Yo La Tengo played night seven of Hanukkah at Bowery Ballroom – 12/28

Yo La Tengo played the seventh night of their annual NYC Hanukkah run with openers Snail Mail, comedian Matt Walsh and some special guests.

If I had December my way, I’d probably spend eight straight nights in Manhattan with YLT. From their years at Maxwell’s in the band’s native Hoboken to the more recent reactivation in the city, the guests, deep cuts and left-field covers of the Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows have long been the stuff of indie rock legend. With the likes of Steve Gunn and William Tyler, the Sun Ra Arkestra, Jon Spencer, Janet Weiss, Lucinda Williams, Lee Ranaldo and more sitting in this year, 2019 was no different. Alas, the nature of being a person with a job who mercifully doesn’t live in New York renders this yearly marathon a difficult proposition for me, but I was glad to make it out for at least one night this year.

Last Saturday’s gig brought out labelmates and rising stars Snail Mail for the evening’s surprise opening act, and Veep‘s Matt Walsh as the Yo La Tengo “press liaison” for its comedy set. For the main event, YLT invited erstwhile guitarist Dave Schramm on stage for a few dreamy songs, and the inimitable Robyn Hitchcock for a set of Dylan, Lou Reed and Cramps covers (plus a Soft Boys tune) for the encore. That main set also included “Cherry Chapstick” (a personal fav that I’d never seen played), a frantic “False Alarm” and the always-satisfying “Blue Line Swinger,” with its extended organ-drone intro, to close things out.

Check out a few photos from mid-crowd below.