First R.E.M. splits up, and now Sonic Youth may be over: After 27 years of marriage and 30 years as bandmates, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon today issued a statement announcing they’ve separated, and while Sonic Youth will honor its South American touring commitments next month, the future of the band is uncertain.
According to Spin, the pair confirmed the split via a statement released by Matador Records:
“Musicians Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, married in 1984, are announcing they have separated. Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved, will proceed with its South American tour dates in November. Plans beyond that tour are uncertain. The couple has requested respect for their personal privacy and does not wish to issue further comment.”
The band — which also features guitarist Lee Ranaldo, drummer Steve Shelley and recent addition Mark Ibold, formerly of Pavement, on bass — is scheduled to perform five dates in Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Chile and Brazil in November. Should Sonic Youth not survive the couple’s break-up, the band’s final show could be Nov. 14 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Sonic Youth tour dates:
Nov. 5: Personal Fest 2011, Geba San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nov. 8: Festival Primavera O, Teatro de Verano, Montevideo, Uruguay
Nov. 10: Explanada Monumental, Lima, Peru
Nov. 13: Maquinaria Festival, Santiago, Chile
Nov. 14: SWU Music and Arts Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Thurston Moore: New ‘Circulation’ video, tour dates, streaming concert, Sonic Youth reissue
- Sonic Youth’s ‘1991: The Year Punk Broke’ finally to be released on DVD this fall
- Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore to release ‘Demolished Thoughts’ in May
Saw them 2 yrs ago on their u.s. tour and they only played 2 or 3 of their classic songs- the rest was only newer material- sounded like music you’d hear in a rest home for old people in place of muzak. And they really didn’t even put any effort into playing. The single most worst show i’ve been to and the only show i’ve walked out on, midway through.
Maybe now, and I’ll admit I haven’t seen them since Sonic Nurse was such a horrid album, but in the past my friends and I would equate a sonic youth show with going to church! Back in the day before 1991, a sonic youth show was a culmination of everything great about alternative music–especially the pit. If you fell over at a sonic youth show, three to five people would help you up. Joints would be passed around the audience like a dead show. Water too. If you never saw this band live in the PAST…well, let’s say their albums were great but live it was a whole new experience with sound. There’s a reason Daydream Nation was inducted into the library of Congress. The things this band did with sound make me totally geek out. Brilliance is an understatement. Of late, yes, they are like an old folks home, but they can still rock out on albums and I wish I saw them play “Sacred Trickster” live…think I’ll watch that video NOW.
Sonic Youth used to only play their new record and the encore was an old song or two. First time I heard them do a regular mix set was opening for Neil Young. The last time I saw them was Lollapalooza when they headlined. It was an OK show, but hard to explain to the kids why I didn’t care that a cassette of Daydream Nation had been stuck in my car stereo for a year.
I always felt they lost their cool when they kept namechecking other bands.