August 1. 8 1. 99. Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo & David Markey, Reading Festival (Joe Cole) 2. Years since 1. 99. The Year Punk Broke I had previously worked with Sonic Youth on a couple low budget Super- 8 music videos for their 1. Goo (Mildred Pierce and Cinderella's Big Score). Prior to this I made a few short films involving Thurston Moore & his wife and band mate of three decades, Kim Gordon, dating back to Astro Turf (1. The Boost II (1. 98. Lou Believers (1. Skeeno H. C. Rules (1. Rap Damage (1. 99. Thurston Moore is living in London these days and spending most of his time on the. Patch.com; Our Mobile. Thurston Moore Talks Life After Sonic Youth. Sympathy for the Strawberry This song is by Sonic Youth and appears on the album. Sonic Youth:Sympathy For The Strawberry Lyrics. Besides having a working relationship with the band, I was friends with them and have no problem disclosing I was also a fan. We were even label mates at one point in the mid- 8. SST; I was with Painted Willie at the time they recorded and released EVOL and Sister, two stellar albums I admired very much. Working with Sonic Youth was a great ezperience, usually spontaneous and always a lot of fun. There was some discussion in 1. THRASHER; DOG TOWN; OTHER. Sonic Youth Washing Machine. SONIC YOUTH Jumbo Washer. Goo LP, but this was abandoned as the band began a very laborious and stressed production schedule. Flash forward to July of 1. I received a phone call from Thurston Moore asking if I was at all interested in hitting the road with the band as they traverse a European Summer Festival Tour that I was to document myself on Super- 8 film. This tour was going to commence in just a few short weeks. Thurston was especially jazzed to be bringing Nirvana along as the opening act. A band that he was super- excited about and was directly responsible for bringing to the attention of their record label, DGC (David Geffen Company) and managment (Gold Mountain, lead by one John Silva.) I naturally jumped at the chance and scrambled to. Super- 8 film (a little over $1,6. I put on my credit card) and to get my gear and passport together. Thurston just knew that something amazing was going to happen.
But of course, no one really knew just what exactly was about to go down in the few weeks and months following the end of this tour. Quite simply, the world was about to change in a profound way, particularly for a good chunk of the people on this excursion. What follows here is my transcribed hand scrawled notebook journal entries from this very tour. The excitement was palpable.. August 1. 8 1. 99. LAX - Meet up with John Silva and Nirvana at. United terminal at 1. In the ticketing line I am introduced to singer/ guitarist Kurt Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic, their new drummer Dave Grohl, and their. Craig Montgomery. They are all very tired because they were up all night. Krist makes an underhanded comment about the director. There is something strangely familiar. SST. We board. United flight 9. Heathrow International outside of London, England. We're meeting up with Sonic Youth and. European tour, mainly consisting of festival shows. Odd, I don't usually. I've had 5 beers and a couple screwdrivers. Tried to sleep but. Walkman is on now, listening to Beefheart, Monk, & Coltrane. Also, I don't have a work permit, so I. Dave Markey and a suitcase full of Kodak Super- 8 film, Reading Festival (Joe Cole) 8- 1. England - Holding pattern over Heathrow delays. After the long flight it seems like we're. Casually cruised right past a dozen or so guards at customs. Nirvana however was held up for quite a while in there due to. Meanwhile, I greet 3/4 of Sonic Youth; Kim, Thurston, and drummer Steve Shelley, minus Lee Ranaldo who's arriving tomorrow. Ireland. SY's crew are more like their friends; Suzanne Sasic. Keith Nealy, and Nick Close are all real nice folk, and we check out the plush tour. I break out my old reliable Bealieu Super- 8 and start. Shortly thereafter the Sonic bus takes off without me, and I'm lost in a terminal at Heathrow. Luckily, in the near distance I spot Kurt and Dave boarding a Euro- van, a much less accommodating. Europe just the same. Dave Grohl pops in Redd Kross' Third Eye cassette and starts playing air drums. They ask me who the naked girl on the albun cover. I inform them that it's Sofia Coppola. I don't mention that Sofia is a friend of mine or that she appeared in the Mildred Pierce clip I directed for Sonic Youth last year. I am unsure if they know anything about me besides the connection to Redd Kross. Krist begins imitating Sofia's. Kurt looks at me like he might be a bit embarrassed, so maybe he does know. I take Thurston into a hallway and have him do a formal introduction for the tour. He begins, (immidiately referring to Madonna, not an alien presence to Sonic Youth.) . The KGB who have overthrown Gorbachev just this morning.. Jet- lag and lack of sleep creeps in. I board the Sonic bus, am handed. Wake up. six hours later just in time for sunset in Wales. See a huge castle. There. are a few movies on the bus, most notably This Is Spinal Tap, which Krist borrows for the Nirvana van. I watch. The Untouchables and it puts me right to sleep. Meanwhile the bus boards. Ireland. I wake up an hour or so later. Feeling claustrophobic. I make my way up on deck and find Thurston at the bar and join him in. Guiness. I then learn that it's illegal for passengers to be inside their. And. hey, didn't one of these boats sink recently? Thurston with the August issue of Guitar Player magazine, with him on the cover (Dave Markey) 8- 2. Ireland - Wake up on the couch in the back of. Moved here in the middle of the night. Beautiful super- green Irish. Everyone else is still sleeping. Have a coffee. and rap with Terry, SY's sound guy. He's awesome, and I tell him I plan. Arrive at our first. Cork. The band(s) and crew all have. Sir Henry's. My first impression of Europe as an American. This is my first time here, and I'm stoked. Nothing lasts for long in LA. Cool out for a while back. Lee arrives and attempts some shut eye, he's been up all. European MTV is showing Motley Crue struggling through. Sex Pistols' Anarchy In The UK at some big European. Perhaps maybe one of the same festivals we'll be at. Can jetlag cause. I make a sarcastic comment, . The gig tonight. is in a small pub called Sir Henry's. I hear bus loads of English fans are arriving just for this. There are old go- go cages in the back of the club, and I film Grohl. Nirvana open the show and rock especially. I shoot Kurt backstage nursing a tall- can. Heineken. I bust out with the obligatory Blue Velvet/Frank Booth. Sonics take the stage and workout big time. They play good. alot of . There. is a girl up front who keeps yelling for . Needless to say, she didn't get her request. No Watt in the house. I don't think they've ever played this obscure b- side cover song live. Dave Markey, Kurt Cobain, & Kim Gordon, Pukkelpop Festival, Belgium (Thurston Moore) 8- 2. Dublin - Wake up in my bunk at dawn, everyone else is still sleeping. I climb out. and head to the back of the bus. Thurston is there reading a book on. The bus is now stopped. We. are somewhere in Dublin. I buy a box of Sugar Smacks from the mini- mart. They are still called . Jet lag still weighing down heavy on me. It starts drizzling rain. Back to. the bus for more sleep. Wake up and we're at the venue for tonight. Top Hat, a larger sized club / hall. Eat beans on toast for lunch. Later, stroll through downtown Dublin with Kim & T, and do. Saw a girl in a Fugazi T- shirt. We run into a fan who claims he has the cover of . Gig time; I get a good master shot. Nirvana from the back balcony. Film quite a few songs in their entirety. Kodachrome 4. 0. Enough light in the house tonight. Suzanne. Back up battery and charger working A- O- K. Shoot. alot of the Youth tonight. Burn thru 6 2. 00 foot cartridges without any problems. Try everything to. It just isn't working. The motor just isn't pulling the. My one and only camera with me bites the dust! Super- 8 motion- picture cameras are pretty rare these days nack in the States and are probably even harder to track down here in Dublin. Onwards. to the hotel, have a few Irish Whiskeys with the band and crew at the. England. tomorrow to see about getting my camera repaired. Share a room with. Lee again, and probably snored him out. Ireland / England - I was supposed to stay in Dublin. England with the bus and crew tomorrow but. I'm in the air with Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and John Silva back to England. Both bands have a day of press to do tomorrow. Kurt came running up to me in the airport, glowing with an extreemly rare original edition paperback copy. Naked Lunch he had just scored, happy as a clam. We're flying Aer. Lingus . It is meat with more meat. It's. looks a little too intense to eat. I retreat to my walkman and play at full volume Jesus Christ Superstar (the original Broadway version, of course). We hit a patch of turbulance and I notice a Catholic priest fiddling a rosary seated right next to Silva, who is seated behind me. Land safely at Heathrow. Drive. out of there again with Kurt, Krist, and Dave and we head straight to the. MCA offices in Central London. Nirvana begin their juggernaut of press interviews, and I am on the phone with every camera. I can find in Jolly Ol' London. I grab an advance cassette tape of the forthcoming. Nirvana record, Nevermind and slip it into my pocket. I have an excellent Fish 'n Chips lunch in the pub around. Getting to know them a little more, and I think they're. They are actually quite hilarious! Krist and Dave are regular jokers. Had a laugh at the mundane questions they keep getting. English press. We then. Mudhoney play a club somewhere in London. Hole are the opening band. Thurston and Kim, on a plane (Dave Markey)8- 2. London to Reading- Wake up six am after a few hours of sleep on the floor of Steve. Shelley's room in a London Ramada Inn. I take a train out to Gatwick to meet. U. K. I pop the advance tape of Nevermind into my walkman. Smells Like Teen Spirit comes right at me. Just then the train rolls right by the creepy factory depicted on the cover of Pink Floyd's Animals, off to my left. I really like this tape and by the time side one ends, I am at my destination. As it turns out, the camera. I'm headed back the way I came, listening. Back to London to check every camera shop I can find in search of the elusive Bealieu 7.
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