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Live Review – The Scientists, New York 2010
By Trevor Block
The Scientists
Kutsher’s Country Club, New York
Friday, September 4
For one night only, upstate New York became swampland. Literally. The boating lake at the shabby, smelly Kutsher's Country Club resort, where All Tomorrow’s Parties New York is being hosted, is a mass of weeds and algae. The room here is big (think Melbourne’s Hi-Fi), and must’ve been pretty snazzy in its day. Now, though, it’s seat-less and battered, crowded with fans, and feels like the perfect spot to host The Scientists' first ever US gig. (Hipster Brooklyn was awash with rumours that The Scientists or The Surrealists would be playing a secret show there in the days following the festival, but work permits meant it was never going to happen.)
It must be a big ask to open a festival like this, with Mudhoney and The Stooges to follow, but they seemed comfortable on the main stage. Lit in green and purple, with smoke swirling from the back of the stage, they play all six tracks of 1983’s Blood Red River perfectly. It sounds as fresh as ever. Most importantly, everyone in the band seems happy. Boris Sujdovic is still massive and impassive, Leanne Chock keeps everything nailed down from the back, and Kim Salmom and Tony Thewlis track each other perfectly. After ‘Fate Deals It’s Mortal Blow’, they swing straight into 'Swampland', which gets extended to about three times its normal length, with the guitar break dragged out. It’s fucked-up and perfect. Later in the set, during ‘Backwards Man’, Kim puts down his guitar and clings to the mic stand howling, while Tony attacks his strings with an empty Jamesons bottle.
Having already run into Jim Jarmusch and Lee Ranaldo earlier in the afternoon, I'm not surprised to see Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore with kids in tow, digging it from side of stage.
There are no covers played, which is a it of a shame. I would've liked to hear them hit Suicide's 'Magdalena' here. But by the end of the set, they’ve lived up to the hype in the festival guide, astonished a bunch of youngsters, and confirmed their legendary status.
by Trevor Block
(Photo by Jason Persse)
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