On Friday night, a sold-out show filled the Fine Line with fans young and old – all there to see Kim Gordon.
Kim Gordon: Extremely influential musician, artist and writer known for her groundbreaking contributions to the alternative rock scene. As a founding member of the iconic band Sonic Youth, Gordon helped shape the sound of the 80s and 90s.
I, however, knew none of these things about her.
I discovered Gordon through her newest album, The Collective. As I walked into the Fine Line, I took notice of the crowd. From seasoned Sonic Youth devotees to curious newcomers like myself, there was a strong sense of excitement hanging in the air.
Opening up the show was Infinite River, a band I (and a good amount of the crowd) was unfamiliar with. This genre-bending psychedelic jam band took the concert-goers and I for a ride. Other than the very last song, there were no lyrics – So the music had to speak for itself. There were often times when I was getting into it, losing myself in the flow of the band. Equally as much, I found myself getting pulled out of the groove and brought back to earth with dissonance and clashing chords.
The energy pulsing through Gordon’s music is raw and unfiltered. Her stripped-down simplistic vocals make the listener hang on every word, while the intensely over-stimulating visuals behind her added to a powerful and almost dreamlike experience. The mix of distorted guitar and scraping electronic samples actually reminded me of the work of Pi’erre Bourne – the producer notoriously known for his work with rapper Playboi Carti – heavy-hitting yet melodic.
Despite my unfamiliarity with Gordon’s extensive body of work, I found myself captivated by the pure intensity of her performance. Allowing the music to flow through her, Gordon and her band swayed to the beat in an ominously uniform manner, further making the performance feel like a strange dream. As I looked around, many of the younger people in the crowd were headbanging/dancing along to the music, while the older fans conservatively bopped their heads along. Everyone was enjoying the show in their own way.
After the show, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe and gratitude for having seen Kim Gordon live. While I may have come for The Collective, I left with a newfound appreciation for Gordon’s artistic legacy – a legacy that continues to resonate with audiences across generations.
