6 March 2007

Yo La Tengo gigs are famous for the surprise factor. As is to be expected with a band that have been releasing albums solidly since the mid-80s, the back catalogue is far too big to please everybody. There’s just so much material, and because Yo La Tengo are so wildly eclectic, with 15 minute white noise jams and shoegazing epics from their early period jostling for position alongside folk, jazz and basic indie pop, a gig can be a bit of a mixed bag if you are a fan of only some aspects of their sound.

Unfortunately for me, the start of the gig was one interminable screechy slow jam centered around one particular track I was hoping they wouldn’t play: Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind, their latest album’s opener. Although quite hypnotic in its recorded form, live, and 20 minutes in, the urge to scream ‘enough already!’ was virtually overpowering. It might have had something to do with the treble-heavy mix, which sent more than one punter into the street for a ciggie until the blitzkrieg was over. That might not sound very rock 'n roll, but then, with the exception of a few fresh faces lured by the brilliantly titled latest album I’m Not Afraid Of You and I Will Beat Your Ass many of the punters were a bit more mature and creaky, and were waiting to hear early nineties favourites like Big Day Coming – and come it did, but not until the bitter end. And not until a few new tinnitus casualties had been chalked up; the feedback levels would have made Sonic Youth proud.

As expected there was some light relief. It started when they lowered the gears into the more ambient, languid The Last Days of Disco. There followed a mini set of pop-tinged and accessible songs from the most recent album. A highlight was Mr Tough, an irresistibly catchy song that almost sounds like a TV jingle, even though the falsetto vocals were a bit shaky in a live setting. Not so Georgia’s lush, girlish, country-tinged vocals which dominated songs like I Feel Like Going Home, which soothed some still-aching eardrums in the audience.

For old dudes, Yo La Tengo have tonnes of stamina, and just when you thought you had them sussed, they’d pull out another 11-minute jam. Ira had the look of a mad scientist as he shunted between keyboards and guitars, stopping for very short periods to chat with James, who nodded and tapped on the spot like a librarian possessed. But at times you felt as if they’d be doing the same thing over at their clubhouse in Hoboken for 11 hours straight without stopping, oblivious to who was there. It can be an isolating experience if you’re not up there creating the noise too.

Yo La Tengo are always impressive, but at their best they are quirky and fun, which is why it was slightly disappointing that their set was taken up with some long, humourless dirges. There was a large element of the crowd who would probably vigourously disagree with me when I say that I found parts of the gig excruciating, but then, that is the nature of a band as wide-ranging and diverse as Yo La Tengo.

Susanna Nelson