2.5/5

Legendary Sonic Youth’s second visit to Russia’s capital was cause for major excitement among Moscow’s youth, to say the least. To be fair, the 150 foot lineup outside one of the city’s most popular venues, B1 MAXIMUM, was not only made up of hipster youth, but middle-aged musos who, unlike the youngsters surrounding them, remember rocking out to “Bad Moon Rising” during Sonic Youth’s heyday. Today’s crowd, however, seemed to lack that raw rock spark that Sonic Youth embody, and the procession resembled a TopShop catalogue of girls and boys challenging one another on the tightness of their skinny jeans and color of their trilby hat.

Once inside, the wait for the support act wasn’t long. The majority of the crowd had missed out on the opener, Moi Rackety Vverh (translation: My Rockets Upwards) due to the never-ending wait in line, but were faced with the second support of the night: Nochnoy Prospekt (translation: Nighttime Prospect). It was hard to tell whether this duo of aging (and yes, balding) men, with their desperate attempt at the unpredictable and avant-garde, amused or excited their audience. In any case, it was quite obvious by the sporadic taunts and jeers that many were unimpressed by the distorted ambient-inspired sound effects and the inaudible violin.

Sonic Youth finally hit the stage, fired up their guitar riffs and almost instantly the crowd began to form mosh pits wherever they could, catching the innocent bystanders in their waves of jumps and hollers. The band treated their fans to old classics such as “Kool Thing” as well as more recent tunes such as “Turquoise Boy” with “Bad Moon Rising” hits accompanied by a large projection of a haunting full moon on the wall behind the band. Despite the lack of communication between the members and the audience, save for a few words from Thurston, no one seemed to be disappointed, and happily sang along to Kim and Thurston’s lyrics. For some, however, the band’s distance and indifference to the audience may have been off-putting, and Kim’s near silence and stony face came off as boredom or arrogance. It seemed as if the band were almost too aware that they are playing a gig. Thurston’s few words to the audience were insincere and accompanied by a forced smile; Kim’s dancing wasn’t that of a woman possessed by rock riffs and drum beats, but rather that of a woman aware of putting on a show and feigning fun – she twists and shouts, but not once did her face show the slightest hint of satisfaction or interest in audience reaction. Lee was the only one on stage who seemed to be genuinely having a good time, although his onstage antics such as playing the guitar by repeatedly banging the neck with a teddy bear were less wild and entertaining, and more tiring. As for Lee’s singing, he had energy, but dare I say it? Age may be getting in the way of Sonic “Youth” projecting their raw energy and lyrics to their young fans.