February 14 2007: Sonic Youth, Wooden Wand - Academy of Music, Northampton MA

It was a snow day! School was canceled, work called and said I could sleep in and get paid anyway, and Sonic Youth were playing.

Whitney was supposed to come up and see the show but was deterred by snow. Then Adam was supposed to join me but was deterred by a combination of Valentine's day and his own inherent tendency to be deterred no matter what the day. But I talked Ben into coming at the last minute, and we enjoyed ourselves.

I don't know Sonic Youth very well, but it was fun to see them play. "Do You Believe in Rapture?" was great, as was "Teenage Riot." The set was mostly new material.

And there's not much else to say. The only other time I've seen Sonic Youth play was at Bumbershoot a few years ago, during the day at the stadium, and everyone was jumping around and Kim was dancing all over the stage, and I just assumed at the time that surely this must be her big-festival mode of conduct. But no, she was all over the stage of the little 2/3 full (due to snow) Academy of Music too.

And Wooden Wand, who I saw open for Vanderslice last year, were nice to hear again. I don't know that I'd go out and buy one of their albums brand new, but if I saw it used and was feeling impulsive I'd probably pick it up. How's that for a great lukewarm middle-of-the-road endorsement?

And, I almost ended my streak. As we're sitting in our seats waiting for the music to start, Ben says to me, "Hey, there goes J Mascis," but I didn't want to be an asshole rubbernecker. So I didn't see him. Which means that I've lived here for more than a year now and have yet to see J around town. What the fuck.

Also, Thurston Moore is really tall. I'd forgotten that.