neighborhood block party

every summer our neighborhood throws a little bash, and the basic premise is this: shut down the streets, put up three stages, watch tons of bands over a two day period, and get completely drunk and/or stoned. it's a summer ritual that i have a good time taking part in (except for the last part, of course) and i look forward to the block party every year. this year the lineup wasn't quite as deep on bands that i wanted to see, but it did feature perhaps the biggest headliners ever in sonic youth.

to be quite honest, i've never been much of a sonic youth fan as they were a bit before my time. but they are such a highly regarded and influential band that i figured i couldn't pass up the chance to see them in my own backyard. despite my unfamiliarity with most of their catalog, this turned out to be one of the best concert experiences of my life. the streets were packed, and there were people on balconies, fire escapes, and rooftops all to see the iconic band. it was really quite the setting. the only downside is that we ended up so close to the speakers that my ears and head hurt for days. oh well, a small price to pay, i suppose.

we also watched watched sets from gossip (who played an awesome cover of aaliyah's 'are you that somebody'), pela (who i was seeing for a personal record 4th time), the thermals and truckasaurus, but obviously the night belonged to sonic youth.

thurston moore

sonic youth in action

thurston and kim

the thermals

pela

sunset at the block party