DDN Live: Can they pull it off?
 

I'm as excited as anyone that SY will be performing DDN live in its entirety this summer. Its my favorite album of theirs, and I've always felt it got the short shrift in their live sets, with many jewels from that LP not being performed for almost 20 years.

But here's the thing. The Pitchfork review of the new DDN Deluxe edition got it right when they pointed out:

"What's really shocking is the energy of it. This record's default setting is the place most rock bands try to work up to around the third chorus-- guitar players veering off into neck-strangling improvisations, singers dropping off the melody and into impassioned shouts. These songs start there and just stay."


To my ears the last time SY possesed this level of energy was the Dirty tour. Nowadays when they do an old song the tempo feels sluggish, the ensemble isn't tight, the guitars don't wail with the same sense of utter abandon they once had. Can SY summon up that intensity again?

you gotta be kidding. saw them live, july 2002. they blew me out on drunken butterfly, kissability, tom violence and white kross.

i'm totally sure they'll blow me away this time around too.

Nope, I'm not kidding! Hoping to be blown away too when I see them at Pitchfork next month.....

But still, I have my doubts. I've seen them at least a dozen times since 1992. And I can't help but feel they've lost quite a bit of urgency over the years. I mean, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, just an observation. They have been around a while, after all.

The one or two reports from the Barcelona show on a seperate thread did say that Total Trash was slower than the record, and that they were ragged in quite a few places. I'm confident that they'll iron out the kinks though as they continue to play this material again!

I'll see you in Chitown dude. All the way from Sardinia. And we'll rock out to the tunes... no matter what. And still I'm sure they'll deliver the goods. Damn I can't wait!

I can't wait either!

Till then we have the killer live cuts on the reissue......man are they ever sweet!

I have since seen them play 4 times since 92 and the last time i saw them was 2 yrs ago and they were as intense as ever!
so more so excited bout daydream nation gigs this summer,
BRING ON THE SONIC NOISE!

I saw them once before in Glasgow on the Nurse Tour in 2004 (yay rhymes). I don't remember much of it other than it was very loud and very sonic. I've watched some videos of the DDN show in Barcelona, and Total Trash did sound a little off, especially in tempo and on vocals.. but hopefully the DDN material will be re-honed by the time they get to London.

Didn't they say they didn't even play Total Trash at the time the album came out? I assume it's really hard to play.
Hell, when I saw the Blood Brothers, they played Crimes really slow, and they aren't old or anything. But with some songs, I suppose it's really difficult to put up the same intensity as on record.

Ive heard a few renditions of Total Trash, it seems as though it was around a fair bit, though the performance record thing would say for sure.
This will be my first Sonic experience, and im going to be having a good time rather than stroking my beard analysing things, its about the event as much as anything for me.

i'm looking forward to seeing them in nyc in july. seeing the videos have really gotten me psyched. my expectations were blown away when i saw the 'Cross The Breeze video. they sounded pretty fucking tight to me.

well, this upcoming show is going to be the first sonic youth show for me. so i can't really comment on seeing them live personally. but whether or not people think they lost energy, doesnt matter to me. i'm just grateful that they're touring at all and still making great new music.

Total Trash was played as an instrumental a few times in early 88 and once in late 89, I think. It came back in 1993 and for like 2 shows in 2003.

Thanks Chris Lawrence

haha.

blood brothers.

beard stroking IS a good time

kidding aside, i know what you mean

i've seen 'em six or seven, maybe eight times since '96 or so... and though the music is DIFFERENT now, i wouldn't really say it has less ENERGY. also, i can't really find it in me to criticise a band with such longevity for slowing down a bit. it's called the aging process. you can't expect them to write and play like they did in their twenties (or thirties) forever. also, i would hazzard to guess that the gordon-moore clan's move to a relatively rural zone some years back has influenced the music; the relatively mellow and/or jam oriented stuff. they can still thrash when they want to though.

well said! Of course I don't expect them to play like they did twenty years ago. But hearing those live tracks on the new DDN reissue reminded me what a tight humming machine they were back in the day! I mean, the tempos just surge and burn---everything seems faster than the record. Going back into the intro after the noise break in Silver Rocket, you can feel Steve giving the tempo a big burst---and it was plenty roarin' already! It's really a bold move putting out twenty year old live material, then playing that same material on a new tour. Imagine having to compete with your younger self!

For me, the dividing line between "old" and "new" (or should I say, "late") SY is EJSTANS. To me that record is the sound of SY letting the air out of the tires. I saw them like 5 times in '95 and remember being consistently shocked at how draggy the old tunes sounded. And it's felt the same to me ever since. I'm sure like any band they have their good and bad nights. But I'm just curious how the DDN material will sound now that the raucous energy of yore has mellowed out into sage elder-statesmanship.

I think the one thing I really notice is that there is no noise during the verses of 100% anymore. I wonder why that is.

their univox guitars got stolen.

aw. the other guitars can't be used to recreate that sound?

i see tickets are going for a handsome amount, thinking of selling mine.

i'm skeptical too....and yes, i was actually bummed by kim's less than enthusiastic going-to-the-dentist comment (and don't give me shit about it, pls!)

but i'm hoinpg they blow me away, which they probably will

yes they can have faith people c'mon at work i played sonic nurse for this guy and he was amazed asking all about them and when i told him when the album was released he nearly shat himself " are you for real?" and i was like yeaa they can pull it off they are sonic goddamnmotherfucking youth yea yea!