Photos and review by Nicole Sepulveda
@__nik__pics

Kim Gordon is an art-rock legend and so unapologetically cool… Attending this show felt like being amongst royalty. Known as the bassist, guitarist and vocalist for the iconic punk band Sonic Youth, she is recognized for her deep, breathy, spoken-word lyrics. After the band disbanded, she expanded her fanbase with her solo records, releasing her most recent creation, *Play Me*, in 2026.

The show at the Castro Theater in San Francisco brought many of the OG fans but there was also a nice handful of the younger generation paying homage to the mother of experimental rock. The new album was performed in its entirety, but the set also featured a handful of her more popular tracks from her first two records. The encore included the unreleased track “Cigarette,” which is now a closing staple of her tours. The performances of the more experimental songs were fun to see live; the band utilized screwdrivers (or anything but) guitar picks, building from hypnotic open guitar riffs to noise-rock driven feedback. 

This show didn’t allow outside photographers proper credentials, but since I already had tickets, I brought along my ol’ faithful RX100 for a few snaps. Though I was unlucky in choosing stage left; before Kim walked on stage, the crew placed an extra speaker and a sheet music stand right in front of me, lol!  So the featured shots were the chance angles I managed to snipe. Additionally, the moody, non-directional lighting created extra hurdles, resulting in the perfectly imperfect, noisy, slightly blurry images that I’ve come to accept are actually pretty noise-rock and experimentally punk in themselves. :D

At 71, Kim is still a trail-blazer inspiring today’s younger female (and queer) punk rockers, as evidenced by her opening act, Sasami, who paid tribute with a few songs inspired by Kim’s time with Sonic Youth.

For all her latest tour news and information, check out @kimletgordon.