Yes, it's a bit odd that the week after I moved to Hoboken, NJ, I had to travel all the way across the country to see Yo La Tengo, a band that is from none other than Hoboken, NJ. But such is the fate of the craziest few weeks I've had in my life, where I sold my house, found a new place in a new city, packed all my stuff, and moved in less than 10 days. Then 5 days later I was on a plane to Los Angeles. Where I got to see Yo La Tengo at the Fonda Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard -- right next to those stars on the Walk of Fame -- an amazing venue for an amazing band and a night that was truly spectacular. The band opened for itself, in effect, by playing a full acoustic set of songs before taking a 20 minute break and returning for an electric set that lasted well into the night. They played my favorite song off new album Fade twice -- "Ohm" acoustic opened the show and "Ohm" electric came toward the end. They played some classics like "Autumn Sweater" and "Sugarcube" (which had me jumping up and down the entire song) and mixed in some obscure gems like "How to Make a Baby Elephant Float". They played a bunch from Fade ("Stupid Things", "Ohm", "Before We Run", "Paddle Forward", "Is That Enough", "I'll Be Around") but otherwise didn't focus on any single album from their extensive 25+ year career. They also played a couple Beach Boys covers (appropriate for where we were) and generally rocked the shit out of their set, getting the crowd on board early and often. An almost perfect show.
"Stupid Things" below...