Brash noise and distortion coupled with slow melodies are basically the best words to sum up Thurston Moore’s style of music. Moore made his way to cult status fame as the front man of the 80s and 90s rock band Sonic Youth. Recently he played at The Smell in downtown Los Angeles to devoted fans who value his contribution to the music scene.
Droves of music lovers crammed into the small venue to catch a glimpse of Moore’s highly anticipated performance. Armed with his guitar he came out and played a show that left the crowd thrilled and mesmerized. Most of Moore’s music was very raucous and involved frantic playing all over the guitar. He shook around as he played in almost seizure-like fashion and shredded up every inch of his guitar.
It almost seemed as if he was improvising most of his performance. Moore also threw in some more mellow riffs that incorporated unique styles of playing. At one point he had a metal rod that he began tapping all over the guitar, and then started strumming with it to the roaring ovation of the audience.
‘I was totally surprised at Thurston’s performance,’ said fan David Hirsch. ‘It was very unexpected, but in a good way.” ‘
Moore’s performance was very short though and couldn’t have been any longer than 15 minutes. It seemed like a barrage of random sounds and noises that only someone with decades of experience could turn into music that people could enjoy. In Moore’s music there was a lot of indie, hard rock and experimental influence. There wasn’t necessarily much rhythm or structure to his songs, but it made for a much more interesting and intriguing show.
Needless to say, Moore’s brand of music is not for everyone and was very hard to follow. But for the hardcore fans of Sonic Youth and fans of Moore himself, Moore’s performance was nothing short of spectacular.
‘Thurston Moore was amazing, I’ve never seen someone play guitar that crazy before,’ said fan Kristen Hadley.