Tonight is the mecca for the long overlooked Brisbane fans of alternative legends Sonic Youth have been waiting for. Having been treated to an unfortunately undersold Zoo show for Lee Ranaldo Band (also including SY skin legend Steve Shelly) the week before. It is unfortunate that Thurston Moore has also suffered a rather low crowd. Still, who cares it is the one and only Thurston FREAKING Moore.

Opening things off tonight is American artist/musician Marco Fusinato who was relatively quiet in terms of advertising support band for the night. From the start, it is something different and somewhat unexpected as Fusinato slams the surroundings with brash guitar noise syphoned through a series of effects that make the performance resemble one of Japanese noise artist's Merzbow earlier in the year, with the manipulations piling up on one another, creating the aural sea we are treated to. Unfortunately, it seems the audience present don't necessarily get what he is trying to achieve and take to talking (loudly) during the set. Still, those paying attention all walked away with a sense of interest and hope that we can see the man in a perhaps more initmate/appropriate setting.

It is a rather lengthy wait as we await the inevitable. But as time passes, it is with great delight that we finally see Thurston Moore emerge accompanied by his band in all their glory. It's a casual start as Moore brushes through his music stand of notes/lyrics and it is a rather interesting surprise that we are not in store for tracks off latest release Demolished Thoughts and instead his backing band is actually the recently formed Chelsea Light Moving merely featuring Moore as a member.

From the start a few things have to be pointed out that very nearly destroyed the whole night for the band and the people there to enjoy the show…

1. This isn't the turnout you'd expect. Whilst low in number, certain patrons decide to infringe upon the band and the fans including the least expected of all Hecklers.

2. The sound has clear issues from the get go that never really get addressed.

3. Lack of order (including security and general procedure for a gig of this nature) turns the show almost into a free for all.

4. With the lack of attendance you can walk right up to the front and get closer to the man than ever before.

5. The clearly intoxicated couple that forgot to shower before the show and decided to clean each other like cats rather vividly throughout the show (to the point of soft-core porn) make the whole left side of the audience trying to watch uneasy and violated (this also includes them pouring several drinks over my own back pack at the front of the stage).

The band kicks off with Chelsea track Burroughs a track that speaks for itself in regard to its origin of William. The sound is instantly off and the band clearly notice, with Thurston's guitar barely audible for everyone involved in the song. The bleak sludge of Groovy & Linda follows accompanied with Moore explaining the songs muse and how the happy-go-lucky hippies were murdered in the late sixties.

Things persue onward at a brisk, slow, attention grabbing pace with tracks like Sleeping proving some quality visual and sonic joy. It is when we reach Frank O'Hara Hit that we arrive at the show we are here to see, with the slow building (very SY in its construction) track exploding on stage with Thurston playing the guitar with the intensity we want to see and when combined with fellow guitarist Keith Wood and violinist/bassist Samara Lubelski we see a sprawling free-for-all that reaches the peaks of Washing Machine and brings us back into the chorus after the storm in typical Thurston behind the songwriting fashion. Empires of Time continues and it seems were swallowed into punk rock with concise riffs and repeated strained vocals. The first portion of the set ends with Psychic Hearts track Ono Soul which strangely fits in well with the Chelsea Light material on show.

The band re-emerge and Moore, having hayfever tonight pokes fun at his small thing of tissues by saying 'If I was Sid Vicious and this was the seventies, this'd be a bag of heroin' and then tells a tale of seeing Sid before in a rather shameful moment of being a part of tonight's crowd, a schooled and patient person decides to tell Moore to "shut the fuck up!" with other unvalidated drunks just yelling out shit along the way until the group kick off the éncore with the rather appropriate for the setting Pretty Bad once again off Psychic Hearts. We then get our first taste of Demolished Thoughts in the form of a sped out version of Orchard Street which works well in contrast. The band once again leave, but fortunately come back out to run through Psychic Hearts which is a great way to end the set with its repetitive driving nature in combination with its angst lyrics. But, not tonight as for some reason the sound has completely gone out again leaving the track anti-climactic and disheartening that this is probably the last time we'll see Thurston and co. in town again.

Some things good about tonight that need to be pointed out…

1. The surprise of Chelsea Light Moving added dimension to the set and paved the way for a unique set despite outside issues.

2. The song choices were first rate and having the back story shed in this forum in combined with other tales was insightful and entertaining.

3.The musicianship involved was world class.

4. With the lack of attendance you can walk right up to the front and get closer to the man than ever before.

5. It was Thurson FUCKING Moore!