Thurston Moore played Le Poisson Rouge (pics)

Thurston Moore's September tour kicked off in NYC on Saturday night at Le Poisson Rouge. Backed by his former Sonic Youth bandmate Steve Shelley on drums, and Modern Lovers' original bassist Ernie Brooks, Thurston took the stage and told the crowd it would be a night of "contemporary love songs," including tracks from Psychic Hearts, By the Fire, and more. The encore differed a bit from the printed setlist, as for the last song of the main set, he broke a few guitar strings due to using a drumstick on it.

Samara Lubelski, who was a member of Thurston's early-'10s group Chelsea Light Moving, opened the show with a half hour instrumental set on her violin, augmented with a loop pedal and projections. Check out pictures from her set, and the whole night (including one of Thurston's setlist), below.

Thurston's tour hits Chicago on 9/14 and 9/15, St Paul on 9/17 and Miwaukee Summerfest on 9/18.

photos by Ellen Qbertplaya