Yo La Tengo, with Kurt Wagner
Saturday, January 19
Randy Bacon's Gallery Sounds, Springfield, MO
File under: Art Gallery Rock and/or Q&Acore
Better than: Kissing Ron Paul in a RuPaul costume.
By RICHARD GINTOWT
I first saw Yo La Tengo 12 freakin’ years ago at Lollapalooza 1995. It was mid-afternoon on a smoldering parking lot stage, and the artsy Hoboken, NJ, trio rocked just hard enough to impress the discerning 14-year-old critic in me. I bought their Electro-Pura LP soon thereafter, and a couple weeks later, I actually started liking it.
Hard to imagine that kissy-facers Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley have been making music twice that long (they started in 1984 and added bassist James McNew in 1991). Hence the “Freewheeling Yo La Tengo Tour” – a stripped-down venture a la VH1 Storytellers that inspired the band to book out-of-the-way venues like Randy Bacon’s Gallery Sounds in Springfield, Missouri.
The venue – a pretty nice stage inside a photography studio – is bringing lots of cool shows to Springfield. A three-hour drive from Kansas City gets you an intimate glance at upcoming acts like The Von Bondies (March 8), Headlights (March 9), Xiu Xiu (April 10) and Enon (April 22).
Kurt Wagner of Lambchop opened to a sold-out house with a subdued set of gothic folk. The charm of Wagner’s songwriting lies in his storytelling. Though his 45-minute set (humorously synched to a kitchen timer) dragged a bit without a band to complement his sparse fingerpicking arrangements, he kept the crowd engaged with Leonard Cohen-ish ruminations flummoxed by a collection of delay pedals. Between songs, Wagner posted sheets of paper on a makeshift clothesline with humorous barbs such as “Please continue talking during tonight’s performance.”
Yo La Tengo took the stage nonchalantly and kicked things off with its psychedelic take on The Simpsons theme (which appeared during one episode’s end credits). Kaplan then explained that the group would be fielding questions throughout the evening – the highlights of which I now present for your titillation:
(All responses by Kaplan)
I saw you guys at Lollapalooza last year and you kind of went insane with your guitar I was kind of wondering how you didn’t drop it.
"I don’t want to give away too many secrets – that’s for your instructional video."
What your best Steve Albini story?
"He called us once about backing up Fred Schneider for this record he was producing. I was on the phone with him for 20 minutes before I believed it was him."
What’s it like being married and on the road together? (Immediately followed by another audience member getting peeved that she was totally going to ask that question)
"We fight a lot less than you two do."
Can you play The Kinks’ “Do You Remember Walter?”
"No. We freewheel within very strict parameters."
Why don’t you guys play the blues or something that you want to play?
"For your information sir, we don’t ever play stuff that we don’t want to play."
Why did you guys come to Springfield?
"We thought this would be a good space for what we were trying to accomplish with this tour (new faces, different atmosphere, etc). Plus, our normal show contains extravagant lasers and trapeze artists."
Though the Q&A session proved engaging enough, it was a bit of a disappointment to see it take up half of the two-hour set. But I can see why a band like Yo La Tengo would enjoy such a dialogue at this point in their career – they clearly learn as much as the audience. Still, it bogged down any momentum the show gained, and it didn’t help that the musical component of the set was less dynamic than a typical Yo La Tengo show (Hubley played with brushes sans a bass drum, and none of the band’s quirky keyboards made the journey).
The requests that the band did take were seemingly already on its set list – not a total disappointment considering that everyone wanted to hear “Mr. Tough” and “Little Honda” anyways. A cover of The Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting For You” was a nice gesture but a little half-baked. I would have rather heard some new material.
The show’s best moments occurred during the feedback-driven passages that allowed Kaplan to noodle with his effects pedals while Hubley and McNew locked in on loopy, psychedelic grooves. Kaplan and Hubley still have an undeniable chemistry as vocalists; it seems as though they sound more and more like each other with each passing album (15 to date). The group’s mellower material also translated supremely to the intimate, sit-down setting.
Even at $30 a ticket, most of the group’s hardcore fans appeared to go home happy.
Random detail: Springfield has “No Cruising” and “No Cruising Ends” zones. I totally cruised through both.
By the way: Sports bars in Springfield don’t give a rat’s ass about KU/MU basketball games.
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Damn it. I just read in GO mag that they had played in springfield. I almost shat a brick. I checked their page a couple of months back and the only thing I saw was St. Louis which I would have happily driven out for but couldn't. I am so utterly upset that I missed this show. For me $30 would have been well worth seeing this amazing band again.
I had a really good time at the show, but I kind of agree that it was probably only a great show if you were a big big fan of the band already. I, personally, was very interested to learn about the different writing processes that led to "Stockholm Syndrome" and "Black Flowers", but obviously you gotta be a full-on fanatic to want to sit through the Q and A to learn the histories of two songs, one of which was written like 12 years ago.
I guess it was weird to see a show with this Q and A format played in Springfield, where they've never played before, and where probably 85 percent of the audience had never seen them. Trust me Kelly--you would have liked their regular set a lot better--when they actually bring all their equipment and kick out the jams, they are devastatingly rawk-capable.
Also, Hi Kelly! It was fun seeing you at Burns Supper on Friday. And you're right--the Randy Bacon Gallery should rent some dang chairs. It's not like he's competing with outdoor weddings this time of year.
I also thought it was an excellent show, but then again I'm way past the point of "casual fan." (No offense to you Sgt@arms, but I just don't see the point in paying $30 for any band if I'm only a casual fan) I'm also a writer for Range Life Music, and Femme Fatale wasn't kidding when she said we got some fantastic video of "Blue Line Swinger." Wow. Also, I found a blog with a full bootleg of their Freewheeling stop in Seattle, with a fucking incredible set that includes such classics like "Big Day Coming," "We're an American Band," "Pablo and Andrea," and, strangely enough, "False Alarm." Seriously awesome. Check it:
http://false45th.blogspot.com/...
Great review. Friggin' loved their set and the "freewheelin'" format they took on. As far as gripes about not enough beer, I agree. I didn't go there to get loaded, but if you're marketing a show for as "$30 - free beer and wine," I think you need to offer a little more bang for your buck. Either way, I think this was a great show and I can only wish these kinds of shows were going on when I lived in Springfield.
Cheers.
p.s. thanks for the "Better than kissing Ron Paul..." props. That was all me!
Thanks, Sgt! But folks out there, be careful what you write on the "internets" when you're having a bad day! When I looked back at my post, my comments about Randy's venue seem a bit over-heated ... more beer and chairs would have been nice, of course, but the bottom line is that this is a very cool place to see a show, and Randy is doing a great job at bringing acts to Springfield that we otherwise wouldn't see. My apologies, Randy! .... However, even on this lo-fi tour, the Yo Las need to take a hint from our local bands: Mo' Rawk!
I agree, Kelly. This show was more like a master class in how to be a ultra-cool indy star � a dream come true for critics and sing-along-with-the-band fans. But to the more casual admirerer of Yo La Tengo, it was a bit of a snore, to put it kindly. And for $30, I want less talk, more rock!
You were too kind ... terrible show .... I think they used the "Songwriter" format to engage in pure "coasting" .... I kept thinking ... gee, I wonder if they plan on getting together later to play some decent music, because they must be dying to rock out after all this exhausting attitudinizin'!!!
As for the venue ... more beer, please? And maybe a few more seats?
Fabulous show! I was the audience member who asked what it was like being married and being on the road together (NOT the peeved second girl). Great pics of the show... We've got some pretty fantastic video of "Blue Line Swinger" and "Decora" up on our site,
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