Sonic Youth/Yeah Yeah Yeahs @McCarren Pool, Aug. 11th

Tonight went back to McCarren Pool in Williamsburg for the excellent double bill of Sonic Youth and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. (We missed Blood on the Wall on purpose.) Ste and I were eager to see Sonic Youth, so we jumped into the pool while Wawa, Heather and Dave waited outside for Stacey to show up. We did spot Michael Pitt -- yes, the boy who showed his penis in the Dreamers.

It was fairly easy for Ste and me to slide up pretty close and center. The sun lit up the stage as Sonic Youth hit the stage, and they were fabulous. They focused mainly on their latest album, Rather Ripped, but did pull a few out of the archives as well. It was cool to see Thurston, Kim and Lee trade off lead vocals for the various songs. And can I just say, that Kim is pretty smokin' for someone who's 53!


The First Lady and President of Post Punk
Next up, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The two portions of the evening couldn't have been more different than night and day, or day and night...

I saw the YYYs in February before they released their second album, Show Your Bones. At that great show at the Bowery, they focused on their new songs, which the crowd didn't know just yet. Tonight, after a having a good number of months to digest it, the crowd ate it all up. Karen O. came out wearing a crazy outfit and brought her usual frenetic energy to the stage -- she's got the chi. Nick Zinner, looking all goth and frail, worked the guitar hard. And we did get to hear "Maps" and "Y Control" so I was pleased.

One thing I did learn today -- trying to take pictures while in the mosh pit is probably a futile idea. After a few useless pics, I gave up and bopped along with the rest of the enthusiastic bunch. I even had to help keep a few crowd surfers afloat.

Like I said, the two bands could not have been more different. Both were awesome, but I think the order they played in -- Sonic Youth first, then the YYYs -- was appropriate. In terms of respect, all deference should be paid to Sonic Youth, but the YYYs were a slam dunk to the evening. Tomorrow night they're supposed to switch their order of appearance. I wonder what that'll be like...