Yo La Tengo Hanukkah Night 6: Swamp Dogg, Marc Ribot, David Sedaris, Love Child, more (pics, setlist, video)
Yo La Tengo‘s Hanukkah run at Bowery Ballroom is both a celebration and a marathon. Monday’s show (Night 6) wrapped up around 12:40 and everyone on stage was smiling but maybe a little tired and ready to go home. Except for Swamp Dogg, the evening’s encore surprise guest, who despite being 82 was clearly just getting warmed up, telling the crowd he had hundreds of songs in his notebook and was used to playing two-hour shows. Sadly four songs was all he got but he was a fun and needed dose of anarchic energy at the end of long, mostly low-key night. Accompanied by Yo La Tengo and his keyboardist/backup singer MoogStar, Swamp Dogg sounded great and was a hilarious banterer. At one point, after admitting he’d forgotten Ira Kaplan’s name, made an observation probably a few people had thought but never said aloud: “Don’t he look like Garry Shandling?”
After a weekend of high profile surprise openers (The Soft Boys! MJ Lenderman!), Night 6 felt a little more like a gathering of friends and hometown heroes (apart from Swamp Dogg, who flew in from California for the show). The night’s opening band was Love Child (Alan Licht, Brendan O’Malley, and Rebecca Odes), the late-’80s/early-’90s NYC indie rock trio who reunited this summer for the first time in 30+ years to celebrate the release of a new retrospective compilation. Ira told a story about Yo La Tengo and Love Child sharing a bill at CBGBs where the last band of the night wouldn’t stop playing, “and that band was…The Dave Matthews Band.”
David Sedaris was the Night 6 humorist and he read a very funny essay imagining if Kamala Harris had won the election and all the things Trump said about what she would do in office actually came true. As in previous YLT Hanukkah appearances, he also read a number of very dirty limericks about Santa.
As for Yo La Tengo’s set, the band were joined for the whole thing by guitarist Marc Ribot, who provided atmospheric touches for the first two-thirds of the show. They stayed on the mellow side for a while, playing “More Stars Than There Are In Heaven,” “Damage,” and “Walking Away from You,” until they finally let things rip with “Here to Fall,” “Can’t Forget,” “Apology Letter,” a cover of Fred Neil’s “The Other Side of This Life” (Jefferson Airplane version), and more. Things picked up some more with “Here to Fall,” which led to “False Alarm,” a cover of Richard Hell’s “The Kid With the Replaceable Head,” “Moby Octopad,” and an epic version of “Little Honda.” The band’s walk-on/walk-off music was Gene Marshall’s cult classic “Jimmy Carter Says ‘YES’” which was a nice tribute to the Rock & Roll President.
Check out pictures from Monday by Ellen Qbertplaya below, along with video and the full Night 6 setlist via Jesse Jarnow.
WFMU’s DJ Eweck made the night’s mix CD, the post-show DJ was Miss Christina Ginger, and proceeds from the evening benefitted the Music Workers Alliance.
Only two nights left! Who do you think might be the surprise guests at these shows? We have some guesses.
Check out recaps of Yo La Tengo’s 2024 Hanukkah residency here.
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Yo La Tengo @ Bowery Ballroom 12/30/2024
More Stars Than There Are In Heaven
Forever
Damage
Can’t Forget
A Worrying Thing
Apology Letter
Walking Away From You
The Other Side of This Life (Fred Neil, arr. Jefferson Airplane)
One PM Again
I Feel Like Going Home
Here To Fall
False Alarm
The Kid With the Replaceable Head (Richard Hell)
Moby Octopad
Little Honda (The Hondells)
*(encore)* with Swamp Dogg on vocals/keyboard & MoogStar on keyboard/vocals
Synthetic World
She’s All I Got
What Do You Plan To Do About It
Total Destruction To Your Mind
