Sonic Youth call BNP ‘clowns’ at London gig

Thurston Moore congratulates crowd for standing up to Nick Griffin

Sonic Youth slated the British National Party during a one-off UK show at the London Forum last night (October 23).

Before playing ‘Anti-Orgasm’, from the five-piece’s 2009 album ‘The Eternal’, guitarist and singer Thurston Moore congratulated the UK for standing up to Nick Griffin‘s party over the ‘Question Time’ furore.

“Thanks for standing up to the BNF goons,” he told the crowd, eliciting loud cheers. “Fucking clowns…”

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Moore was presumably referring to the National Front past of the BNP by calling it the BNF.

Beginning the set with the two-minute frenzy of ‘Sacred Trickster’, the New Yorkers concentrated mainly on songs from ‘The Eternal’, but found time to perform fan favourites ‘Tom Violence’, ”Cross The Breeze’ and ‘Death Valley ’69’.

At one point in the set, the band were forced to stop while their guitar tech repaired part of Moore‘s amp – he had complained of it sounding “foggy” – however, the repair didn’t seem to work, so the guitarist carried on, saying, “Fuck it”.

‘Death Valley ’69’ featured all three singers – Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo – in unison to make up for absent collaborator Lydia Lunch, and ended in a hail of feedback from Ranaldo, who dragged his guitar around the stage.

The gig was only the band’s second of the year in the UK, following their small show at London‘s Scala in April. They’re set to return to play the My Bloody Valentine-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties in December.

Sonic Youth played:

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‘Sacred Trickster’
‘No Way’
‘Calming The Snake’
‘Stereo Sanctity’
‘Walkin Blue’
‘Poison Arrow’
‘Anti-Orgasm’
‘Hey Joni’
‘Malibu Gas Station’
‘Antenna’
‘White Cross’
‘Leaky Lifeboat’
‘Massage The History’
‘Tom Violence’
”Cross The Breeze’
‘What We Know’
‘Death Valley ’69’

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