Wall of Noise

My sense of where I am in the week has been thrown completely out of whack by: a) getting a humdinger of a cold which is stopping me sleeping properly; b) staying out late 5 nights in a row; and c) going to a gig on a Monday night.

Who plays a rock gig on a Monday night, for heaven's sake?! It's not right.

Sonic Youth, that's who.

I confess near total ignorance of the band. It's a name I dimly recognise, but I honestly don't think I'd heard any of their music until a few days ago. I don't think they ever really appeared on the radar in the UK, not in any kind of 'mainstream' way. And I wasn't paying a great deal of attention to the popular music scene in the late '80s, early '90s anyway. However, I was aware that they were considered 'important', 'influential', 'ground-breaking'. This was touted as the biggest gig of the year here in Beijing, so I couldn't afford to miss it. And there were personal reasons for supporting the show too, in that the American promoter is part of our drinking set, an old friend of The Choirboy's (that's how we were able to get tix after the Box Office purported to be sold out - ah, it's great to be 'connected'!).

However, after shelling out more money for one show than I'd usually spend in months of ardent gig-going (more money, indeed, than I would often spend on a gig back in the UK), I was fretting rather that my attendance was motivated more by an obscure sense of obligation, or at best by mere curiosity, rather than any active enthusiasm, and that I might consequently end up disappointed. I therefore tweaked my expectations down a few notches to try to guard against 'gig-goer's remorse', and it seems to have worked.

To be honest, though, they're not quite my cup of tea. I really don't think they're a great band: definitely interesting more than entertaining. The sound levels weren't carrying the vocals over the music, but from what I've gathered during some Internet research over the preceding weekend, lyrics are not their strong point. Neither is singing: most of the band members take on the vocals at some point, but none of them is really very good. They're not big on tunes either: all the pieces are the same tempo, but determinedly unconventional in structure, with protracted instrumental interludes. These guys are notorious for their unconventional guitar tunings, and the unconventional techniques they use to torture ever weirder sounds out of the instruments. I have an abnormally high tolerance for this sort of thing, since I am almost endlessly curious myself about the sonic possibilities of the guitar (and often do much the same kind of experimental noodling on my own axe when I come home late and drunk). However, with these guys, I wonder if they're not taking it too far, if it's not mostly about the defiant pursuit of being "uncommercial" rather than achieving anything musically worthwhile. I mean, using a drumstick as a slide - why?? And, much as I love caterwauling feedback, some of these yowling soundscapes did go on a bit, did seem rather too formless, too pointless.

It's certainly not the kind of stuff you go home humming, anyway.

Oh yes, and while I'm slagging them off - what a naff name! It sounds like a bad DC Comics strip, the geeky teen superhero who uses ultrasonic weapons (or perhaps an ear-splitting whine of "It's so unfair!") to vanquish his enemies. Bands, I think, ought never to incorporate the word 'youth' into their name - especially if they aspire to be still knocking around when they're approaching 50. It's just embarrassingly incongruous.

Having said all that, though, it was still a great night out. The venue was packed, the crowd was enthusiastic, the music was up-tempo, high energy stuff.... and they can play the arse out of their instruments.

I absolutely love the live music experience in just about any and all forms - even if it's not 'my kind of music'. And this will almost certainly be the biggest, most important gig of the year in this city, whether I liked the music or not.