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Since YO LA TENGO play a completely different set on each of the 8 nights of Hanukkah, I decided to check out the New Year’s Eve show (which coincided with the 7th night of Hanukkah this year) in addition to the show I previously attended on the 1st night (which also happened to be on Christmas Day).
To get things started, the long-running Hoboken band THE SCENE IS NOW opened the show. Although they’re a favorite of Yo La Tengo’s (hence their appearance on the bill) I’d never heard them before and I liked what I heard. Despite the fact that singer CHRIS NELSON was battling throat problems, they still managed to pull off a set that felt like the last 25 years of music hadn’t affected them in the slightest. They reminded me of bands that played at CBGB in the late ‘70s, such as RICHARD HELL AND THE VOIDOIDS or perhaps MINK DEVILLE. In other words, I really liked them and I’ll have to check out some of their stuff. Towards the end of their set, AMY RIGBY(who would reappear in Yo La Tengo’s encore) joined them on stage for a song called “In Justice Hides.”
After their set, comedian FRED ARMISEN (a regular on Saturday Night Live and the former drummer of TRENCHMOUTH) came on. Having seen him bomb once before at a LES SAVY FAV/THUNDERBIRDS ARE NOW! show at Bowery Ballroom last August, I was curious to hear how he’d make out with an older and possibly more receptive crowd. As it turns out, his routine was as bizarre as ever, eschewing the usual stand-up routine and joke-telling in favor of conducting an audience participation project. Throughout his time on stage, he pretended to be different kinds of comedians, including a political one and one who had just gotten his start and was having nervous jitters, all the while claiming that the audience’s reaction would be recorded (yeah, right!). Despite the fact that Armisen is always interesting, his comedy always leaves me scratching my head more than laughing. I wonder what his girlfriend MARTHA PLIMPTON, whom we spotted at the show, thought of his act. [She probably loves it… -ed.]
Right after midnight (and a complimentary champagne toast), Yo La Tengo took the stage to ring in the New
Year in true party fashion. Bassist JAMES MCNEW was dressed up as DR. FINK (the keyboardist in PRINCE’s backing band THE REVOLUTION) and drummer GEORGIA HUBLEY reprised her Robin costume from the 1st night. The motivation behind James’ outfit became clear when they went straight into Prince’s “1999” (duplicating the original’s ‘pass the baton’ style vocals), which was at first sung by James and then guitarist/singer IRA KAPLAN and then Armisen, who joined them on stage in a Prince outfit. An Armisen-sung version of Prince’s “When You Were Mine” followed and to be honest, the $30 ticket price was worth it for that alone! Other highlights in the main set included a cover of the BOB DYLAN rarity “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” the absolutely beautiful “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Sugarcube,” perhaps Yo La Tengo’s best song and an appropriate New Year’s song because of its lyrics.
For the encore, they brought out Amy Rigby and WRECKLESS ERIC, who has performed with them in the past. Continuing their tribute to Jewish songwriters this time of year, they sang a version of PAUL SIMON’s “Red Rubber Ball” and reprised SERGE GAINSBOURG’s “Je T’Aime” to finish the show.
Overall, while it was another terrific performance from Yo La Tengo, I preferred the previous show primarily because the sound was much better. At times, it was hard to hear Georgia’s vocals and some of the instruments seemed muffled at times as well. This quibble aside, it was the best possible way I could imagine spending New Years Eve, and at $30, a relative bargain. Here’s to them continuing this tradition in the future!
LINKS:
THE SCENE IS NOW
YO LA TENGO
FRED ARMISEN
