Yo La Tengo graced the Lincoln Theater with their presence Friday. The band played a two-set acoustic show surrounded by avant-garde artwork and a poster of The Clean, a legendary indie band from New Zealand.
The lineup featured lead guitarist Dave Schramm, who was involved with the group in the 80’s and reunited with the band with the 2015 album Stuff Like That There. Schramm skillfully paraded up and down the neck of the guitar combining styles of country and alternative. Georgia Hubley had just a two-piece kit costing of snare, low tom and two cymbals. The band played songs from throughout their illustrious career, but the focus was to keep the music in the context of their August 28th full length.
The album consists of very warm, mellow acoustic tunes with Ira Kaplan consistently trying to break the record for quietest singing. The sound is characterized by Kaplan’s acoustic, methodical tapping of cymbals and Schramm’s colorful, inventive, effect- heavy guitar playing. The band rattled quite a few tunes off the new album including “My Hearts Not In ItÛ, “All Your Secrets” and a scaled back version of the Cure’s “Friday I’m In LoveÛ.
Overall, the vibe was unrivaled coziness and unthreatening. Apart from the occasional middle-aged white dude sedately nodding his head, it seemed the rest of the audience was ready to fall asleep. Nevertheless, this mood seemed to constructively influence the music Yo La Tengo tried to play. The audience was ready to bask in the lethargic warmth of the band’s set.