The last time that I caught Yo La Tengo in concert here in Leeds was in June 2011. At that time the New Jersey indie legends were already the best part of three decades and no less than a dozen albums into their career in music. And that night they were in the midst of their Reinventing the Wheel tour, the one where a huge wheel of fortune was placed on the stage. Divided into several different sections – including such subjects as Freewheeling, Sounds of Science, and Condo Fucks (a Yo La Tengo alter-ego from two years earlier) – and with each one identified by its own circus-style lettering, the wheel was then spun round by a band member.
That night at The Cockpit – a live music venue located under the railway arches at Leeds station that sadly no longer exists – the wheel stopped on Spinner’s Choice and Yo La Tengo duly opted for Sitcom Theatre. So we got a handful of theme-related tunes, including their marvellous cover of The Kinks’ ‘This Is Where I Belong.’ The remainder of the evening was then given over to a more conventional Yo La Tengo set.
Yet seasoned observers of the band will know that there is no such thing as a conventional Yo La Tengo set. Even after 40 years in the business and with the same core trio of Ira Kaplan (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Georgia Hubley (vocals, drums, keyboards), and James McNew (vocals, bass, guitar, keyboard) for the best part of that time, the keys to the continuing success of their live shows are a communal commitment to never standing still creatively, unwavering spontaneity, and a strong desire to always keep the audience guessing.
And reassuringly tonight’s show firmly adheres to those time-honoured Yo La Tengo values. No two setlists are ever the same with this band and when Ira Kaplan tells us “we’re gonna play a lot of songs by the time we’re outta here” we know we are in for a long ride that will be every bit as exciting as it will be unexpected. Sure, they play trusty old stalwarts like ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and ‘Sugarcube’ but there is a more than generous double-handful of tunes from their most recent album, last year’s brilliant This Stupid World and a clutch of sublime covers that would be nigh on impossible to predict beforehand.
For two and a half hours Yo La Tengo take us on a mesmerising journey across their back catalogue from 1992’s May I Sing With Me – represented here by a delicious ‘Satellite’ – to This Stupid World and then for some seriously good measure they throw in not one but four stunning cover versions at the end. Long before we get to that, though, they front load most of the newer material into the first half of the show – the performance is bisected by a short intermission – which a furiously splintered guitar interjection in ‘Sinatra Drive Breakdown’ aside is certainly a more gentler listening experience.
But after the break and come ‘False Alarm’ the pace and power dramatically change. Yo La Tengo suddenly step on the gas, as if metamorphosing into their fellow Americans Suicide on helium. By now Ira Kaplan is on keyboards – the three musicians routinely rotate instruments all night – and his feet are banging on the keys like some latter day Jerry Lee Lewis. ‘Fallout’ and ‘Brain Capers’ from This Stupid World are both infused with the same frantic energy, all angular guitar and thundering rhythms, and by the time they reach ‘Little Honda’ this particular world has begun to spin off its axis. Kaplan is off the stage and down into the photo pit handing out a guitar to the front row of the crowd who proceed to bang out an unconventional riff on its six strings. I don’t think The Beach Boys have ever quite sounded like this.
Returning for an encore or four, Yo La Tengo first nod in the direction of The Who and their seminal live album which was recorded just up the road from here at the university more than half a century ago. But rather than playing anything from that record – I mean, why would they? – they choose instead to go down a more unpredictable path with ‘Disguises’, a relatively obscure Who song from 1966 which they had last performed in this fair city six years ago.
Yo La Tengo then pay further homage to Leeds by taking ‘Hard to be Human’ by the late local art collective The Mekons and giving it some suitably rugged treatment. That then just leaves enough time to reduce the temperature and bring it all back home with first a delicate ‘Our Way To Fall’ and then, almost as a complete but most welcome afterthought, a beautiful reading of Sandy Denny’s ‘By The Time It Gets Dark.’
