About 20 minutes before Yo La Tengo’s set on Sunday, a writer working with Texas State’s KTSW chatted with a longtime fan of the band about a performance she went to last year. “They were cute,” she said. When Yo La Tengo walked onstage with salt and pepper in their hair and a tired look in their eyes, the aging couples in the crowd were ready to hear the sweet songs they danced to at their weddings in 2002.
Anya Gupta
A few minutes into “This Stupid World,” Ira Kaplan was waging war on his beat-up fender strat, ripping through dissonant solos with manic intensity. While Kaplan looked possessed, drummer Georgia Hubley and bassist James McNew matched his fervor, minus the theatrics. Chaos reigned for most of the setlist, as the band prioritized their most experimental and expansive tracks. Diehards got a soothing dose of nostalgia in the middle third with “Tears Are in Your Eyes” and “I’ll Be Around.” The performance reached its emotional climax at “Polynesia #1,” a stirring tribute to the recently-deceased Michael Hurley.
Anya Gupta
Fans were too absorbed to muster more than a gentle sway, occasionally throwing in a lyric or two. The trio spent the last quarter of their 70-minute set on the finale, an exhausting 16 minute rendition of “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind” where Kaplan broke out his most unhinged instrumental attack yet. Captivating? No doubt; they walked off stage to the loudest applause of the night. But not cute.