Sonic Youth is one of the most influential and polemic musical acts in the alternative music scene. Lee, Thurston, Steve, and Kim aumented by ex-Pavement bassist Mark Ibold, appeared in Denver Friday in support of their acclaimed 16th studio release The Eternal [Matador].  SY performed  to a sold out venue (which included Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper) with nearly two hours of new material, selected favorites from their extensive back catalogue, and improvised noise epics. Highlights of the evening include an unexpected rendition of ‘Death Valley 69′ from the 1985 album ‘Bad Moon Rising’ at the end of their second encore, four tracks from their classic release ‘Daydream Nation’, and a whispered sparse acoustic  rendition of ‘Massage the History’.

Detroit power trio Awesome Color opened the evening with a raucous set of Stooges-esque rock abounding in extended guitar noise, tribal pulsating drums, and controlled feedback. Awesome Color’s guitarist ended their set much in the same manner as Big Black-era Steve Albini, proceeding to break all six strings on his weathered telecaster with a furious and unrelenting plectrum.

Anti Orgasm July 31, 2009

*Setlist:
Stereo Sanctity [Sister]
No Way [The Eternal]
Sacred Trickster [The Eternal]
Calming the Snake [The Eternal]
Hey Joni [Daydream Nation]
Anti-Orgasm [The Eternal]
Poison Arrow [The Eternal]
Walkin Blue [The Eternal]
Malibu Gas Station [The Eternal]
Silver Rocket [Daydream Nation]
Antenna [The Eternal]
Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso) [The Eternal]
Massage the History [The Eternal]
Encore 1:
The Sprawl [Daydream Nation]
Cross the Breeze [Daydream Nation]
Encore 2:
What We Know [The Eternal]
Death Valley ’69 [Bad Moon Rising]
*Colorado Daily