Review and photos by Kristie Tacey
Opening the night, Sasami came onto the stage wearing kitten heels and a white dress expressing what an honor it was to open for one of her role models in Kim Gordon. Sasami and her drummer performed seven songs across her discography, a mix of metal from her first album and her “Honeycrash” hit from the most recent album.
Following Sasami, the crowd filled in for Kim Gordon’s set. Patrons were of varying ages and gender, some clear OG fans but there were plenty of younger folks too. Gordon, formerly the bassist in Sonic Youth, is on tour in support of her new record; Play Me. As a fan of Sonic Youth, I’ve had the chance to see them on tour a handful of times, and now getting to see Gordon calling the shots felt inspiring. I had always seen her as the “cool girl” of the band, she now seems to have included some younger musicians in the touring lineup which is so refreshing.
Kim came onto the stage wearing a black sequined open-back dress and kitten heels. She just said lyrics for the first couple of songs, mainly from her current album PLAY ME, which gets frequently played on KALX. The drummer, Madi, impressed me on the drums with some cool, unique drum beats that made them appear like they were dancing. I loved the sound and watching them move. Sarah was on guitar, making it put out feedback and sound experimental in the old Sonic Youth style. Rounded out by Camilla on bass and keyboards it made it an immersive experience feeling the music. There were light patterns projected on stage, a glow in the dark cable to Kim’s guitar, along with more visual media playing on the screen behind the band. The crowd was engaged on many different sensory levels, it felt like a live art project.
Gordon did some autotune singing to one song as the band tore it up in a cacophony of experimental garage rock distortion, a departure from her usual spoken word style. It is always awesome to see performers live as they do extended versions of the song and are more in the moment. She walked the stage confidently and gracefully giving thanks to the fans who went crazy after each song. The last song had an extended rock session that culminated in feedback hitting from all instruments. Gordon had her guitar on the ground and was using her knee and shoe to make a variety of feedback sounds from the effects pedals. Everyone went crazy; clapping and hollering!
The band left the stage briefly, while the crowd continued to go wild, returning for a one song encore. This time Gordon quickly introduced the band and broke into the unreleased “Cigarette”, a favorite live, encore song. Kim sang her calm, spoken word style over the garage rock sounds of the band. It was a great show!
