On Friday, December 5th, three-quarters of Sonic Youth reunited for a special performance.
The event was officially billed as a duo event featuring the band’s Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo — part of a run of intimate shows from Moore at The Stone in New York. But during Friday night’s show, the pair brought out special guest Steve Shelley, and the trio proceeded to play a long, improvised noise set.
Clips of the performance are available online, showing the musicians jamming on a droning, distorted improvisation, which escalates from a low-simmering, brooding sound to a thrashing climax of guitars and cymbals. Watch fan-captured footage below.
Meanwhile, Moore’s other performances at The Stone were equally intriguing, with a number of rotating guests, including Fred Frith, Wobbly, and others. This past September, he released his latest solo album, Flow Critical Lucidity, and last year he published the autobiography, Sonic Life: A Memoir.
Last year, it was reported that Moore was suffering from a “debilitating” health condition, but he gave an interview saying that his prognosis was “very good.” In the same interview, he said a full Sonic Youth reunion is “always going to be on the table.”
As for the final quarter of Sonic Youth, though, Kim Gordon wasn’t present at the gig in New York on Friday — but she did make an on-stage appearance of her own, joining Dinosaur Jr. in Los Angeles to cover the Stooges’ 1969 classic, “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” Watch fan-uploaded videos of both sets below.
Rare convergence last night at The Stone with Thurston Moore/Steve Shelley/Lee Ranaldo zoning an hour, great set pic.twitter.com/IrrbjRp9TZ
— Brian Turner (@btrnr) December 7, 2024
The other 1/4 was playing with Dinosaur Jr in LA! pic.twitter.com/mpSRZfNSim
— Mr. Snippy Snip (@citylifejc) December 7, 2024