Sonic Youth at Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza took place once again at Grant Park this year and featured 130 acts on 8 different stages spread over 69 acres. I arrived a little after three in the afternoon, grabbed a couple beers and made a beeline to the Bud Light stage where Sonic Youth was scheduled to perform at 4:30. When I arrived at the stage I was pleasantly surprised to find a relatively sparse crowd gathered. The reason for this, as I later found out, was because Gnarls Barkley, currently riding high on the charts with their smash hit "Crazy", were due to peform on another stage at the same time, thereby splitting the crowd. I quickly planted myself as close to the stage as possible and began downing my beers as I anxiously awaited Sonic Youth's appearance and the crowd began to fill up behind me. At approximately 4:30 they hit the stage to a rousing applause. We were greeted by a red hot burst of noise from Thurston Moore's guitar. He shouted "INCINERATE" into the mic and the band launched into said song, the catchy single from their new album, "Rather Ripped". What followed was an hour's worth of earnest, achingly beautiful, gloriously ragged, downright transcendent rock n' roll. In short, typical Sonic Youth! Most of the set was comprised of selections from "Rather Ripped" along with a handful of gems from their back catalogue. Highlights of the set included the chiming guitars and bittersweet beauty of "Schizophrenia" (the opening track from 1987's "Sister" and one of my all time favorite Sonic Youth songs) and an absolutely rauccous take on "Brother James" (from 1983's "Kill Yr. Idols"). Propelled by Steve Shelley's incessant drumming the band was in fine form throughout the hour long set. As always, Kim Gordon was often the center of attention as she oozed her trademark brand of impassioned cool and sex appeal. The band was joined by ex-Pavement member Mark Ibold on bass, enabling Kim to concentrate on her lead vocals and quirky dance moves. As can be seen from my pics I was standing on Thurston's side of the stage making it kinda hard to hear Lee Ranaldo's guitar at times. He took the lead vocal for two songs, a rip roarin' rendition of "Eric's Trip" (from 1988's "Daydream Nation") which he dedicated, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, "to all you Bud Light drinkers", and his "Rather Ripped" track, "Rats". After ending the set proper with "Brother James" the band returned minus Mark Ibold for one encore, the mezmorizing "Shaking Hell" (from 1983's "Confusion Is Sex").