WOW. Three gigs in 17 days! It’s been a long time since I have done that. I think the last time was during the Reagan Administration…

I went last night with Group members DJ Jon Jon and Bricio to see YO LA TENGO at the MAJESTIC THEATRE in Detroit.

I have been listening to these indie stalwarts from Hoboken, New Jersey 🇺🇸 since their debut entitled “Ride The Tiger’ in 1986.

37 years and 17 LPs later I was thrilled to finally catch up to them live.

They played two very distinct sets over 2.5 hours. I am going to do a two day posting to match. Here goes with the first set.

Other than a rousing and sensational version of recent single ‘Sinatra Drive Breakdown’ [Ed. Note – that track was done at posting 406 on

Feb. 10, 2023.] The balance of the set was so generally quiet that it would have been equally appropriate in a coffee shop. The songs played by founding couple IRA KAPLAN (guitar, keyboards , vocals) and GEORGIA HUBLEY (drums, vocals) along with long time bassist James McNew were on the quiet side of the band’s discography. The arrangements were with wonderful and the instrumentation The trio played in different configurations/ instruments almost on a song by song basis.

To give you a sense of the quiet ying of the first set here is ‘Big Day Coming’ (quiet version) with Georgia singing as it was played last night, albeit from a gig late last year.

Here is the studio version from the 1983 LP “Painful.”

SPOTIFY – https://spotify.link/WxNWwhDzSAb

(SONG 538

PLAY QUIET PLAY QUIET

6/23/2023