The Gov in Adelaide – a venue that is often asked to cater for a wide variety of acts that aren’t always overly suited to its unassuming pub vibe – was the perfect location for Thurston Moore’s brand of tense, noisy rock.
Accompanied by his new band Chelsea Light Moving, Moore’s set was a mix of songs from his solo back catalogue and new songs from the band’s upcoming debut, out next year on Matador Records.
With a nice spread of young and old milling around, support came in the form of guitarist Keith Wood aka Hush Arbors, accompanied by drummer John Moloney, both from Chelsea Light Moving.
They got quite a bit of mileage out of their simple setup that emphasized slow moving folk/country played through overdriven guitar. The crowd were appreciative of the slow and quiet start to the Monday night.
After fifteen minutes, the main act came on and it was a joy to hear Moore casually chat with the audience before getting into any songs, especially considering last time he was in “The Big A” (as he affectionately called it) with Sonic Youth.
Indeed, the show had a much looser feel than that particular 2008 show. He amused the crowd with a story about a pair of newlyweds who had mistaken them for the Black Keys (playing the following night across the road at the Entertainment Centre) before getting straight into the recently released “Frank O’Hara Hit”.
“Pretty Bad” & “Lip” followed, before the group moved into more experimental territory with “William S. Burroughs”
The band, consisting of Moore – and the previously mentioned Wood and Moloney – was capped off with Samara Lubelski on bass and violin.
They kept it generally pretty tidy and straight, allowing Moore the freedom to go wild on his Jazzmaster.
Indeed, after a couple of false starts, “Empires Of Time” – dedicated to Roky Erikson – ended up being a set highlight with its exploding outro of heavily distorted, terse guitars.
Another unreleased song (probably titled “I Come To Get Wasted”) was similarly heavy on feedback, overcome with some seriously harsh white noise.
After breaking a string during “Staring Statues”, the band walked off stage and seemed content to call it a night with one encore.
The surprisingly polite crowd managed to pull them back on stage for a second – a feat almost unheard of for a Monday night show in Adelaide – with Moore looking at the lyric sheet for his 1995 song “Psychic Hearts”.
Moore essentially ignored any calls from the crowd requesting Sonic Youth songs, which felt appropriate given the band’s current uncertain status.
Although his last Adelaide show as a part of the ironically titled Don’t Look Back series for All Tomorrow’s Parties had his band playing their 1988 classic Daydream Nation in full, Monday night’s show was a relaxed gig, where Moore felt firmly focused on the future.
The show was an undeniably enjoyable performance from a rock veteran who is obviously not content to rest on his laurels and thoroughly enjoying his new company.
