A mere four and a half months after I last saw them play in Jersey City last September, I was eagerly awaiting this show and wondering if it would be similar in both setlist and performance. At that time, their terrific last album I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass had just been released, so understandably, they played most of it and focused the show on its material. In all honesty, tonight wasn’t much different, but that was fine with me. It’s always a treat, for example, to hear JAMES MCNEW’s falsetto pleading a tough guy to “meet me on the dance floor” on “Mr. Tough” and to hear IRA KAPLAN wail mercilessly on his guitar on such songs as “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind”. In fact, this song (which was the second song played on this evening) was the highlight of the evening, it’s over ten minute length on the recorded version extended to what felt like at least fifteen on this evening. Its repetitive and oh so addictive groove could have gone on forever at that moment and I would be happy. Another highlight was when Ira essentially assaulted an organ due to the intensity of his playing on “Big Day Coming”. Beyond that, other oldies like the beautiful “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Sugarcube”, which was played during the first encore, were also covered. Despite this, they managed to play for over two hours, including a long first encore that spanned four songs and include a cover of THE KINKS’ “God’s Children”, which Ira introduced by saying “this is a song about a penis transplant” (funny and true). On another song, a cover of REX GARVIN’s “Emulsified”, they brought out openers THE ROSEBUDS.
One of the great things about Yo La Tengo is that they choose their openers carefully and usually that means that the opener is really good. The Rosebuds, fortunately, are no exception. I’d only seen them once previously (opening for SONS AND DAUGHTERS at Northsix in Brooklyn a little over a year ago) and while they were just as good on this evening, if not better, they were also notably different. Instead of their customary indie rock meets roots/rockabilly mix, they sound more influenced by early ‘80s new wave and post-punk than they ever have previously. The new songs they played (which are all on their upcoming album) reminded me of early ‘80s stalwarts like U2 and BIG COUNTRY and less of say, FLAT DUO JETS, who they’d reminded me of previously. One song even stole the bassline from HALL AND OATES’ “Maneater” while sounding like an outtake from BILLY IDOL’s Rebel Yell album (which is not a bad thing, by the way). Nevertheless, they did all these (meanwhile adding an extra guitarist and a bass player to their three-piece lineup) songs without sacrificing their pop sensibilities and to be honest, their cuteness, which is inherently part of their appeal. Singer/keyboardist KELLY CRISP even made hand-printed covers for each of the tour-only EPs they were selling.
The above photos were taken by Gary at the previous evening’s show in Baltimore and used with permission.
