Sonic Youth/Flaming Lips

I had the fortune to be able to see these two bands the weekend before my knee surgery. Adrian and Jim Mckittrick accompanied me to the Pageant in St. Louis. This club is in U-City, near the Washington University campus. This is where you find Cicero's, Blueberry Hill/The Duckroom, Vintage Vinyl.

The Magic Numbers opened the show. I'd seen them on Conan or Dave and thought they were intriguing. I believe they are a British band with siblings in the band. Kind of groovy, but a little out of place on this bill. An all ages show, alot of the kids new this band and even the words.

Sonic Youth played a 1 hour set that was wonderful. They opened with Candle from Daydream Nation. A nice surprise. Jim & Adrian really didn't know what to expect. The level of musicianship in this band is astonishing. I guess being together for 25 years helps. Pattern Recognition from Sonic Nurse turned out to be the show stopper; a 20 minute, feed back extravaganza. This included Thurston going into the crowd and handing over his guitar to the lucky ones up front. It nearly made its way back to us, about 2/3 way back in the center of the floor. Jim was mesmerized by Kim Gordon. Mark Ibold, from Pavement, played 2nd bass. Kim either played bass or 3rd guitar. They also played Catholic Block from Sister which really sent me on a time warp. Sister is the first SY lp that I bought. I think I have every one since. I couldn't think of a better 'opening' act.

At the end of the set, Thurston announced the Flaming Lips by saying, "what you are about to see is going to blow your mind off."

He was right. Now I've seen this basic show from the lips 3 times before, all in theaters. I wondered what they were going to do in this smallish club. (2,000 with balcony I heard) Guess what, they didn't change a thing. We got the full show, up close and personal.

Being on the floor in the middle of 2 giant confetti cannons firing almost non-stop, 100's of 3 ft wide balloons floating through the air, flashing lights, smoke machines, and of course dancing alien females and dancing Santa's, and of course Wayne leading it all like a pied piper of psychedelia. One really can't explain the scene that is set. I think they have filmed this at the Hollywood Bowl for release on dvd. I told Jim that the best effect would be to point the camera's at the crowd the entire time since they are so involved. I've never been to a show where the crowd was more into it. Every song the crowd sang the lyrics at the top of their lungs. Wayne and Steven were both in awe of the crowd's enthusiasm. Wayne said it seemed just like a 10,000 seat arena.

To top it all off, for the final encore, they played War Pigs, full-on, no gimmicks. They place went crazy. I didn't know how Sonic Youth's perfect set could be topped, but I think it was by the end of the Lips, mostly due to the crowd's adoration for this great band.