Indie-rock royalty Yo La Tengo performed at The Mohawk on Friday night, gracing Austin with an incredible set in three acts. The first act consisted of a mellow, almost whispered, series of songs. The second set featured abrasive punk rock jams complete with noise, feedback, and guitar swinging. Yo La Tengo ended the night with a finale encore that included a couple of crowd-pleasing cover songs and a fan request.
It was almost as if Yo La Tengo opened for themselves. When the band first took the stage, their setup was crowded in the forefront, Ira Kaplan playing guitar while seated as Georgia Hubley played drums on the edge of the stage, claustrophobically surrounded by monitors stacked on gear cases. The performance began appropriately with a hushed rendition of “Ohm,” the opening track from the band’s most recent and excellent album Fade. Several other songs from that effort, including “Two Trains” and “Cornelia and Jane,” littered the setlist. Onstage, Kaplan smiled frequently, a broad grin, particularly when sarcastically recounting a story about a run-in with Austin’s law enforcement for biking through a red light earlier in the day.
At the set’s end, Kaplan announced, “We’ll see you guys in a few minutes,” and departed to allow gear techs to strip the stage and rearrange it. With Georgia’s drum kit situated at the back, monitors taken off their pedestals, and Ira’s chair removed, the band returned to the stage in a formation that more closely resembled a standard rock setup. Interestingly, the move from a claustrophobic and cramped stage arrangement to a spacious formation mirrors the band’s multi-year climb from obscurity to indie-rock luminaries.
Yo La Tengo launched into the second act of their performance immediately utilizing distortion and noise, marking a new and divergent direction as Kaplan rocked out to his own wild guitar playing. As the first song ended, Kaplan turned back to Hubley and motioned for her to hurry into the next number, but was met only with a cold glare. I couldn’t tell if it was staged conflict or real. She held the stare for an uncomfortable length, until the feedback was almost gone, Kaplan waiting impatiently, before beginning the beat. As she started to drum, she unmistakably mouthed, “Fuck you.” The conflict, if it was that, arose as a complete surprise. The tension slowly dissipated throughout the set, but the band stayed intensely focused, almost distant, lost in a cacophonous sea.
Notably, “Ohm,” which was played in the first part of the set was revisited and given a chaotic and feedback-laden overhaul. Yo La Tengo consistently shows their ability to explore the restrained and the raucous, but here they exhibited these poles with two versions of the same song. Fan favorite “Sugarcube” made an appearance in the rocking second set, sounding as outstanding as it ever has. As the set neared its end, Kaplan unburdened himself of his guitar and began swinging it around by the neck, banging the strings as a swirling mass of noise rose around bombastic drums and thumping bass. Kaplan raised the guitar over his head and swung it down dramatically as the band went out with a truly arresting final explosion of noise.
Fan cheers brought the trio back out for an encore, and the band members appeared cheerful and smiling. After a first song, Kaplan gestured happily to one devoted fan singing along in the second row of people, asking, “Is there something you’d like us to play, Dinsoaur guy?” (in reference to the gentleman’s Dinsoaur Jr. shirt). The request was “Autumn Sweater,” and band launched into a great version of the song without missing a bet. The encore also included a rocked-up Small Faces cover as well as the almost obligatory performance of the always amazing “Speeding Motorcycle” by Daniel Johnston.
The hushed beauty, rowdy distortion, and excellent cover material that has defined Yo La Tengo’s career came to life at the Mohawk on Friday in one of the most outstanding live shows I’ve seen this year. If you’ve still got a chance to see them in your city, don’t miss it.
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