sonic youth concert chronology // the early years
 
For the most part, these dates have no bearing on Sonic Youth, although the original line-up of Male Bonding/Red Milk/The Arcadians basically morphed into Sonic Youth by May 1981. Former Coachmen drummer Dave Keay left the band before Thurston settled on the Sonic Youth name, and Ann DeMarinis soon followed. It's possible that some (or all) of the Noisefest pieces were Arcadians tunes taught to Richard Edson when he first joined, but once Lee arrived they immediately started working on the first true "Sonic Youth" originals.

 

??/??/7?  	Ann Arbor, MI  		Ann Arbor Film Festival 
05/01/79  	NYC, NY  		CBGB's (Coachmen)
??/??/79  	NYC, NY  		Botany Talk House (Several Coachmen shows there)
??/??/79  	NYC, NY  		Jenny Holzer's Loft (Coachmen)
??/??/79  	NYC, NY  		Maxwell's Kansas City (Coachmen)
??/??/79 	NYC, NY			A's (Many Coachmen gigs there)
09/11/79	NYC, NY			Max's Kansas City (Fluks)
12/04/79	NYC, NY			Max's Kansas City (Fluks)
12/31/79  	NYC, NY  		A's (Coachmen)
01/27/80  	NYC, NY  		CBGB's (Flucts + Coachmen)
01/28/80	NYC, NY			Max's Kansas City (Fluks)
??/??/80  	NYC, NY  		Plugg Club (Coachmen)
??/??/80  	Boston, MA  		Massachusetts College of Art (CKM)
09/17/80  	NYC, NY  		Tier 3 (Rhys Chatham show w. Lee)
12/04/80	Valencia, CA		Calfornia Institute of Arts (2pm + 9pm shows) (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/05/80	Berkeley, CA		Berkeley Square (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/06/80  	San Francisco, CA  	? (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/07/80  	San Francisco, CA  	? (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/09/80	Atlanta, GA		688 (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/10/80	Cincinnati, OH		Bogart's (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/11/80	Buffalo, NY		Hallwells Gallery (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/12/80  	Toronto, ON  		Cabana Room @ Spadina Hotel (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/13/80  	Toronto, ON  		Cabana Room @ Spadina Hotel (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/14/80  	Minneapolis, MN  	Walker Art Center (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/15/80  	Chicago, IL  		? (Branca Ascension Tour w/ Lee)
12/17/80  	NYC, NY  		A's (Red Milk)
01/14/81  	NYC, NY  		CBGB's (Arcadians)
01/20/81  	NYC, NY  		Inroads (Arcadians)
02/06/81	NYC, NY			Inroads (Plus Instruments)
02/17/81	NYC, NY			Blitz (Plus Instruments w/ Pylon)
02/18/81	NYC, NY			Club 57 (Plus Instruments w/ Ut)
03/81 - Lee tours Europe w/ Branca's Ascension band
03/81 - 04/81 - Lee tours Europe w/ Plus Instruments
03/11/81  	NYC, NY  		CBGB's (Arcadians)
06/09/81  	NYC, NY  		Inroads (Arcadians)
06/17/81  	NYC, NY 		White Columns (Lee w. David Linton @ Noisefest)
06/20/81  	NYC, NY  		White Columns (Lee w. Branca @ Noisefest)