Glastonbury 2024: Watch Kim Gordon perform ‘Bye Bye’
On a Sunday stacked with talent on Woodsies at Glastonbury Festival, former Sonic Youth vocalist Kim Gordon regaled the audience with a stellar rendition of ‘BYE BYE’.
Notably, in the 1980s, Sonic Youth pioneered the nascent alternative rock with their experimental, dissonant approach and gained prominence in the decade with records such as EVOL and Daydream Nation. They later consolidated their position in the 1990s with the likes of Goo and Dirty. Fronted by bassist/ vocalist Gordon and her husband/guitarist Thurston Moore, they released their final album, The Eternal, in 2009 and disbanded two years later due to the pair’s divorce. Despite the nature of the split, each member of the quintet’s cultural status had long been undisputable.
Following the end of Sonic Youth, Gordon delved more heavily into the experimental realm and formed the duo Body/Head with guitarist Bill Nace. They released their debut, Coming Apart, in 2013 and their second effort, The Switch, in 2018. In 2015, Gordon formed Glitterburst alongside Alex Knost, who released their only record to date, the self-titled in 2016.
Gordon began her solo career in 2019 with her debut effort, No Home Record. Its follow-up, The Collective, was released to widespread acclaim in March 2024. Opening with the punishing lead single, ‘BYE BYE’—one of the stand-out releases of the year—the song fuses a pounding trap beat with abrasive noise. It was brought to life with Justin Raisen, the acclaimed producer famed for his work with other notable boundary-pushing artists such as Charli XCX and Yves Tumor.
An artistically masterful number that fuses accomplished compositional elements with incredible sound design, ‘BYE BYE’ sees Gordon plan an escape and read out her packing list, which includes “sleeping pills,” a “vibrator,” and “contact solution.” It’s safe to say that the single went down a treat on Woodsies. So much so, in fact, that she played it twice: to open and close her set.
Sandwiched between Alvvays and Romy before headliner James Blake took to the stage later in the evening, Gordon effortlessly demonstrated why she is still alternative culture’s queen of cool with ‘BYE BYE’. The pulsing trap sub and the clangorous guitars resounded across the packed crowd, who were all moving in awe with the iconic New Yorker.
On a day when SZA is the final headliner of 2024’s Glastonbury, and other stars such as Justice, The National and NIA Archives are taking to stages across the site, Gordon emphatically displayed why she is still very much at the forefront of popular music.
In a four-star review of The Collective, Far Out‘s Aimee Ferrier wrote: “While the record is certain to appeal to Sonic Youth fans who have always appreciated Gordon’s more experimental contributions, The Collective will undoubtedly introduce new fans, perhaps those more interested in modern trap artists, to Gordon’s brilliance, too.”
Watch Kim Gordon performing ‘BYE BYE’ at Glastonbury Festival below.
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