A Night At The Bowl, or Preamble To Insanity...

In and of itself, a night at the Hollywood Bowl in the company of No Age, Sonic Youth, and Pavement sounds like a quaint time with fun for all...But dialing back and looking at the big picture, it represented the first shots fired of an incredible weekend, for it had the good grace to occupy that spot on the calender right before 'The Lost Weekend', Matador Records celebration of its 21st anniversary, at the Palms in Las Vegas.

The next three installments will take care of that action, so now we'll just focus on the matter at hand...

Up first, Los Angeles' own No Age, Dean and Randy making the leap to the big stage with an extra added member wielding samples and adding some extra ooomph to their sound. If you need to do a little compare and contrast, head back to the Coachella 2009 wrapup, and see how they controlled the tent.
Bolstered by songs from their new album: 'Everything In Between', No Age kicked off the proceedings in style, adding depth to their sound without sacrificing its quirkiness, as well as laying the table for the likes of a noisefest the Bowl has probably never witnessed.

In the absence of Pavement being on the road, Sonic Youth absconded with their bass player Mark Ibold, allowing Kim Gordon to move over to guitar and add another dimension to their sound. (see January 2010, Wiltern Theater, LA report for more details) The question was, would Ibold do double duty? Fortunately, (for him) that was not to be...

From the first quivering notes of "Candle", (below), Sonic Youth had the crowd in thrall. It was but the opening salvo in a three song barrage from 'Daydream Nation', (also: "Sprawl" & "'Cross The Breeze"), that set the tone for a trip into the deepest and noisiest recesses of their catalogue. Quartet style, they dropped DN's "Hey Joni", before heading back to "Death Valley 69", and 'EVOL's' "Kiss Me In The Shadow", after which Kim Gordon noted drily: "Thanks a lot, we're Pavement from Sacremento". They finished the set with "White Cross", leaving no doubt as to their undiminished power.

Pavement is on the final lap of its reunion/victory lap around the world, and given their spotty history as a live act, it's been a revelation to see these performances. Pavement played to the strengths of their catalogue and delivered a rousing set that leaned heavily on 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain' and 'Brighten The Corners'. Bob Nastanovich made the journey along the pool circle wall out into the masses during "Unfair", and the band peaked during a three song arc of: "Stereo", "Stop Breathin'", and "Range Life", (latter below), before finishing with a heartwarming "Here". A satisfying end to a run that defied the normal reunion expectations...

Thanks out to the L.A. Philharmonic, for going way out on a limb with this show...It is appreciated.