Yo La Tengo.  9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.  16 September 2000

So tell me.  What is it about Yo La Tengo?  Why are three unprepossessing people, based in Hoboken even, so good?

For starters, I guess, the three of them are fine musicians with a good ear for a good song.  YLT are famous (yeah, right) for their wide and varied repertoire.  "You Sexy Thing", an old Hot Chocolate number methinks, was a featured encore on Saturday night.  Added to that, they write fine, fine words and melodies.  "And then...", the newish one with the dark piccie on the front, is 60 odd minutes of serious tune smithery.  I heard on NPR that when Ira Kaplan delivered his demos to the others in the group their collective jaws dropped.  Each tune rings the emotions.  Each is very personal.  Musically, YLT encompass the  kaleidoscope of the indie genre from Americana through R&B to freakout to punk.  "And then.." is different because of that emotional stream that runs throughout, but it does not belie YLT's indie roots.  From hugely touching "Tears Are in Your Eyes" to the bouncy "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House", punky "Cherry Chapstick" and back to the elegiac "Night Falls on Hoboken".

Then there is the presence on stage.  Saturday night the three of them filled a big stage.  How do I explain this?  I don't know if I can and I know it sounds pretentious.  But, you could have had planes landed next door.  The place could have been on fire.  Doesn't matter; YLT demanded attention.  They tugged on the lapel and said "excuse me, but I think you ought to listen to this."  And we did.

Third time this year, I think I've mentioned that.  I'll mention it again.  Back in February, YLT played a sit down gig at the 9:30.  Lambchop opened and laid their own mellow alt-Nashville vibe.  YLT came on with half of Superchunk in tow.  Great stuff.  Some knock out tracks from "And then...", some older stuff and that funny Birthday treat for Georgia.

March up in Baltimore.  J was overcome by the stuffy atmosphere in Fletcher's.  The anarchic Happy Flowers were a perfectly irreverent warm up: James McNew on drums.  YLT were near perfect in the claustrophobic atmosphere.  We got to hear the "remix" version of "Autumn Sweater".  We made it home by about 2 on a school night, but shit we didn't care, we'd been Tengoed.

Saturday.  Different feel.  Standup job in the 930.  Versus on first - turn up the volume to 11 and hope for the best.  (Highly regarded indie band I'm told.)  The headliners come on and give us "Tired Hippo" and "Sugarcube" and you think fine.  But, gradually after a couple more (especially from "And then...) and you think, crikey my synapses are jangling (must have been the beer, ed.)  We danced along to "Tears" and (later "You Sexy Thang").  By "Blue Line Swinger", I was out of my mind (and drunk).

What can I say.  Two hours with these three guys (plus the geezer pluck from the audience to play the bongos on "Sexy Thing") and it felt like they were old friends who'd come for the weekend and you'd just had a pretty good time.  Shared some beers.  Told some stories.  Enjoyed a laugh.  Gone for a pizza.  Taken the dogs for a walk.  And finished off having a shag.  No, I don't mean that.

Ah!  It's all bollocks.  I can't put into words.  Maybe I'm just in love with YLT?
 

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