Sonic Youth
St. Petersburg, Russia
June 18, 2007

Asthmaboy
From Matrix Magazine Music

I’m in a weird-ass music hall where no doubt some old Czar or other was beheaded at some point. They are handing out free Chesterfield cigarettes. I want a Baltika 7 but the line is so long so I just smoke more. There are young men and women with fauxhawks and mullets and the fauxhawk/mullet combo, and the dreaded (and somewhat dangerous) double mullet. The fashion catastrophes of contemporary St. Petersburg are apparently all the fault of Dima Bilan, the Justin Timberlake of Russia. I have to admit, the mullet looks pretty ok on him.

The direct translation of the blurb from my ticket is: “The most influential band of all time!” The kids are mad for it. But what exactly are they mad for? Sonic Youth are in good form. They play some classics – tunes from Daydream Nation, etc. and some new songs too from Rather Ripped. I’m having a great time. My friend waits in line and hands me two Baltika 7’s. “Spasiba,” I say. “Pajolsta,” she says. And then we pogo for a while. Lee Ranaldo looks like George Peppard, Kim Gordon looks like Nancy Sinatra and Thurston Moore looks the same. I feel like I’m in high school and it feels alright. The mosh pit is a little different in Russia though. There are bayonets.

***This is taken from the Matrix Magazine Music blog***