YO LA TENGO - MAXWELL'S, 12.12.04

Sunday's Yo La Tengo show at Maxwell's - night 6 of Hanukkah - ended up being a perfect complement to Thursday. While Thursday's set focused on their older material, Sunday gave much more attention to the later albums in a mellow night that showed how you never know what to expect at a YLT show.

But first - a note on opening band The Coctails. As far as I can tell, this was just their second show since disbanding in 1995. You wouldn't have guessed it from their set on Sunday - it was super tight and really just awesome, like early Sea and Cake but poppier and more upbeat. (Archer Prewitt happened to play guitar and drums for the Coctails before joining TSAC.) Excellent stuff. It says something when the song stuck in my head after the show was not a YLT song but rather the Coctails' "Walkin' Down The Street."

All four Coctails took the stage with Yo La to assist on "Spec Bebop" to start YLT's set. The original is an epic noise jam on I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One that doesn't get played often, but they all pulled it off better than I'd ever imagine - four people on percussion, one on guitar, and James and Ira on bass and organ respectively. Great start.

Coctails utility man Mark Greenberg ended up helping out for most of the show, mainly behind a massive vibes/xylophone setup - a beautiful piece of equipment. He added a really nice (and unique) dimension to the quieter songs, especially "The Last Days of Disco" and "Shadows" early on. It was also fun to see him basically learn Fakebook's "The Summer" on the spot. Other highlights included "Autumn Sweater," set closer "Our Way To Fall," and a tremendous "Little Eyes" when Ira and Dave Schramm (joining on guitar) traded off one solo after another during an extended bridge. A couple gripes: I love "Blue Line Swinger" live but they extended the intro a little too much. It was also nice to hear the acoustic alternate version of "Cherry Chapstick" for the first time but I think I prefer it noisy.

Surprisingly, we had no special guest for the encore, just all four Coctails again plus the guest singer from their opening set. They only stuck around for one song, then Ira started asking for requests. And much love to the person who decided to shout out for "My Little Corner of the World," which closes ICHTHBAO and was a perfect end to the night as well. Thursday's show just wowed me - this one was a bit more subtle but just as effective in reminding me why I've seen this band more than anyone else.

SETLIST (via Sunsquashed):

Spec Bebop / I Wanna Be Your Lover (cover) / The Last Days of Disco / Shadows / This Diamond Ring (Gary Lewis) / The Summer / Little Eyes / Stockholm Syndrome / Cherry Chapstick (quiet) / I'm Your Puppet (cover) / Autumn Sweater / Sudden Organ / Tom Courtenay / Blue Line Swinger / Our Way to Fall

ENCORE: Abba Dabba Doo Dance (with T. Lance and the Coctails) / Can't Seem To Make You Mine / My Little Corner of the World