Yo La Tengo and Chairs of Perception
The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
October 19, 2006

V and i wandered into the Fillmore around 8:30pm, after a quick and dirty dinner of KFC down the street. The place was nearly empty, a bit odd considering this was the first of three sold-out shows Yo La Tengo were playing at the historical theater. We bypassed openers Chairs of Perception, a trio who played some workable but not-nearly-gripping-enough-to-make-me-watch-an-unknown-opening-band indie rock, and headed to the upstairs lounge to have a beer or two. We returned downstairs around 9:10pm, and while the venue had accumulated more people, were still able to get standing spots right against the stage. A few minutes later the lights went down, and out came the venerable Hoboken trio. Georgia sat down at the drums and began beating out a rhythm, while James launched into the six-note bassline of "Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind", the intro to their latest wonderfully-titled album I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass. The three musicians pounded out the repeating noise-laden track, with Ira in particular punishing his guitar to make it emit all manner of feedback and distortion. By the end of the ten minute opus i was still enthralled at how they could generate such chaotic sounds and still conform them to their profound melodies. Meanwhile Veronica was wondering how she was going to pass two hours while bored out of her mind. She began by taking swigs of Heineken, apparently in an attempt to dull the noise being blasted at her.

The band followed with "Little Eyes" from their previous effort Summer Sun. A Can-like walk through haunting harmonies and echoing guitars, the song kept up the intensity of the set. Then, as is their nature, the trio shifted the mood into a more somber and quiet tone, playing "The Crying of Lot G" from 2000's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out. If you don't get "The Crying of Lot G", then you don't get Yo La Tengo. It's all about the atmospherics, and atmosphere is something Ira Kaplan, James McNew, and Georgia Hubley can create in spades. It's not for everyone, but for the converted (or as Veronica puts it, "nerds") they are unusually entrancing. Between Ira's rambling tale and the sparse drum, bass, and guitar, "Lot G" encapsulates Yo La Tengo's ability to manipulate noise for emotional effect.

Despite the intensity of their first few songs, this is not a band that is all work and no play. For Christ's sake, they wrote a song about a jealous Frankie Valli burning down Tony Orlando's house, fictionalizing an obscure Troy McClure Simpsons reference regarding a fundraiser entitled "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House". As the mood shifted into more piano and organ-based pieces, Ira sat down at the keys and chatted with the audience a bit. He mourned the Mets loss in Game 7, then again shifted the mood into upbeat pop by playing the piano-driven Motown throwback "Mr. Tough" from their latest record. The middle of the set focused on the current album, including "I Feel Like Going Home", "The Race Is On Again", "The Weakest Part", and "I Should Have Known Better".

The end of the main set was heralded by a return to the noise rock that summarized Yo La Tengo's output in the 90's. The feedback-laden cover of the Beach Boys' "Little Honda" from I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One was rendered with particular vigor, and not long after Ira switched to a Farfisa organ to play the noisy version of "Big Day Coming" from 1993's Painful. At one point he was playing one organ with his hands, and a neighboring one by lifting his leg and slamming his knee onto the keyboard, in the process looking like he was f@$#ing it. James meanwhile was contorting his bass in front of the amplifier to create a wash of feedback. The set ended with another 10 minute noise composition from I Am Not Afraid, "The Story of Yo La Tengo".

The band emerged for two encores, much to Veronica's chagrin. The highlight of these was bringing friends Chairs of Perception (apparently these two bands go way back) out to play the instrumental jam "Surfin' With The Shah" from Genius + Love = Yo La Tengo. They did this song twice, being so happy with the version during the first encore and the chance to play with their friends that they opted to repeat it in the second encore. I thought this was a tad self-indulgent, but it did sound good. While i'm pretty sure Veronica is none too keen on seeing the gang from Hoboken again in the near future, i could see myself going to the shows tonight and tomorrow as well. That is, if i was still living the concerts 7-days-a-week lifestyle. I'm not, but i'm thrilled that i got to see Ira, James, and Georgia demonstrate their knack for spinning noise into gold. Despite that admission of age, Veronica and i left the Fillmore to go see Mew at Popscene for our second show of the night.

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