From the S&S archives:
Volume, energy run high at Rhein Rock Fest

When Thurston Moore, singer and guitarist for the New York-based rock band Sonic Youth, announced the show would have to stop because of a German law, the crowd responded like football fans arguing a bad call.

"I didn't vote for it. I don't live here," Moore joked.

But the fans got their way. Moore and his bandmates played a 10-minute encore that topped Saturday's nine-band Rhein Rock Fest in Cologne, Germany, and bent a law requiring outdoor festival concerts to end by 10 p.m.

Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and Bob Mould — three acts accelerating out of obscurity and possibly to the front line of rock music — headlined the fest and gave concertgoers at the Tanzbrunnen outdoor concert hall a taste of each of their upcoming European tours.

But just a taste. All the headliners cut their already short festival-length sets so Nirvana, a Seattle-based band which missed its performance slot after getting caught in traffic, could squeeze in a 25-minute set.

Mould and Dinosaur Jr. each played only a half-hour. Sonic Youth played 50 minutes.

And concertgoers were not happy. When Nirvana left after its set, beer cans rained on the stage with shouts for more. When Dinosaur Jr. left after its final song, the crowd let out a chorus of "Awwww "

The rest of Europe will have a better chance to hear more of the performers as Sonic Youth, Mould and Dinosaur Jr. head off on separate tours.

Sonic Youth will make the most noise on its upcoming tour. The ninth and latest album of the 30-something members, Goo, has helped the band slowly dig out from its underground standing to become one of the fastest-rising acts in the United States and Europe.

The sound of the three-man, one-woman band defies comparison — literally. Guitarists Moore and Lee Ranaldo tune their instruments to create hollow-sounding, dissonant chords that cover bands have been struggling to reproduce for years.

Moreover, when Moore and Ranaldo play, each keeps differently tuned guitars close at hand for particular songs. During the shortened Rhein Rock set, Moore picked up five of his 13 guitars, while Ranaldo used four of his 14.

But one thing is certain about the sound of Sonic Youth — it's not for the weak of ear. Some of Moore's guitar slashes in Kool Thing, a poke at whites who exploit black culture, sound like a chainsaw hitting wood. Some of singer-bassist Kim Gordon's growls in Mary Christ would make any Rottweiler jealous.

But fans have acquired the taste and revel in it. During the band's Teen-age Riot — as Gordon stood upon her bass and Thurston leveled his microphone stand' with his guitar — the song title was an accurate description of the crowd,

In its albums, Dinosaur Jr. seems a junior version of Sonic Youth. Yes, the trio based in Amherst, Mass., sometimes slashes like its New York counterpart. But at other times it tames its melodies so that they, heaven forbid, sound catchy to an inexperienced listener.

But don't expect that in concert. Expect loud, fast, furious. Even after just two hours of sleep the night before Rhein Rock, the band, members of Dinosaur Jr. sent out enough groove to make even the heads of back-row wallflowers bob.

The band members had spent the night traveling to Cologne, after shooting videos in England for this, week's release of two new songs, That's Cool With Me and Sideways.

But their energy was as high as their volume, which vibrated through the crowd with every bass drum. Their eight-song set peaked — with their 1990 hit, Red Wagon.

This was from a band that has been described by interviewers as at best laid-back, at worst lobotomized.

"The whole reason we make music is because we're bored," said the band's 25-year-old drummer, who goes solely by Murph, before the show. "(Apathy) is like a hole that sucks you in if you don't leave it a lot.

Added self-named J Mascis, the 25-year-old singer-guitarist: "We don't want to just sit around and rot."

Chances are they won't have much of a chance to do that during their 30-stop European tour. Even on tours backing albums less successful than its current Green Mind, the band packed concert halls.

In contrast to the sound of Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth was Mould, armed with only a 12-string guitar and his voice. For the entire show, the former lead singer of the Minneapolis punk band, Hüsker Du, sat alone, strummed and sang.

His performance was unlike his former days, when Mould, 31, and the members of Hüsker Du were famed for being rock's angriest, loudest, fastest-playing trio. After leaving the band and spending a year writing music in suburban Minneapolis, Mould emerged with his first solo album, Workbook. The experimental collection features folk overtones from his 12-string guitar and on some tracks even a dulcimer and cello.

But a few guitar strains on Mould's following album, 1990's Black Sheets of Rain, echo the soloist's former punk sound and perhaps indicate Mould has not yet completed his transition from musical power to rock pioneer. He is at the crossroad, but his experimentation will perhaps open the way from obscure artist to musical highlight.