I requested review tickets for this show months ago, but I almost didn\u2019t make it. I was running late, having stomach issues, and my concert buddy wasn\u2019t picking up their phone. Despite all this, I rallied through my illness, woke my friend up from their nap, and we were off. By the time we got to First Avenue, the lines were around the block with SOLD OUT signs up on all the doors. We eventually got in and wriggled our way to get a decent view of the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I must confess I am not the most knowledgeable fan of Yo La Tengo. They\u2019ve been around since the late 1980s, and having just released their seventeenth album, they have a massive discography. I know the albums \u201cI Can Hear the Heart Beating As One,\u201d \u201cAnd Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out\u201d, and \u201cPainful\u201d from front to back, and have been getting to know their newest release \u201cThis Stupid World\u201d a lot recently. I\u2019ve listened to their other albums sporadically, and some that I don\u2019t know at all. I wasn\u2019t sure what to expect from the show because of this, but I came in ready for anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The band came out and without saying a word, began playing the single \u201cSinatra Drive Breakdown\u201d from the new release \u201cThis Stupid World\u201d. I immediately noticed a guitar rack to the right of guitarist Ira Kaplan, with at least seven guitars hanging from it. In between most every song, a stagehand rushed in to swap the guitars. I was surprised by the degree of fluidity between the members. While the members stuck to their instruments around half of the time (Ira on guitar, Georgia on drums, James on bass), they showed their competency across the board as there were multiple times where everybody shuffled to play each other\u2019s instruments. For example, there was a stretch where Georgia got up from her drums, hopped on the keyboard, and then to the mic for lead vocals. James moved to percussion a handful of times while Ira switched to the synth as well. It was really cool noticing how the play style changed when the band swapped their instruments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After their fourth song, \u201cThe Summer,\u201d Ira finally addressed the crowd and told them how happy they were to be back playing in Minneapolis after not playing here for a long time. There was some displeasure from the band about the removal of pinball machines from First Ave, to much agreement from the crowd (I think this predates the First Ave experiences I\u2019ve had over the past four years). They then moved on to perform a few more songs from This Stupid World. After \u201cMiles Away,\u201d the band stepped off stage to take a break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 20 minutes later, the band came back on, refreshed to play the second set. The second half had songs selected from a wider selection of their albums beyond the newest. I was thrilled to hear \u201cStockholm Syndrome\u201d and \u201cAutumn Sweater\u201d off of \u201cI Can Hear the Heart Beating as One\u201d and a few songs from \u201cPainful.\u201d I was a little disappointed that they didn\u2019t play anything from my personal favorite \u201cAnd Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out,\u201d but that was abated when an older man with shoulder length white hair came on stage. I didn\u2019t immediately recognize him, but when Ira introduced him as \u201cAlan\u201d I finally realized it was Alan Sparhawk from the legendary indie band Low. They finished the set with \u201cI Heard You Looking,\u201d going on for an astounding 10 minute performance. It was a real treat to get to see these legendary musicians play together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They weren\u2019t quite done though! After walking off stage, the band came back to play a few more songs. Ira shared with the crowd that his first time coming to Minneapolis, years before Yo La Tengo formed, was to see the historic Minneapolis band NNB play. He then invited Mark Freeman from NNB to perform a cover of the Neil Young song \u201cTime Fades Away\u201d. Alan then came back on to perform a lively cover of \u201cDreams\u201d by Fleetwood Mac. The set then closed out with an enchanting cover of Sun Ra\u2019s \u201cDreaming\u201d sung by Georgia, setting us all off for the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yo La Tengo put on a hell of a performance and did an impressive job playing from so much of their catalog. It was really cool to see the mix of audience, as there was a fun variety of older and younger fans. I\u2019m really glad I got to see them perform and would definitely recommend any fan of them to catch them on tour!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"