Kim Gordon Conjures the Ghosts of Metro’s Past in Triumphant Chicago Return

Kim Gordon at Metro Chicago

6-23-26

Tuesday night at Metro was less a concert and more so a séance. Kim Gordon conjured her own spirit from the Metro’s past as Sonic Youth played there back in the late ’80s and early 2000s. Decades on, watching her command that same stage felt like getting a second crack at something a lot of us missed the first time around.

The show leaned hard into material from her new record Play Me, which debuted in March, with Gordon mostly anchoring herself behind a mic, until she strapped on a guitar and dove into the pedalboard chaos- at one point getting genuinely tangled in cables during a frenzied “Cookie Butter.” Cuts like “I’m a Man” and “Trophies” gave the set its straightest rock backbone, while the feminist throughline of the night never let up.

The crowd, a real mix of Gen X diehards and younger fans who couldn’t care less that Sonic Youth broke up in 2011, chanted “we love you”. The hypnotic comedown of closer “Cigarette” closed out the set.

The night was kicked off by the dynamic duo, The Fiery Furnaces.

Kim Gordon – Metro, Chicago, IL, 6/23/26 (setlist)

Girl With a Look

No Hands

Black Out
Dirty

Tech Not Today

Busy Bee

Square Jaw

Subcon

Post Empire

Nail Biter

Bye Bye
I’m a Man

Trophies

It’s Dark Inside

Psychedelic Orgasm

Paprika Pony

Cookie Butter

Encore: Cigarette

Kim Gordon :