too soon
― media conglomerates are pedaling the same product (stevie), Thursday, 30 May 2013 15:39 (ten years ago) link
I always thought Gillian Welch kind of ripped off Western Hero/Train of Love for Nowhere Man and the Whiskey Girl. #stufffewerthanthreepeopleonILMwillcareabout
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 30 May 2013 15:41 (ten years ago) link
In the Kim Gordon feature in the latest New Yorker (available online only for subscribers right now) she expresses her unhappiness with the tour when Sonic Youth and Social Distortion opened for Neil Young. The author Alex Halberstadt, says he recalls watching Neil Yong fans boo and scream insults at Sonic Youth at the Ohio stop on the tour. Gordon recalls the sound people turning down the volume on Sonic Youth and says Young's crew were disrespectful.
I saw the Washington DC area gig on that tour and most Neil Young fans just went to the concourse to buy stuff during Sonic Youth or sat there confused. I don't recall heckling.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 30 May 2013 18:55 (ten years ago) link
Neil Young fans too
Gordon recalls the sound people turning down the volume on Sonic Youth and says Young's crew were disrespectful.
Yep. That anecdote's recounted in Shakey too.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 May 2013 18:57 (ten years ago) link
I told this story on another thread, but when I saw the tour (Rosemont Horizon, outside Chicago), Sonic Youth were greeted with a few scattered boos that vanished by the end of their set. An older guy next to me said, "You like this stuff?!" I said, "Sure, it's just faster Crazy Horse!" He said, "Hmmm...ok, I can see that."
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:09 (ten years ago) link
Was there really that much musical difference between NY and Sonic Youth in the 90s though? Why the OTT hate? Were these gigs attended by a bunch of Harvest nostalgics?
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:12 (ten years ago) link
I remember the audience ranging from about late 30s to early 50s, and the hall (a 12,000-seat basketball arena) was half-full.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:14 (ten years ago) link
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 30 May 2013 18:55 (19 minutes ago) Permalink
yeah well, washington dc
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:15 (ten years ago) link
if the audience shots from the Weld video prove anything, neil young has a very wide audience base -- even dudes who love his loudest stuff might find sonic youth overly abrasive.
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:16 (ten years ago) link
I don't really get how people don't see huge differences between crazy horse and sonic youth
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:20 (ten years ago) link
As I recall, only college radio geeks and future ilxors were listening to both Neil Young and Sonic Youth at that time.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-02-22/entertainment/1991053124_1_sonic-youth-neil-young-audience
In 1991 Gordon said for this article:
And then the Young fans get it?
Well, not quite. "I think it's more like the guys with mustaches and beards going, 'Well, it's weird, but I like it,'" says Gordon
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:23 (ten years ago) link
Many Neil Young fans probably didn't approve of screwdrivers being used for things other than driving screws.
― Mr. Mojo Readin' (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:24 (ten years ago) link
"I think it's more like the guys with mustaches and beards going, 'Well, it's weird, but I like it'"kinda sums up 80% of sonic youth's audience also, doesn't it? i dunno, even if neil had taken dino jr out on the weld tour -- arguably a more classic rock band -- some of his fans would've booed.
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:27 (ten years ago) link
Were people really that compartmentalized in terms of what they listened to, even in the 90s?
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:32 (ten years ago) link
I think you're missing the obvious generational distinction implied here.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:33 (ten years ago) link
heh, probably.
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:37 (ten years ago) link
I know age 50 something Neil Young fans today who don't listen to Sonic Youth and never did. They looked confused watching Patti Smith open for Neil on this recent tour. Yes people, there are rock fans who never embraced indie/alternative/whatever.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:37 (ten years ago) link
tbf, it's taken my dad literally 30 years to come around to the idea of the Smiths. then again, he apparently dug the VU back when they first came out, so I don't know how that works out...
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:39 (ten years ago) link
FWIW, SY got a worse response (but not booed off the stage or anything) when they opened for Public Enemy the month before.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:39 (ten years ago) link
and curmudgeon, are they fans of the more laid-back country rock style or do they embrace the hard/distortion albums too?
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:40 (ten years ago) link
I would assume the vast majority of people at NY shows were older fans, in spite of the "godfather of grunge" rebranding that was going on at the time.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:42 (ten years ago) link
at 90s NY shows
That "godfather of grunge" thing hadn't happened yet; this tour was pre-Nevermind.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:43 (ten years ago) link
Don't know why it was a surprise to me that SY and PE toured together when Chuck D guested on "Kool Thing."
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:46 (ten years ago) link
the first time i saw neil the openers were stone temple pilots and blind melon. boooooooooo!
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:46 (ten years ago) link
Los Lobos are opening at the show we're going to see. can't express an opinion one way or the other.
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:47 (ten years ago) link
xp they didn't tour together, just did the one show (and Chuck D didn't join them on "Kool Thing," weirdly). It was immediately pre-Gulf War, and there was a demonstration on the street right after the show that the cops tried to shut down. John Cusack wrote about it in the Sun-Times the next day.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:51 (ten years ago) link
Ah, that explains why I haven't heard of this (non-existent) tour.
Reading about Sleeps with Angels and it talks about how Neil tried to contact Kurt Cobain before he died.
I wonder what would have come of a possible Young-Cobain collaboration?
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:58 (ten years ago) link
^^^^^ this. the camera captures many cosby sweater-wearing yuppies in the crowd.
― media conglomerates are pedaling the same product (stevie), Thursday, 30 May 2013 19:59 (ten years ago) link
I see much more of a connection between NY and Nirvanna than I do btw NY and SY.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:00 (ten years ago) link
I wonder what would have come of a possible Young-Cobain collaboration?it would've been called On The Bleach that is for sure
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:00 (ten years ago) link
hahaha
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:02 (ten years ago) link
I saw this tour in Mpls and I don't recall the crowd being disrespectful (in fact I seem recall a handful of SY fans up front), mostly just ignoring them. I mean the place probably wasn't even half-full when they started. Of course, we had just sat through Social Distortion who were really awful, so SY by comparison might have seemed like aural balm to even the most hardened classic rocker.
But, Gordon was having issues with her gear & I vividly recall her walking offstage several times and it seemed like she was having words with who ever was running stage sound. I had only been to a handful of concerts at that point and never seen anything like it, it all seemed very tense onstage. Eventually she stormed off & the set was cut short. They were pretty great when they were playing.
― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:04 (ten years ago) link
hahaha @ on the bleachi can hear neil chiming in to sing polly and then segueing into a 30 min down by the river mega jam
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:09 (ten years ago) link
with bonus murder ~subtext~
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:10 (ten years ago) link
then there would be a _____blues medley and kurt would sing the part about going to the interviewnot sure how i feel about this tbh
― free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:22 (ten years ago) link
The Capital Centre was huge -- where I sat at the Weld show, I saw old druggie hippies into SY and non-ironic trucker cao wearing folks screaming at them to get off. Everybody (but me) loved Social Distortion, though.
― Three Word Username, Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:24 (ten years ago) link
Ugh, fucking Social Distortion were interminable.
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:26 (ten years ago) link
I saw the tour in Philly and no one was booing Sonic Youth. There were hippies twirling, sure, but I don't recall any booing. Really broad crowd: yuppies, bikers, hippies, scuzzy punk kids ...
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:27 (ten years ago) link
I really fucking hate Social Distortion, like I don't get what their appeal is to anyone
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:28 (ten years ago) link
is the weld tour the only time neil's done an entirely electric set? not sure i can think of any other tour where there weren't at least a handful of acoustic numbers...
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:29 (ten years ago) link
Good question. When even "Blowin' in the Wind" is electric, you know they're committed.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:30 (ten years ago) link
I was thinking maybe the '86 Rusted Out Garage tour was all-electric, but then I see by the setlists that they did "After the Gold Rush" and "Heart of Gold" (unless those were electric, in which case, wow).
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:42 (ten years ago) link
yeah afaik, on that tour, he'd do a few of the acoustic hits. maybe some of the blue notes gigs were all electric, though i don't know if that really counts.
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:43 (ten years ago) link
Looks like Arc/Weld was recorded on that early '91 tour.
― The End**^ (Eazy), Thursday, 30 May 2013 20:53 (ten years ago) link
Certainly claiming that Sonic Youth made midwesterners 'boo' them adds to their brand of being provocative punk rockers.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 30 May 2013 21:35 (ten years ago) link
maybe, although it also kind of contributes to their image as an effete, coastal band. Punk has a strong working class strain.
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, 30 May 2013 21:38 (ten years ago) link
it worked out ok for everyone, neil young got to look cool to rock critics, sonic youth got to have a brush w/ mainstream america, social d got to continue sucking.
― tylerw, Thursday, 30 May 2013 21:42 (ten years ago) link
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Thursday, May 30, 2013 8:28 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Yes you do.
Once upon a time pre-91 they were part of the LA punk scene and so some folks liked 'em for that; they also had a Stones/roots/country aspect to their sound so that appealed to others, and later they got on commercial rock radio which made them appealing to some, even if most of us hated how they did it and hated the singer's mannerisms. I liked 'em circa '82 and got tired of 'em later, and understand you not liking 'em at all, but c'mon, compared to much of the rock on the radio they were arguably more interesting (while that alone should not have gotten them a slot on a Neil Young tour it does explain that some folks like them). I don't like PearlJam btw.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 30 May 2013 21:50 (ten years ago) link