Maybe I'm old and jaded, but I was a bit disappointed w/ the Arkansas show. Granted, I'm not a fan of the new album much. Unlike other albums of theirs where I was initially disappointed (it happens w/ this band, I know), this one has just never grown on me. I saw them do this material 2 years ago and I still have the same feelings of apathy towards the new music overall. And I LOVED their previous 2 albums, so maybe that has alot to do w/ my reaction to the show. There are some great tunes on RIPPED, and generally they played the best ones on the album...but none of these songs have that "epic" quality that is the Sonic signature to me, and frankly they are kind of boring live, with too many of them dragging down the set overall.
Also, being that the set clocked in at about 1 hour and 5 minutes w/ encore, it was without a doubt the shortest Sonic set I've ever seen (this was my 4th time seeing them). I'm sure another 15 or 20 minutes of older, more explosive material would have left me with a more pleasant taste in my mouth. And this was not their fault at all, as the festival coordinators just did not allow them enough time for a proper setup/soundcheck. Even Thurston commented after the first song that things sounded rather strange on stage. It seemed like it took them a while to get the sound dialed in, then poof: they were saying good night. Anyone else notice Kim get shocked on the mic during BULL in the Heather? She seemed pretty pissed....surprised no one else has commented on the technical difficulties.
Anyways, it's always great to see Sonic Youth of course - I've been a fan for over 15 years. I just still think they have not found their way after Jim leaving...it seems that Ibold is just there to let Kim sing w/o the hinderance of an instrument when need be, but besides that I don't understand what he's doing up there. It seems kind of redundant when she DOES pick up the bass because the majority of the time her and Ibold are playing the exact same thing (unlike early tortoise usage of 2 basses for instance).
I'm sure that Sonic Youth have another great album in them, but I sincerely miss Jim O'Rourke for the extra energy and extra layers of sonic mayhem that he brought to their overall live sound. The Murray St. and Sonic Nurse tours were amazing...
So here's to the Sonic Future, and a hope that one day these guys can blow my mind again in a live setting. If not, no harm/no foul - they've given us nearly 30 years of consistently good music - and they are all getting old. I don't wanna steal steam from anyone who enjoyed the show, or argue over how I must've missed something. Just wanted to voice my opinion because as of late it seems like blasphemy to criticize this band in any way. I am a true fan and always will be...
my 2 cents
