. They read the NME every week but insist that they hate it. They'll sneer at people younger than them wearing Nirvana Tees.

5. The Guest Listers.

Ex-members of Lush, My Bloody Valentine and at least two members of Teenage Fanclub. The guys look like Bob Mould, the women like Meg Matthews. They think Sonic Youth are 'just great to still be doing their thing'.

6. MTV 2 Brigade.

teens-30s, Bought tickets only because the Flaming Lips show had sold out. Spend the entire time prior to the band coming on talking to their five friends about a Bonnie Prince Billy track they downloaded. Mostly male, they worship at the alter of Beck. Likelyhood of seeing one of them in a Deerhoof T is very high.

7. The Hoxton Massive.

20s-30s, mixed male and female, they'll either be wearing an ironic Motley Crue T Shirt or else an ESG hoodie. 100% Converse and sporting an iPod. They have a couple of Sonic Youth albums at home somewhere but right now they're 'sort of listening to rockabilly shit man'. All the guys will be called Ben, for some reason.

8. The Aging Fall Fan Contingent.

These will turn up exactly two songs into the set, usually with their wives. They will chuckle knowingly when Lee gets a bit 'Prog Rock' on Mote. They'll dress like alcoholic postmen and look disdainfully at the increasingly youthful audience. They'll leave before the encore so they can get enough sleep before work the next morning. A lot of them will be called Dave and all will own at least one Captain Beefheart album. They will be wearing shoes.

9. The Terrorizer Readers.

These have a lot in common with the Noiseniks but are generally younger (20s usually). Their hair will be long, sometimes dreaded, or else completely shaved off. They'll be wearing DMs, black combats and either an ISIS or (if they're a little older) a Godflesh t Shirt. All of them, without doubt, will be male. Their minds will wander to happy memories of Converge shows whenever Kim sings, impatiently waiting for another dose of feedback. Some of them may attempt to stagedive during Pipeline/Kill Time. Deep down, they'll all be wishing that A. they were watching Neurosis instead, and B. that at least one of the women in there would be prepared to rid them of their virginity.

10. The Barlow Lou-kalike.

There will be lots of these, but all will have come alone. They will look like Lou Barlow, obviously, and stand exactly midway between the bar and the stage. They will watch all the support acts. Chances are that if they're not wearing a Sebadoh T Shirt (underneath an open untucked shirt), then they'll be sporting a fading Dinosaur one. In the gap before the encore, they'll shuffle towards the stage to check out Lee and Thurstons effects peddles. He will buy a T shirt from the vender at the venue.

11. The Neo-Riot Grrls.

They're here to see Kim, basically, to get some style tips that can replace their current fascination for the 50s sweatergirl look. Needlessly to say that they'll be female. Most will be in their early 20s. They'll desperately try and avoid the constant longing gazes from the Lou-alikes. They will dance during Kool Thing. The Lou-a-likes will swoon.

12. The Albini-for-President Army.

These are declining in number and quickly turning into an equivelent of the Aging-Fall-Fan. They'll stalk to the bar everytime Kim sings. They might be wearing a Shellac shirt and their hairstyle will be 'sensible'. DMs or (black) Converse and black Levis will finish off their (anti-) look. They'll go home thinking the show was '"shit".

That's good. Enjoyed the sub-groups and clans.

_______________
Fuckin' A - The Runaways!!!

One group wasn't mentioned.

Annoying, loud teenage girls fashioned in emo clothing and sparkly eyeshadow who met Thurston downtown that day. Amungst one another, their chattery, high-pitch sqeaks run a hundred miles a minute.Their bowel movements also run wild as Thurston dedicates Scizophrenia to "those 4 girls I met today". For audience members within 15 feet of their presence, they create an atmosphere that can only be found 10 years ago at a backstreet boys' show.

EDIT: just an experience I had in missoula last june, but still...

...what?


Whatever. The "fucking assholes who's duty seems to be a cunt, and destroy the fun atmosphere with their cuntliness, and complain about stuff like, "Yr not movin' at all! They aren't gonna come back out if no one's gonna move," when he himself, did not ever move, and then I begin to scream "SON-IC-YOUTH! SON-IC-YOUTH!," and they come back out within five minutes. ...those dudes suck...

(The jerks that only come for the opening band(s), and their opposite, the fucking pricks who don't pay attention, and have no intention of shutting their dumb, intensely-bad-toothed mouths during the openers, even after polite asking, and an eventual "SHUT THE FUCK UP.")

Alongside my twelve categories listed above, we have to include those poor souls who are dragged along to every gig by fanatical bfs, gfs, husbands, wives, even dads or mums. They'll be the ones standing towards the back mentally constructing shopping lists half-way through the outro to Xpressway. They'll usually be the first to say "I don't think they're coming back out" after the first encore.

I would have to say I'd be somewhere between Internet Celebrities and Noise Fans. I love the Youth, but I love more the noise.

fuck you .
mkay?
:mad::mad::mad:



:o

I don't think I fit into any of these categories. Maybe the alternateen? I'm not that ~alt~ though.

Mid 40's, no kids, balding ... not at all worried about getting caught in a mosh ... not above going by myself if necessary but usually go with some kids that used to work for me when I ran a record store. Wouldn't be caught dead wearing Levi's or anything Calvin Klein though.

THAT'S ME!!!!!!:)

i love sonic youth so much.

These sound about right for similar shows I've been to... but my only SY experience was at the recent Merce show (at BAM) - and that crowd... well, it barely fit a ROCK show, let alone a Sonic Youth show... it was pretty awesome watching Thurston play with drumsticks while little old ladies sat 2 rows in front of me. Surreal to say the least...

I assume the Toronto show will be a SLIGHTLY different cross-section, but I find lately at ALL shows there's more people who just want to say they were there than actual fans (it seems)... so many scenesters. I actually stood near someone at a show not too long ago who had their back to the stage the ENTIRE show so they could keep chatting with their friends.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to demonrail666 again.