REVIEW: Yo La Tengo 2/27/23

Yo La Tengo - Teragram Ballroom

Yo La Tengo. I always thought that was a silly name for a trio of straight-faced white folks making soft, artful indie rock. Spanish for “I have it,” the name comes from old baseball lore. In 1962, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn frequently collided with shortstop Elio Chacon in the outfield. When going in for the catch Ashburn would yell, “I got it! I got it!”. Chacon, however, only spoke Spanish, so with time, Ashburn learned to yell, “Yo la tengo!” instead. 

It's a niche reference and an odd story for a band to be named after. But I digress. Why question something as trivial as a name for a group so iconic and cemented into the canon of indie rock? They have, after all, been racking in rave reviews from critics, synthesizing unique genres and sounds, and generating a dense cult following for nearly forty years now. And after last Monday’s show at the Teragram Ballroom, the final night of a three-night run at the venue, one thing is for certain: they’ve still got it.

When a band has been around for so long their live shows can be a bit of a gamble. Sometimes so iconic, yet some of the worst live shows I’ve been to have been from bands that have been around—and been successful—for the longest periods of time. Low effort and low energy, it's like they want to know this is the thousandth show they’ve ever played and that each one has been indistinguishable from the last. With nothing new to prove, why even bother? Though susceptible to this very trap, Yo La Tengo does quite the opposite.

The show was a masterful performance of innovation and talent. The band members were personable and intimate. The setlist was unpredictable and far-reaching. The first set of the night began with “Sinatra Drive Breakdown,” an explosive track filled with a throbbing beat loop behind guitarist Ira Kaplan’s noisy experimentation. Its refined chaos, classic Yo La Tengo with a distinctly contemporary haze, and true evidence that they’re experts at their craft and still willing to try new things. 

With a solid foundation laid the trio loosened up, proving their willingness to play around a little. Georgia Hubley and James McNew traded off on drums, Hubley and Kaplan alternated their time on the mic, and Kaplan moved from guitar to keys. In one instance, Kaplan awkwardly hopped off the keys, trotted across the stage, struck a single cymbal on the drum kit, and sat right back down. Acting like a toddler who got an impulsive urge to knock something over, the audience audibly chuckled at his little gesture. I must admit, I never expected to laugh at a Yo La Tengo show…

Though the band is often stereotyped as peak sad indie music, shockingly, throughout the night laughs abound. During “Ohm”, a warm song with luscious vocal melodies, Kaplan opened up the embrace to the audience by handing his guitar to the crowd. Fans acted as if, even if just for a moment, they too could shred like Kaplan by virtue of having his instrument in hand. The funniest part of the set though was their dazzling cover of Sun Ra’s “Nuclear War.” Imagine an average-looking 66-year-old man repeatedly singing “If they push that button. You can kiss your ass. If they push that button. Your ass got to go” with deadpan delivery against a funky jazz track while a crowd of Silver Lake millennials awkwardly grooved with a beer in hand.

With the audience in high spirits, Yo La Tengo closed the set with fan-favorite, “Our Way to Fall.” As the song began, the girl next to me said “Oh God, I’m gonna cry for this”, which is to say that throughout the night we laughed, we cried, and everyone felt something—even if just a fleeting moment of bliss triggered by the epitome of Yo La Tengo’s sound.

After wiping away their tears the audience roared for minutes after the set in anticipation of an encore. The already impressive two-and-half-hour performance, continued with a high-brow selection of obscure covers by The Shangri-Las, Gene Clark, and Love, a move in line with their status in the upper echelons of the indie-rock elite. 

At the same time though Yo La Tengo never quite buys into its own hype and pretensions. During the encore, the band brought out Travis Good of The Sadies to join on guitar. Kaplan expressed “The last few nights of shows have been amazing. If I were to have one regret it’s that we couldn't be at Zebulon this weekend to catch The Sadies play.” Acclaimed as they are, Yo La Tengo is perhaps not so different from the rest of us. After all, they too just want to go to Zebulon on a Saturday night.

- Dina Pasha aka dj dean
RIYL:  Belle and Sebastian, Wilco, Stereolab, Mazzy Star