Yo La Tengo
Glasgow ABC
6th November, 2009

View: standing, centre

An extraordinary performance showcased all aspects of the band’s expansive, eclectic musical vocabulary. Ira Kaplan and James McNew repeatedly exchanged guitars and alternated on, among other things, drums and keys, as the trio traversed a mind-scrambling terrain from maverick pop and shoegaze, to punk, folk, freakouts and electro weirdness. A half hour passed before Kaplan broke his silence with typically reticent repartee, and the band mellowed in a mid-show acoustic interlude. With selections from Popular Songs peppering the set, the finale found Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake joining on the closing I Heard You Looking. YLT’s return allowed them to indulge with covers of The Kinks’ This Is Where I Belong and Gene Clark’s Tried So Hard.

Reviewed by Grahame Bent
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