Yo La Tengo played a fine gig at the De la Warr Pavilion last night, and one which seems to be getting better in retrospect.
It was excellent in parts – and transcendentally superb in places.
But it was hobbled by their chosen set structure and some of its longeurs left me looking at my watch.
They chose to play the first half mainly sitting down with acoustic guitars. When there were drums, Georgia Hubley used brushes on a cutdown set. The band’s vulnerable and occasionally (and endearingly) wonky vocals high and exposed in the mix. When this approach worked best it was magical.
They opened with a beautifully poised and restrained take on ‘Ohm’, the first and finest track on the Fade album. There couldn’t have been a better start: cutting away the album version’s Krautrock chug brought out its glorious humanist lyric of loss and joy in living:
But nothing ever stays the same.
Nothing’s explained.
The stronger the wind, the faster we’ll fly.
‘Cause this is it, for all we know.
So say good night to me
And lose no more time:
No time
Resisting the flow.
When Georgia touched her cymbal for the first time with a brush 4 or 5 minutes in it was like a temple bell sounding…Ship of fools,
We’ve come unmoored.
Riptide pulling,
Pulling away from the shore.
But we feel safe inside,
Not a wave in sight.
Hang on tight.
There’s still time.
The water’s fine.
I’m sure the thing to do is concentrate on what Yo La Tengo do well, rather than regret that they’re not something else. Of course, they’re not really showmen, even after 30 years spent in this game, as Ira Kaplan reminded us at one point.
