Line-up

Headliner
Yo La Tengo Last time in New York (NYC): 1 month ago

Venue

Bowery Ballroom

6 Delancey Street, 10002, New York (NYC), NY, US

www.boweryballroom.com

Capacity: 550

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Additional details

Doors open: 19:30

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Yo La Tengo biography

Yo La Tengo is an indie-rock band formed of husband/wife Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley originating from Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.

The name Yo La Tengo means “I have it” or “I’ve got her” in Spanish and is due to the band not wanting a name with any English connotations.

The band’s first two LP entitled “Ride The Tiger” and “New Wave Hot Dogs” released on Coyote Records were the first glimpse of real potential for the band, and their follow up to it “President Yo La Tengo” almost sealed their fate in becoming a seriously well-acclaimed band.

The band is defined by their experimentation, their unwillingness to repeat past successes, their proclivity for space-rock drone sounds, jagged guitar, and unorthodox covers. They epitomise the obscure complexities of garage rock without any of the pretence familiar with indie-bands attempting to achieve cult status.

In 1993 Yo La Tengo joined forces with Matador Records and their first album on the new label “Painful” was produced by Roger Moutenot, who continued to produce all of their subsequent albums until 2013’s “Fade.” It was also the first album to feature James McNew on all of the songs. James McNew had been drumming solo under the moniker Dump before joining Yo La Tengo and his arrival gave the band a new emphasis, taking them to new heights.

After more than 30 years Yo La Tengo's albums have hit double figures, most of which were received with universal critical acclaim, yet the band are still challenging themselves, finding new ground to tread and new perspectives to view from.

Live reviews

Yo la Tengo is one of the most hardworking bands in the music industry consistently cranking out great albums and touring regularly. Their music translates best when performed live as the band experiments with bold and interesting sounds that keep the audience thoroughly engaged. For a three-piece band, Yo la Tengo holds its form quite well. Drummer, Georgia Hubley, holds down the rhythm with her atmospheric style of playing and often lends her vocals to create a beautiful Nico-esque quality of singing, James McNew plays intricate rhythms on the bass helping put form to the song when guitarist, Ira Kaplan experiments with crazy, howling tones on his guitar. Yo la Tengo are masters at taking complete cacophonic sounds and turning them into a beautiful, catchy melody. Perhaps the best part about a Yo la Tengo show is when they veer off from traditional form into an impromptu jam session incorporating shoegaze guitar playing into the mix. This band has been together for quite some time and knows exactly how to play off of each other.
It is quite clear from a Yo la Tengo performance that they are not only incredibly knowledgeable about how to play their instruments, but they are also incredibly knowledgeable of their musical history incorporating many different styles of playing into their performance. They also have a wide range of obscure covers they perform live including artists such as Daniel Johnston, Booker T. & The MG’s, and Small Faces. Yo la Tengo is always doing something unique when they perform live, whether its splitting up their set into acoustic and electric sets or using a giant spinning wheel to dictate the songs they perform. Yo la Tengo was also very accommodating to their audience when I saw them perform by honoring the wishes of the audience’s song selections.
There are evident reasons why Yo la Tengo has a strong cult following and are recognized as “the quintessential critic’s band”. When going to a Yo la Tengo concert you will never know what to expect, except a great time of music making.

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