C or D : Yo La Tengo

Nice!

I’m sure it was the 930, where I saw a lot of shows in those days since bands didn’t make it to Baltimore.

I’d just gotten a new car stereo a few days before, and someone stole it during the show, but the show was so good that I wasn’t as angry or scared as I should’ve been.

Incredible live band. Saw them on their Fade tour, and even though the material from that album is not my favourite, their gig still stands out as one of my favourite ever. Was most impressed that these 50/60yo's were rocking harder than any of the 20yo bands I was guzzling up week by week at other shows. Consummate professionals

feels incredibly rude to say it, but -- i could generally, for 35 years, do without the slow songs sung by ira

nah I feel ya

Georgia doing "Ruler Of My Heart" otoh, that slayed me when I (finally) saw them on that tour where they spun the wheel for the first set (I forget which great album that tour was for)

The second half of "Brain Capers" is my favorite thing on the album.

I was reading the lyrics for "Brain Capers" and got curious what the line about Rick Moranis was referring to. Apparently it's this SCTV sketch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JLbhEUE_5U

(For anyone keeping track, that's [at least] the second Rick Moranis reference in the YLT catalog, if you count namechecking Big Bully in "We're an American Band")

I don't think I was at the Yo La Tengo show at 930 in 1997, but I remember seeing Yo La Tengo doing a bunch of old punk covers at an in-store at Vinyl Ink Records in Silver Spring (store was open from 1986 to 1999). I forget the exact year.

I like it when they shake things up a bit live, like when they play as the Condo Fucks or, a highpoint, when iirc Mac from Superchunk, David Kilgour and Susie Ibarra played with them for the "And then Nothing ..." show I saw in 2000. A personal highlight was Eleventh Dream Day with Ira as second guitarist at Lounge Ax around 1994. Maybe it's just been projection, since the albums haven't clicked with me, but a couple of shows I've seen in the past 20 (!) years seemed less interesting, or at least the band seemed less interested. I was hoping to see them here next month, but it's sold out, and secondary market has priced tickets at $100+ (lol).

finally getting some repeat listens of the new one, and I'm really enjoying it. i can see why it's being compared a bit to their late nineties stuff - the ones which most closely approximate that era are stacked up front in the track order, and at times it seems like they're almost returning to certain melodies from ICHTHBAO and ATNTIIO (these acronyms kick ass to type!). but the album doesn't come off like a nostalgia trip at all. and i'm not sure i've heard them in the mode of "miles away" before, with the heavy synth action reminiscent of some of Adore, which is not a late nineties guitar band comparison i usually think about with yo la tengo!

they carried over there's a riot going on's focus on texture and ambience into a mostly louder and more energetic context

What’s up with that moment at 6:50 of “Sinatra Drive Breakdown” where McNew plays a different bass progression exactly once? Sounds like it's about to finally start a new section and then it just… doesn't. Gets me every time

with the heavy synth action reminiscent of some of Adore, which is not a late nineties guitar band comparison i usually think about with yo la tengo!

Weirdly enough, I keep hearing the the verse melody from "Rocket" in "This Stupid World"

Like JiC I missed my chance to get tickets to see them this time around and I'm bummed. Saw them for the first time in many years on the Riot tour and they were really good.

Wow, can't believe three figure tickets for theses guys! Really happy I didn't sleep on grabbing my ticket.

It felt really good to be able to buy the CD at a local store this past weekend.

Brooklyn Steel still has plenty - $53.70 after fees and some new feature will you pay $15 more to get in earlier if you want a prime spot.

Ha, it was kind of painful to be at a shop this weekend and NOT buy it, since I'm still waiting for my copy. Danger of pre-ordering directly through Bandcamp, means you usually have to wait a little longer.

Been resisting listening to this all week because I'm a stubborn contrarian dumbass and I wanted to wait until the hype died down a bit, but I gave in today, and this record is really good. I'm actually less enthusiastic about the jam-ier ons on this one, but the run of songs between "Fallout" and "Apology Letter" contains maybe some of my favorite YLT music in years. "Miles Away" is a beaut, too

Every time I put it on my family comes in during a noisy stretch and makes me turn it off, so I haven't really heard it yet.

Also, anyone notice how the "Until It Happens" chorus melody bears a striking similarity to "Teenage Riot?" (not a complaint)

It’s wild to me that they haven’t released a live record.

I was very pleased that the track "Brain Capers" contains a reference to this sketch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JLbhEUE_5U

(Rick Moranis as Michael McDonald on SCTV)

Fuck me sideways, This Stupid World is a great listen.

In particular, "Miles Away" has the rare quality of sounding softer and gentler the louder I turn it up. The warm, enveloping, shoegazy chord progression and wordless chorus have such a timeless feeling. Don't get me wrong, the skronky tracks are great, but "Miles Away" is my runaway favorite on the album.

yeah I love it

(the whole thing, to be clear, particularly the assured motorik of the opening track)

Saw them last night, they were so good. Like, best-American-rock-band good, the quiet songs were pindrop beautiful, the noisy songs were SO LOUD, the way they all switched off on vocals, keys and percussion. And Ira's guitar playing at some mythical meeting place of Verlaine and Garcia, with a little McGuinn thrown in. (Best American rock guitarist?) Loved every bit of it.

I was recently hanging with some people and a dude was going on about the Foo Fighters being the Last Great American Rock Band. His wife knows I'm a music nerd and asked me who I thought that would be and I immediately answered Yo La Tengo. "Who?" I tried to sell them on it but I doubt they checked it out later.

One thing I love about seeing them live is really getting how crucial James McNew is. A fantastic bass player who's also a fantastic singer, he adds a lot of layers.

Also I feel like they might be at their peak RIGHT NOW, I don't think they've ever been better.

xp
And he knows how to tape a key down on his keyboard to get a drone going. ;)

I've read so many great reviews of this tour, cannot wait for my chance to catch it.

really hope there will be West Coast dates after Europe

Didn't they just play a bunch of West Coast dates? Thought they kicked the tour off in Seattle and worked their way down to LA.

oh damn, you're right, they took them off the calendar, I lose

I have my fingers crossed for at least one Colorado tour date.

coming up on eight (!) years since their last show in Boulder ...

It's kind of a weird tour, two nights each in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Carrboro and Nashville, three nights in LA but only one night each in Chicago, New York, Philly and DC.

Bigger venues?

they're gonna tour more this year for sure--can't wait to see them

xpost - Not really? I mean they played two nights in Neptune Theater which seats 1,000 but only one night at the Metro here in Chicago that seats 1,100. Didn't compare all the others though.

Gonna see them this week, psyched! One bonus of James growing up in Charlottesville, VA, is that they actually come here to play. We are very lucky.

Show I was at (in Asheville) was sold out and PACKED, looks like they've been selling out pretty much everywhere on this tour. Which is awesome but maybe they actually need to be at bigger places, I don't know.

i've never seen them but they're skipping michigan so alas

this is only the first leg--they will likely announce more dates for the summer/fall in the US soon I'd bet.

did the last tour sell out so much like this? anyone remember?

I don't know the answer to that, but I was somewhat (and happily) surprised by the age range of the show I saw. I expected a lot of Gen Xers like me, and we were certainly a good chunk of the audience, but a lot of 20-30-somethings too. I don't even know where people hear Yo La Tengo these days, but the crowd seemed well versed in the material.

really hope there will be West Coast dates after Europe

― obsidian crocogolem (sleeve), Monday, March 13, 2023 10:32 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

And East Coast dates for additional markets

I think the last couple of shows they played in Chicago were sold out. The one next week is so sold out I didn't even see any secondary market tickets available, though I lucked into a pair. Psyched, it's been possibly 10 years since I last saw them.

I don't know the answer to that, but I was somewhat (and happily) surprised by the age range of the show I saw. I expected a lot of Gen Xers like me, and we were certainly a good chunk of the audience, but a lot of 20-30-somethings too. I don't even know where people hear Yo La Tengo these days, but the crowd seemed well versed in the material.

When I saw their free show in Central Park in 2017, that was pretty much the age group around me - not far from college age, if at all.

FWIW, I was in the very front and the highlight was when Ira climbed over the barrier, seemingly towards me. When he jumped down the stage holding his guitar, I got a little concerned - irrationally but given the determination and speed with which he was moving, it just instinctively felt like he was going to come after me or something. Instead, he thrust his guitar into the hands of the guy next to me and told him to play. He stepped away for a bit, and then after about 10 or 15 seconds, he motioned to the guy to pass the guitar to me, i.e. we all get a turn going down the line. It was awesome, and with my guitar experience limited to a classical guitar class I took in school, I was mightily impressed by how much that guitar weighed and how poorly I would do to just hold it for a few hours.