Thurston Moore at Oslo Hackney

The Thurston Moore Group

Big Joanie

Oslo Hackney, 13 September 2025

This gig may well have spoiled every future gig for me now, because not only did I get to witness the genius that is Thurston Moore up close and have his brilliant and thunderous music fill my lucky ears, but I also got to pet his gorgeous dogs, as he brought them out on stage to show us! Amazing music and cute dogs too? It really doesn't get better than that.

Redd Kross with Thurston Moore at Rough Trade

Redd Kross in Conversation with Thurston Moore

Rough Trade East, 14 October 2024

I took another trip down to Rough Trade East to see some of my teenage favourites, Jeff and Steven McDonald of Redd Kross have a chat with Thurston Moore about their new book, Now You're One Of Us, which is an oral history of the band, and it couldn't have been a more delightful evening, with Moore and the brothers having a truly funny and interesting chat about the early days of the LA punk scene and their shared history.

Sonic Youth at The Forum

Sonic Youth
Hush Arbors 
The Forum, 23 October 2009

Every time I've seen Sonic Youth (about four times in total) they've had a weird-ass support act, from Japanese noise bands to the free-form jazz band whose drummer attacked a heckling audience member. In contrast to these, Hush Arbors were pretty straight ahead and ordinary. I had seen them before doing an acoustic set supporting Vetiver earlier this year, and they were a pleasant listen, full of folky harmonies and sweet melodies. I did wonder how they would fit with Sonic Youth but it turns out that with their instruments plugged in they supplement the folky harmonies with fuzzed-up guitars and sounded more rocked up and interesting than I remembered them.