And sure, we were only talking about Kim Gordon earlier on…. Sonic Youth play Dublin’s Vicar Street on December 6, their first gig here since Electric Picnic 2006. Tickets for this POD joint are €48.50 and €42.50 a pop and go on sale on Friday, which happens to be the day the band’s new album “The Eternal” is released.
Saw this coming a mile off. You see, I’ve been saying “I’m really not feeling Sonic Youth these days” ever since that Jools show, which naturally means they’re going to be amazing and I’ll be out in the cold. Well, it’s scheduled for December after all…
Comment by Naomigreat news. why would POD not have it Tripod tho? Aiken must be involved I suppose.
Comment by JCWOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Comment by LoreanaLiam - Old age is great because you can remember, like I can, seeing SY playing in McGonagles a hundred years ago. Always a fantastic live band -did anyone see the Thurston Moore solo shows a while back?
Naomi - Always the way
JC - No, a solo POD gig, I’m told. Maybe Tripod is already booked or Vicar St has a bigger capacity (and it is, after all, a better venue)
Loreanna - Indeed!
Comment by Jim CarrollUnrelated, but DeVotchKa are playing Spring & Airbrake (August 9th) and Crawdaddy (August 10th) too.
I cannot believe it’s been 4 years since Sonic Youth played Marlay Park with Chemical Brothers - what a weird pairing that was.
Comment by LaurenLauren - that was probably as weird as the time Secret Machines supported the Chemicals in the Point and went onstage before the doors opened!
You don’t have to be mad to be a promoter….but it helps
Comment by Jim CarrollProbably did themselves a favour there, considering their last album
Comment by LaurenOooooooh, get her!
Comment by Jim CarrollDon’t mind me, I’m just upset that Bonehead has cancelled his DJ set at The Academy.
Comment by LaurenBe finally great to see their own show after their Sunstroke (remember that wha!) and EP adventures.
Comment by BrianHard to believe but true. My missus fell asleep sitting in the front row middle seats of a Sonic Youth gig about 10 years ago.
Admittedly the band probably thought she was wasted (even though she was sober) but the shame….
Comment by James DLauren - you can always make up for your disappointment at Slane, right?
Brian - that was a great bill. Faith No More, Sonic Youth, Belly, Sugar and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy.
James D - I’m sure there are some far more embarrasing nodding-off incidents.
Comment by Jim CarrollAh yeah, the days of throwing a naggin of vodka into the bottle of coke for the bus to the big schmoke.
Comment by BrianA friend of mine fell asleep in the pit during Primal Scream at Witnness many moons ago.
Comment by Joe@13 AND The Golden Horde, Jim! Wasn’t there a Mexican band on the bill too? Maledita Vecindad or something like that. RHCP was originally lined up to be Sunstroke headliners but pulled out for some reason that I have long, long forgotten.
Sunstroke was my first SY live experience. Nearly lost it when they played Stereo Sanctity.
Anyway I’m bummed to be missing Vicar Street, but I’ll see them at ATP the same weekend. Would be great if MBV and Fucked Up (also playing ATP that w/e) lined up Dublin gigs around that time but NOT coinciding with ATP 
Brian/Jim - ah my first big festival day out. Initially, I was so disappointed the Chili Peppers had pulled out but then they replaced them with Faith No More. What a day, what a line up. I remember Michael Franti signing my LA Raiders cap but giving out that the team are supposed to be called Oakland Raiders instead of Los Angeles Raiders. Good times.
Helmet also played that day as far as I can remember, or maybe they played the year after.
Fiona - I must have got there late! Those Sunstroke gigs had some decent line-ups
P&M - Helmet played 1994 with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Therapy?, Ice Cube, Frank Black, Terrorvision and My Little Funhouse. Now, that’s a line-up! I think Soundgarden were supposed to play as well
Comment by Jim CarrollDid Sugar not play on the FNM line-up too? It was around the release of Beaster and the audience were truly horrified that it didn’t all chime. Bob did his usual no break between songs things.
The FNM year was great. I remember a female friend spotting Mike Patton just sitting on the ground near the back stage area. She asked him what he was doing to which he replied ‘READING!’ and proceeded to ignore her till she left. What a guy!
Comment by James DYeah that’s right. Because Chris Cornell’s voice went or something like that. They came back to headline the following year when they moved it to the RDS.
I can’t even recall Ice Cube at that ‘94 gig at all.
James D - You are bang on. Also, why do I have a list with Hole, Lemonheads and Rollins on it for Sunstroke 1994? Did they also play? Or is this (another) figment of my imagination?
P&M - he arrived with a few lads from the Nation of Islam as his security detail. First time they saw that kind of thing at Dalymount Park since Finn Harps were in town
Comment by Jim Carrolli remember sitting on the wall outside the top hat drinking cans of cheap cider waiting for the shite support band to finish. six months later…..
Comment by johnAh, it’s the OTR nostagla thread…..
Anyone else here remember the awesome Tom Tom Club gig at McGonagles?
Comment by Jim CarrollAfraid it must be a figment of your imagination, Jim. Perhaps you’re looking at the Sunstroke ‘94 “rumours” list!
Comment by P&MP&M - if only we had the internet back then…..
I don’t remember the Tom Tom Club at McGonagles but i do remember the Manics in their ‘clash’ days circa the first album. Were they the last band to play there?
The people were really friendly in McGs but the physical place itself was so scummy. No effort put into the maintenance of the place.
My brain is getting a bit muddled…I may be wrong here but I was sure that Disposable Heroes played support to U2 (remember all that Television stuff from Zoo TV?) and not Sunstroke. I do remember sitting in the stands watching Ice Cube just before Sonic Youth came on…am I going mental?
Comment by James DJames D - I don’t know about the Manics in McGonagles but I do remember them playing a Saturday afternoon gig in their very early days in a venue called Charlies which used to be on Aungier Street (there’s a bar called Capitol there now). I think the gig was a Hope Promotions gig
McGonagles - a friend of mine always refered to it as Evil Santa’s Grotto and that sums it up for me
I remember seeing the Disposable Heroes a lot that summer in Dublin and London - great live band.
Comment by Jim CarrollJEEZ I remember Charlies! The crowd who went in there were very scary (well to a sheltered 18 y.o. northsider lad)
I do remember Sunstroke quite fondly. The year the Chilli Peppers played was massive. Dave Navarro on guitar and they were probably the loudest thing I’ve ever heard. My ears were shot for two days. This was in the days after lighters but before mobile phones/digital cameras. We had to entertain ourselves somehow…
They made the audience take their tops off and swing them around their heads. It looked better than it sound.
Comment by James Ddid anyone see the Thurston Moore solo shows a while back?
Yeah, the one in Tripod was only okay, Liars were playing Whelan’s the same night and U:Mack got it sorted that Liars would go on after 10:30 so people could catch both if they wanted, later gig was far better I thought.
Worst thing about the Thurston Moore gig though was the support, Heather Leigh Murray, dreadful noise wailing. She’s one of the main reasons why I might not make the trip up to Northern Ireland to see Jandek as apparently she’ll be in his band.
Still haven’t heard the new SY album but I thought they were great at Primavera a couple of weeks ago.
Comment by IanCan’t wait for this. Anyone remember sonic youth in the top hat dun laoghaire 91?
Comment by cdJames D - The crowd who went in there were very scary (well to a sheltered 18 y.o. northsider lad)
Ah, it was a great kip altogether
Ian - They were one of the acts I really wanted to see at Primavera but I wasn’t around on the Saturday to see them. I can make amends in December
CD - see
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2007/08/21/smells-like-top-hat-spirit/
great news this sy gig… iand they are playing on my 35th birthday… joy indeed..
the thurston moore gig was pretty sweet in spite the fact they had dreadful amplification problems and none of thurstons gear ended up at dublin airport…
liars was great that night.. i really hope there is some class support act for sy (not that it really matters)…
Comment by paul bogganPaul - No idea who will be supporting SY yet. Maybe someone else ATP-bound?
Neill - Black Box, Belfast, July 21 http://www.last.fm/event/1078942
Comment by Jim CarrollI have every gig ticket I’ve ever been to at home.
the sunstroke 93 one tho was real nice, as it was pre generic ticketmaster tix and had the RHCP logo on it, twas my first outdoor gig
FNM were a very late replacement
that Manics Charlie’s gig was a latenite gig not an all-ages afternoon gig unfortunately - take it from this 15 year old who got blanked at the door for being too young.
apparently half the people there were only there to abuse them - this was back when Manics were mad bad and dangerous
Comment by DeekoSunstroke 93! That was one of my first ever gigs/festivals. What a line-up. I was a fan of every single band on the bill especially Sugar, Sonic Youth and FNM. I remember Thurston dangling his guitar over the front of the stage and the security guys looking up at him with a confused look on their faces. Sugar were great. After their set, Bob Mould was walking around by himself in the crowd, chatted to him briefly and got his autograph. The guy in Disposable Heroes who is not Michael Franti was milling about too. Funniest moment was when a crowd of people gathered around a slim, youngish looking woman with blonde hair, big sunglasses and an American accent. Everyone thought it was Kim Gordon but it was actually the bass-player from Belly!
Comment by QuintThe Faith No More gig in Dalymount had them, Sonic Youth–Dirty era, Belly (Tanya Donnelly couldn’t hold a note but was sexy), Sugar, who, as was noted played half of Beaster and annoyed lots of people (Bob wasn’t as sexy as Tanya), Michael Franti’s Disposable Heroes of Hiphopracy, who had an angle grinder on stage for no apparent reason and the Golden Horde, whom I missed. The backstage was so bad that the bands hung out at the sounddesk and chatted to whomever wished to do that. Faith No More were patchy and I remember being a little annoyed about how little Uth I recognised. There was no Ice Cube (message 26) and I got a free ticket with the Irish Times.
Sonic Uth’s setlist, courtesy of the Sonicology, was:
Cotton Crown
Bull in the Heather
In the Mind of The Bourgeois Reader
PCH
Skink
Starfield Road
Candle
Stereo Sanctity
Secret Girl
Flower
Drunken Butterfly
Theresa’s Soundworld
Self-Obsessed & Sexxee
Tokyo Eye
and the gig happened on June 27th, 1993.
Deeko - you sure about that? Did they not do two gigs - an afternoon show and an evening show? I really wish I’d written all this down at the time - internet is no good for such recalls
Quint - ah, we were all so innocent then. Now, no-one would watch the bands because they’d be tweeting about it
Lar - got a free ticket with the Irish Times.
Even back then, we were doing it for the kids
Comment by Jim Carrolltickets have been rooted out, friends emailed/texted. i saw SY in :
mcgonagles
top hat
sunstroke
olympia
electric picnic
does i gets a prize ? (not for grammar)
Cheers Lar for that clarification - I can’t believe all these events have run into each other in my mind.
I’m guessing Ice Cube must have been the subsequent year with the RHCPs. He was so brutal. Audience would have been forgiven for collectively looking the wrong direction.
It’s funny how gigs have changed over the years eg Midnight At The Olympia. This used to be a great opportunity to change top notch acts but no more. Equally the Tivoli used to have some great late shows.
Ah nostalgia, it’s not like it used to be…
Comment by James DMidnight at the Olympia - ooooh Mary Margaret O’Hara played that bizarre Irish ritual, the same night she was thrown off The Late Late Show because they didn’t like her quirky dancing
This nostalgia thing is keeping me from doing work
Comment by Jim CarrollTony St. James at Midnight at the Olympia–he led a conga line into the girls’ toilets.
Classy.
My favourite Midnight at the Olympia was the Super Furry Animal/Grandaddy double bill in, what 1997? /nostalgia
Comment by FionaTony St. James at Midnight at the Olympia–he led a conga line into the girls’ toilets
Oh no, this is going to be a can of worms
Comment by Jim CarrollIt’d be nice if someone ran another shindig at Dalymount, cider and dinner from the Golden Chip, it’d be special. Wonder if they’re still going to knock it given the slump?
SY at Primavera were indeed good, expect some back catalog digging. Is the Eternal out this week?
Comment by Major Alfonsocube was defo 94
Comment by OCHave double-checked with Cube HQ and he was in Dublin 7 in 1994.
Comment by Jim CarrollAh, nostalgia… I gave my ticket stub for the SY/Nirvana tophat gig to a 14-year-old cousin, who now has it in a frame on his wall. My main memory of that show was standing next to Mr Novoselic after he’d come off stage to watch SY - and he really, really reeked. Rock’n'roll etc.
Was just talking about McGonagles the other day, the consensus was if you opened a venue that only sold Black Tower by the bottle or cans of sparkling Perry it’d probably be overrun by trendies in 5 mins (shebeen chic etc).
Enough waffle - can’t wait for the Vicar St show, now where did I leave my stripy jumper, beads and desert boots?
Comment by Insider TradingNeill@ 33:
4 NI dates, including Larne of all places …
Sunday, July 19, 2009
City: Larne
Venue: Older Fleet
Monday, July 20, 2009
City: Bangor
Venue: The Black Boat
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
City: Belfast
Venue: Black Box
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
City: Londonderry
Venue: The Mason
I think I was at that Super Furries/Grandaddy gig in 97 as well. I also remember going to see the Lo-Fidelity Allstars (big beat was great for about 5 minutes back then) but the bastards never showed up.
It was always an odd crowd though, because plenty of folk just paid in to keep drinking once the pubs had closed (11.30, remember?)
Comment by Noise AnnoysMy first ever gig was actually a midnight at the olympia - They Might Be Giants! Just the two Johns and they really really rocked the place. They had to close the front row on the balcony off for safety reasons. Mad bizness.
The two lads eventually signed stuff in the lobby afterwards but I think it was more as a result of taking the wrong door backstage.
Also remember a cracker of a show with Evan Dando who ended up trying to pick a fight with some poor guy who obviously looked wrong at Evan. It was real ‘i’ve got a backstage pass for you buddy, come and get it’ sorta threat….
Comment by James DKim Deal is 56!!!!!!!!!
Comment by QuintErm, I meant Kim Gordon is 56!! Those legendary Kims, easy to get mixed up.
Comment by QuintI think I went nostalgic on McGonagles and Babes in Toyland gigs in Charlies in too much detail before.
All these references to Jandek. His whole enigmatic no photos/no name thing is quite endearing until you hear the music which is terrible. Different strokes etc. etc.
It would be great if a Jesus Lizard gig was announced…..
Comment by overfriendly conciergeJim@ 34 and Ian@50 - cheers for that.
I quite literally CANNOT BELIEVE that Jandek is playing Larne. That’s not too far away from where I grew up and, let me tell you, there wouldn’t be too many Jandek fans there. Sectarianism and fighting are the two main pastimes there.
I might go to that gig, just for the sheer incongruity of it.
Jandek. In LARNE. It’s going to take me a while to get over that, I tell thee…
Comment by Neillconcierge - well, Jesus Lizard have announced some gigs - http://pitchfork.com/news/35570-jesus-lizard-reveal-reissue-details-tour/ - US only for now but you never know
Comment by Jim Carroll@ 37 … I heart the Belly’s Bassplayer. She won my heart from the pit at Slane 95. To my teenage self, she was Rock.
Comment by MullySY SLAYING it on Letterman last night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGJ6oWN_nrQ
I keep forgetting Mark Ibold’s in the band until he pops up on stage. Kim looks amazing.
Comment by FionaOC on the case! Good work fella. Man, those tickets are a sight for sore eyes. I wonder were people fuming about the prices back then too?
Comment by Jim CarrollFair whacks to OC! It’s really nice to see the old school style tickets again. It’s been too long. Miles better than the shoe box (promise I’ll put them in a book someday) of non-descript tickets I have in my wardrobe.
£20 to see U2. You couldn’t even buy one of their ‘tour mugs’ for that price these days.
I must dig out the prettier tickets. They were a great extension of the ‘brand’ of a band. Something you’d actually cherish. The UK still does it for some shows I think. I’m sure the Blur hyde park ones are quite funky from what I can remember….
Comment by James D……dont think so, people were just happy to see a lineup like that being brought in.
Prices were pretty equivalent to UK, I was at an XFM gig in Finsbury Park with basically the same lineup a few weeks before this and it was £18.50.
This was annoying though, when there were three acts on the uk bill, then only one in Dublin:
http://tinypic.com/r/qyv7r8/5
http://tinypic.com/r/35alm2w/5
@44 & 51:
What made the Grandaddy/SFA Midnight at the Olympia gig the most memorable was the fact that it was on during a month long run of Brendan O’ Carroll’s ‘The Mammy’ - they never bother to change the set for the midnight gig - so both bands ended up basically playing in a cardboard kitchen!
Comment by collyBit of random news but thought it might interest yis. There are still ‘a few’ tickets available for Ry Cooder/Nick Lowe tonight….
Currently have seats from row J on the floor (10 out of 19 rows from the front) or row e on the circle (that’s the 5th row out of 14). I didn’t check up the upper circle but I imagine that’s completely sold out.
They are selling fast so don’t delay as the promoters are expecting the last few tickets to be snapped up by 2012. That’s the year, not the time in the 24 hour clock….
What a bleeding disaster!
Why do I think if you’re wandering past the Olympia around 8.30-9.00 tonight you might be handed something for free…?
Comment by James DJames D - yes, like thousands of other gig-goers, I’d completely forgotten about old Ry. Just in case anyone is going, one of the guys in the band, Flaco Jiménez, has not travelled to Europe due to illness
Comment by Jim CarrollThe friday show is in much healthier nick (back row) but it’s a badly managed affair. I feel mortified for Ry & Nick who deserve better that a less than half full venue. Strangely I also feel sorry for any punters in attendance as I always feel a poor attendance can knacker the vibe.
I wonder have the acts been informed in advance?
Comment by James DGiven that Ry hasn’t toured in years, it will be a fairly shoddy affair
Then again, if the act and his Mister 13.75% were not demanding colossal fees for the show (I’ve heard 100k a pop mentioned), ticket prices would be lower and the room would be fuller
Comment by Jim CarrollOooh, colourful old tickets. The Sunstroke ticket is in a tub of tickets - concerts, cinema, football, whatever you’re having yourself - so I’ve done a bit of rummaging.
Bottom of the tub and oldest ticket stub - U2 at Croke Park, Sunday 27 June 1987. Ticket price is £14 (INCLUDING 50p booking fee). Read it and weep, Ticketmaster!
All the goodies are here - The Might Be Griants at the Midnight at the Olympia on 10 March 1990 (the maddest Midnight show I ever went to), Pixies at the National Stadium October 1990, Fatima Mansions in McGonagles (a fill-in-the-blanks handwitten ticket!) on 30 May 1991, Blur also at McGonagles in October 1991 (same week as EMF), Mike Flowers Pops in February 1996 (their easy-listening version of “White Light White Heat” was just jaw-dropping), A House’s final show also at the Olympia in February 1997, it goes on….
My two most special ticket stubs are also there. REM (and The Go-Betweens - now there’s a double-header) on 24 June 1989 in the RDS (20 years already , Q) and a ticket stub for the Tivoli, Francis Street, Dublin for Tuesday, 1 December 1992 - Mr. Bill Hicks….
Comment by Colettehave my tickets anyway… relieved… the ticketmaster site was so jammed this morning that for a moment there i thought the clock had rewound a couple of years…
Comment by AllyAlly - the jamming was because of tickets for Miley Cyrus going on sale and selling out too
Comment by Jim Carrollahhh.. until 2 weeks ago, i wouldn’t have known who that was… but i’m proud to say that i do know the girl you are referring to…
she is “massive” apparently…
that explains it though… thanks…
Comment by AllyGot standing tickets at about a second past nine–do the seated ones even go on sale? Anyone got the skinny on where I could get them?
And Fleetwood Mac tickets apparently went on sale this morning, too. Though the queue when I walked by the Green looked a little bet down, even by Sonic Youth standards….
There are still standing tickets on sale on Ticketmaster. I’m really suprised. Thought they’d be gone in no time.
Comment by markI just hope no-one in Ticketmaster accidentally gave someone looking for SY tix Miley Cyrus tix and vice versa.
I wonder does that ever happen?
Comment by Jim CarrollSonic Youth in Vicar St - Perfect band in a perfect venue…doesn’t get any better than that.
Comment by Quintby any chance does anyone have a bootleg of the dalymount gig or indeed the top hat, mcgonagles or olympia gig..i have recordings of the bad bad one at oxygen, terrible sound…. and an excellent fm radio recording of the electric picnic one kim comments on my shirt halfway thru “thanks for the money….the teeshirt”
it was the thurston atp shirt i was donning at the time!
just a point on the support..id like to put my 2 cents worth in..fuck buttons, or sun ra would be pretty damn sweet and sy have played with both before and sun ra many times!
Comment by paul boggan
9:26 pm
this is cool news……
Comment by Liamsaw them at EP a couple of years back and they were awesome.. should be a deadly show!