Yo La Tengo live

Last time I saw them in Minneapolis they seemed kind of tired. Kind of turned me off of wanting to see them again? I dunno. They seem to come by enough.

being tired after so many years. who could blame them? the beatles went on for eight years? yo la tengo have been together for more than 25 already, haven't they? let's hope they don't finish like the bloody stones.

Oh for sure, as much as I love Ira's shredding one wonders if he ever gets tired of it.

When I first saw them ('86 or '87 I think, opening for Camper Van Beethoven) none of us knew who they were, and we all joked that they looked tired and unhappy...

haha! yeah, i'm sure they have plenty of nights where they're not in a great mood. they've played a bazillion shows! i don't think i've ever seen one where it's been really apparent, though. georgia generally looks kinda grumpy playing the drums, but i'm not sure if that means she's actually grumpy. most people look grumpy playing the drums.

http://www.disneyclips.com/imagesnewb4/imageslwrakr01/clipdrums.gif

Sorry, that was Dopey...

You guys get upset with volatile "rockin'" behavior by anyone older than the Replacements ca 1982?

Anyone else ever interview them? Because in my experience said grumpiness extends beyond the stage.

That said, they do always seem to be into their sets, even if I'm not, and even if they frown. They remind me of Dylan, actually, to an extent.

xp i interviewed ira sometime around the i am not afraid of you era and he was very nice, though i've talked to people who haven't had that experience.

Only saw them four times, but only one of those times did they seem less than happy to be there (largely because the audience conversation was nearly drowning out the quiet sections).

I talked to Ira once after a 1994 show, and he seemed upbeat and happy to be talking to a fan (I asked if he listened to Albert Ayler; he said, "Yeah, he's great, but the guy I really love is Frank Wright!")

[spoilers for tonight!] http://25.media.tumblr.com/b2bbf89a1c99d2ae746360e7af20b087/tumblr_meu70s88Co1rxbnrlo1_500.jpg

I just don't think they show a lot of emotion. Maybe a stink-face kind of thing? Ira was very nice when I've talked to him around town here briefly but they kind of keep to themselves generally.

Anyone else ever interview them? Because in my experience said grumpiness extends beyond the stage.

a couple of times, and always found them to be fine. i even asked ira about his time as a music journalist, and he didn't bite my head off, like i expected him to.

He's never been a total dick, just sort of watching the clock with extreme prejudice. Probably doesn't help that there's not much generally worth asking them about beyond the music they like to listen to in their spare time. My experiences with them have been fine, honestly, but the farthest thing from engaging.

> Anyone else ever interview them? Because in my experience said grumpiness extends beyond the stage.

Interviewed Ira in college around May I Sing with Me. He totally put me in my place. To his credit, he was right -- I was just asking regurgitated questions from other interviews.

A couple years earlier, they did sign my copy of Ride the Tiger ~`1990 and were super super cool about it, though. I need to track down Dave Schramm and have him sign that, too.

yeah, they *are a hard sell, features-wise. every time they release a new album, i want to write about them, but how to pitch it? "Sterling, dependable indie-rock perennials release another good album" is hardly going to make commissioning editors quiver with anticipation.

The first time I ever heard their music was when they were opening for Teenage Fanclub on a US tour in 1993. That being the Painful era, the unexpected trifecta of From a Motel 6, Big Day Coming & I Heard You Looking just seemed like the best shit ever. That was a fantastic double-bill, actually.

looks like an amazing night last night [from here: http://www.jessejarnow.com/2012/12/yo-la-tengo-hanukkah-2012-night-3-setlist/]
The Feelies:
Deep Fascination
For Now
Invitation
For Awhile
On the Roof
Let’s Go
Higher Ground
The Final Word
Slipping (Into Something)
Away
Way Down
When You Know
Doin’ It Again
Time Is Right
Raised Eyebrows
Crazy Rhythms

Yo La Tengo:
Paul Is Dead
Time Fades Away (Neil Young) (with Glenn Mercer of the Feelies on guitar)
Barnaby, Hardly Working (with GM)
Tears Are In Your Eyes
Something To Do
The Point of It
Tom Courtenay (Georgia version)
Tired Hippo (with Dave Weckerman and Stan Demeski of the Feelies on percussion)
The Room Got Heavy (with DW & SD)
False Alarm (with DW & SD)
The Story of Jazz (with DW & SD)
Double Dare (with DW & SD)
Little Honda (The Hondells)

*(encore)*
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Bob Dylan) (with The Feelies’ Bill Million on guitar & Brenda Sauter on vocals)
Sister Ray (Velvet Underground) (with GM & BM)

and nyc taper is posting recordings -- http://www.nyctaper.com/ first two nights are up now.

The first time I saw them I had a heavy cold, sweats, shivering - and I probably wouldn't have gone if it wasn't just a five minute walk away from where I lived at the time. It was a beautiful experience and my physical condition made it more so - it was a loving cuddle that I really damn needed.

I have a snapshot of me and Ira tucked in the sleeve of my copy of "Painful," taken when they did an acoustic show at my school. Ira wrote on a the back: "A secret message: TUO PORD."

One of the best shows I ever saw was Eleventh Dream Day at Lounge Axe in ... '94? With Ira as second guitarist. Pure guitar bliss.

Misread the setlist right above as featuring Neil Young, rather than covering Neil Young. But you never know! They got Ray Davies, after all. And the blurry picture on the "Painful" jacket is the plate of leftover fries Neil Young didn't finish when Ira interviewed him for Spin way back when.

haha, is that right? i don't think i knew that. neil would probably enjoy jamming with ylt. i wonder when the last time was that he played a place the size of maxwell's.

anyone read Jarnow's book?

The centre of the New Jersey trio Yo La Tengo's 1993 album, Painful, features a blurred polaroid of a plate of French fries. Neil Young's French fries. Yo La Tengo's guitarist Ira Kaplan, a moon-faced thirtysomething once described as "the Jewish Jimi Hendrix", had lunched with the grandfather of grunge in a New York restaurant and asked the waitress to wrap his leftover sandwich. Young's uneaten fries were accidentally wrapped with it, and were soon back in the apartment Kaplan shares with his wife Georgia Hubley, Yo La Tengo's drummer, co-vocalist and the daughter of John Hubley, the creator of the cartoon character Mr Magoo. At first they attempted to preserve the historic fries, dating as they did from the week of Young's acclaimed MTV unplugged performance. "Initially, we refrigerated them but, hey, cooked potatoes have a half-life," Kaplan explains. "We thought about varnishing, but eventually we decided on photodocumentation." Lucky. The inherent weirdness of the daughter of the creator of Mr Magoo varnishing Neil Young's French fries for future generations doesn't bear contemplation.

Found this somewhere just now, though I don't remember how I knew about the fries. What's weird about this is how much it misses to mention the importance of Georgia's mom, or her dad's awesome feud with Walt Disney.

xp yeah, i did. i liked it a lot -- it loses a little bit once the band falls into the standard album-tour-album-tour rhythm at the end, but the early stuff is really well done. the peripheral info about maxwell's / wfmu / etc is interesting as well.

i don't think i've read kaplan's interview with neil -- is it online?

Kaplan, Ira. "Interview." Spin. Vol. 8, No. 12. March 1993.

Awesome, I found it in here!

http://books.google.com/books?id=6ADSCfip83cC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=ira+kaplan+spin+neil+young&source=bl&ots=WRr2nwQTOR&sig=wN6MIS6xbscu7nRtK89f5mUAZTY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XYjHUI3bKuiligKYkoDIBQ&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=ira%20kaplan%20spin%20neil%20young&f=false

Page 57.

nice! thx

Real Estate tonight. By far my very favorite newer band. Would have liked to be there and see those guys all jam together. The lead singer told me Yo La Tengo is his biggest influence so this must be really special for them.

sweet f'n jesus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3jE-muV7iE

sick! love that bill million is so ocd that even on sister ray he keeps his rhythm part totally together.

totally. An anchor amongst the chaos.

I, uh, ... that didn't seem that chaotic. I guess I'm just burned out on the band.

A poor choice of wording on my part. It's more unpracticed than chaotic. But Bill is dead certain to make every change at the appropriate time while the rest do their best to just keep chugging at whatever speed they can. He keeps it from being too sloppy.

False Alarm (with DW & SD)

want to hear this so bad

jarnow book only recommended if not having read the only yo la tengo book out there is gonna nag at you. some annoying errors, not a lot of insight, but you definitely get a sense of context for the early years

yeahhh, was hoping an nyc taper recording would be forthcoming of the feelie la tengo jamz. those dudes are slacking!

The book is best for examining the early NJ/NYC indie rock scene; YLT is really the frame around most of that discussion.

yeah i almost wish it was more of an our band could be your life book with chapters on the bongos, and the dbs and shit. ylt were such passive participants, and there was so little insight into the personalities or their music (it's referenced how little ira knew about guitar at first, but we never get a real sense of when/how became mr wall of pedals) that would have been better to just be like "and then they lived matadorly ever after"

contrary to earlier rumors, it was El-P and John Oliver tonight.

didnt recognize many of the covers (of which there weren't a lot) aside from "I Can Hear Music"

https://soundcloud.com/nyctaper/19-sister-ray-vu

last time i saw yo la tengo it was "no smoking by request of the artist," fuck them. had bought tickets in advance too.

Hmmm, I used to smoke, but this bothers me not at all any more. Can't you go outside and smoke, or take a break from smoking for an hour? Not that I don't smoke, I can totally understand why non-smokers cannot stand to play in a room full of smoke. Seems more like something the venue needs to be up front about, not the musicians.

Uh, that was supposed to say "Now that I don't smoke"

it's been so long since i've lived in a state where you can smoke in a club.

Yeah, me too. But also, at this point, if I like the musician, I am fully on board with making touring/playing shows as cool for them as possible, especially if they are not millionaires and are still out there fighting the good fight. The cards are mostly stacked against them.