Number of shows played: 10 (plus 3 Arcadians gigs)
Number of Appearances in 5 Partial or Complete Set Lists:
Burning Spear 3
Cosmopolitan Girl 1
Destroyer 1
I Don't Want to Push It (Hard Work) 1
I Dreamed I Dream (Red Fern) 2
She is Not Alone 2
The Good and The Bad (Loud & Soft) 2
Unknown Noisefest #1 1
Unknown Noisefest #2 1
Unknown Noisefest #3 1
Unknown Noisefest #4 1
Though we're not much better off than we were when I initially created this site, we can now
claim to have recordings of three 1981 Sonic Youth performances, rather than the one that was
available pre-2006. The Noisefest show continues to contain 4 unique pieces with the "original"
line-up, and the deluxe "Sonic Youth" EP reissue offers a complete 7-song performance from the
Music for Millions festival, with Richard Edson, and contains some fascinating early versions of
material from the first record as well as the fabled "Destroyer" and an unexpected rendition of
CKM's "Cosmopolitan Girl". Even cooler, this show proves to be the source of 3 clips from the
legendary 'Sonic Death' cassette montage -- the opening 5 minutes are taken from "Loud and
Soft", the insane early version of "She is Not Alone" follows it, and later on side one the
middle of "Burning Spear" is sampled. Very wild to hear these samples in context. 2 songs from
the briefly drumless guitars-only trio have also surfaced, demonstrating how percussive the
guitars actually are.
Return to the Sonic Youth Concert Chronology.