YLT

Setlist

I arrived at the music store an hour ahead of schedule, picked up a copy of the new album + the free poster, and waited in front of the stage set up in front of several aisles of albums. The band entered and began tuning up their instruments, and suddenly started performing an impromptu song. For a moment, I thought they were starting a live show 45 minutes ahead of the official time (and wondering, this is kind of awesome but who does that???).

The audience clapped as the song finished, and Ira, in his soft-spoken voice, responded, "...Well if you enjoyed our sound test that much, we hope you enjoy the actual thing!" And then they left the stage.

I had to leave for a bit to repark the car, and when I got back I'd lost my place as the store was suddenly packed with people waiting around the aisles to watch the set. I snuck in between a few people slightly further away, and a quarter-hour later the band came back, starting up with the mellow-sounding "The Point of It."

And it was good. I don't think I've felt so at laid back and at peace while seeing a band live- even the mellower concerts (Beach House, Feist, Beirut?) still felt a bit theatrical in comparison, although that may have been due to the venue being much more vast and official in comparison to the interior of a music store.

They even made light of the fact that it was a music store a few times.

Ira (on a technical malfunction): "...and this would be a good time to peruse the items around you! We'll let you know when we're ready."

Ira (later): "We hope you come back even when we're not here!"

Despite often sounding so soft and mellow, when Yo La Tengo rocks, they rock hard. It was something to see Ira suddenly disappear under the heads of the front people in the audience during "Ohm," his back turned, hunched over while he rocked away a series of discordant guitar riffs set against the continuous background music of James's bass and Georgia's constant drum-tempo.

And then he'd suddenly come back to the microphone in a trance-like state, arms tense, eyes closed, struggling to resist the pull of his roaring guitar while singing the final lines in unison with the rest of the band:

But nothing ever stays the same
Nothing's explained
The stronger the wind, the faster we'll fly
'Cause this is it for all we know
So say good night to me
And lose no more time
No time
Resisting the flow

And after the song finished:

Ira: "Looks like we'll be doing one more song! ...I guess we'll be doing a Sun Ra cover since there's a poster of him behind us."

And they proceed to perform a Sun Ra cover on the spot. Wiki wasn't lying about their encyclopedic repertoire of cover songs.

Definitely seeing them again when they come back to SF for the official tour in May.