We Went There: Kim Gordon at the Fine Line Music Cafe
In hindsight I’m not sure why, but I was surprised to see the bold “Sold Out” sign as I walked up to the Fine Line Music Cafe for Kim Gordon’s show Friday night in Minneapolis. After an initial deep sigh and muttering of internal complaints ove having to deal with a venue that is a nightmare when packed, I thought for a second and realized it made total sense.
In these late empire days of 2024, Kim Gordon is in a sweet spot as far as her musical career: forever being a total, stone cold legend from her work in Sonic Youth, while also proving decisively over the last few years that she refuses to rest on her laurels and became a nostalgia act. In fact, she put out an album that I suspect is going to firmly nestle itself into many top 10 lists this year, the electric, gut-punching The Collective.
That album is what brought Gordon and a full house to the warehouse district this weekend, and she didn’t disappoint. Playing the album front to back for the “main” set, Gordon took no prisoners with her sparse but gigantic-sounding backing crew allowing her to mostly just command the audience and sing/chant the missives that make up the album.
The songs are art pop with a level of deconstruction that would make Death Grips proud, melding arena rock drums with screeching electronics, all tied together with Gordon’s dark, perpetually cool vocals. (Gordon even makes the auto tune portions seem mostly cool). The highlight of the set for me, like on the record, was the bombastic opener “Bye Bye” and the slashing “I’m a Man,” but hearing the whole album live has made me appreciate the whole album on subsequent listens.
On the record the songs are sharp and jagged, while live they are even deeper gorges that pull in the listener. The bass punched you in the vest and the scratchy electronics sounded even more abrasive and ominous. After the full album main set, Gordon came back to play four songs from her previous solo album No Home Record, one single and a wrap up with an encore performance of “Bye Bye.” I will admit that the material from the last record felt a bit lackluster compared with the nuclear bomb that is The Collective, making a weird situation where most of the encore/second set felt like the opposite of the usual hit songs or old classics that give the crowd a jolt after a couple hours of standing packed like sardines.
But even with the tapering off at the end, it was a show that made clear that every person jammed into the random corners and lined off areas of the Fine Line made the right choice attending the show. I would say I hope I am as cool as Gordon at her age (71) but that would be dumb…I’m half her age and never will be 1/100000 as cool as she is on her worst day. Gordon has proven for decades she is a bright light in the alternative music world, and it was great to see her continue to prove that point behind her outstanding new album.
View Adam’s who photo set HERE.
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