Sonic Youth wrapped up a short South American tour last night with a 70-minute set at the SWU Music & Arts Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil — something that normally wouldn’t be particularly newsworthy in and of itself, except that it just might have been the legendary noise-rockers’ final performance after 30 years together.

When Matador Records last month announced that Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon  were separating, the label’s statement noted the band would still play South America, but that “plans beyond that tour are uncertain.” In the near-term future, Moore already is planning more solo touring, and Lee Ranaldo is preparing to release a new solo album that he’ll also tour next year.

In the three-part playlist embedded above, you can watch Sonic Youth’s full SWU set, which was broadcast on TV and streamed online, and uploaded to YouTube by luisleema. The band played a dozen tracks, new and old, ending with a 10-minute run through “Teen Age Riot” that, appropriately, dissolved into waves of noise and feedback.

 

Setlist: Sonic Youth,  SWU Music & Arts Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 11/14/11

1. “Brave Men Run”
2. “Death Valley ’69″
3. “Sacred Trickster”
4. “Calming the Snake”
5, “Mote”
6. “‘Cross the Breeze”
7. “Schizophrenia”
8. “Drunken Butterfly”
9. “Starfield Rd.”
10. “Flower”
11. “Sugar Kane”
12. “Teen Age Riot”

 

PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS

 

 

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