Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley Reunite in New York, while Kim Gordon Covers The Stooges with Dinosaur Jr. in Los Angeles.

“Sonic Youth live 20050707” by Andersju is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Friday night, Dec. 6, was a gratifying evening for fans of Sonic Youth, as all four members of the legendary avant-garde post-punk outfit performed at separate high-profile events on opposite sides of the country. In New York, the immensely influential band’s longtime stomping grounds, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, and Steve Shelley teamed up for an unexpected trio set at The Stone. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Kim Gordon joined Dinosaur Jr. at The Bellwether to deliver a towering treatment of The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” Watch fan-recorded clips of both shows below.

The New York reunion arrived as the third night of Moore’s four-show residency at The Stone, each of which featured a different combination of accompanists and content as the singer, songwriter and guitarist celebrated his recent solo album Critical Flow Lucidity and demonstrated his improvisational prowess. The Friday show heavily favored the latter, and when longtime Sonic Youth drummer Shelley joined Moore and founding guitarist Ranaldo for a surprise sit-in, the trio delivered gritty interplay in line with the high bar of the Sonic Youth Recordings series. Rolling Stone editor Simon Vozick-Levinson described the show as a “an hour of improvised instrumental noise,” a “spellbinding” sound well-familiar to fans. New York listeners had the chance to catch a precursor to this staging on Monday, Dec. 2, when Shelley joined Moore’s intimate panel and performance at National Sawdust for the Grammy Museum.

On the West Coast, iconic Sonic Youth vocalist and songwriter Gordon extended a packed year of performance by joining noise-forward alternative contemporaries Dinosaur Jr. at The Bellwether. For a sit-in that brought the crowd to a roar, Gordon lent her distinctive vocal talents to a cover of The Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” matching Iggy Pop’s growling cool with her well-honed deadpan delivery. Gordon has had a massive year of her own with the release of her sophomore solo studio album The Collective, which is currently in the running for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Alternative Music Performance in the 2025 Grammy Awards.

Watch fan-recorded videos of Moore, Ranaldo and Sheley and Gordon with Dinosaur Jr. below.

Rare convergence last night at The Stone with Thurston Moore/Steve Shelley/Lee Ranaldo zoning an hour, great set pic.twitter.com/IrrbjRp9TZ

— Brian Turner (@btrnr) December 7, 2024