On Saturday, March 25, the New Jersey-born rock band Yo La Tengo made their way to Milwaukee for their “This Stupid World” tour, celebrating their 17th studio album release since their formation in 1984.
The trio consists of Ira Kaplan, front man/lead guitarist, Georgia Hubley on drums and James McNew on bass. Their sound is uniquely genre bending and moves through psychedelic rock into dream indie pop-scapes smoothly and without hesitation.
Despite their primary positions on those instruments, one of the most impressive parts of the show was the band’s ability to dynamically move between different roles. Hubley and McNew would hop on vocals for various songs and roles would adjust as they accompanied some songs with keyboards or various percussion.
Yo La Tengo opened the night with the titular track, “This Stupid World” which is towards the end of the record. It’s a noisier song that slowly builds up its lyricism. It translated very well to a live performance and was a good introduction for the rest of the set. After a few more songs, Kaplan talked to the audience a little about their whereabouts for the past decade.
“Thank you and good evening,” said Kaplan. “We haven’t been here in a long time and we’re sorry about that! It was 10 years ago that we played here for the first and only time ever. We were like wow, we love this place, and here we are 10 years later!”
After the quick chat, Kaplan switched to a tattered old acoustic and Hubley got on the mic to sing “Aselestine”, a slow and pleasant song off the new record that felt both fluent in folk and psychedelia. Their live music felt like transcendent escape, with each song transitioning smoothly into the next. They then played “Satellite” with more vocals from Hubley as she tapped the tambourine.
The set was split into two parts; the first half being calmer and more laid back, the second half louder and more aggressive. The beginning half was more intimate, and the second more intense. A highlight of part two for the crowd was during “Mr. Tough,” a song from their 2006 release “I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass.” A cowbell carried the main rhythm that added a fun and almost jazzy swing. Watching the band transform their sound in such a short period, mirroring how they grew over the years, made it feel like a deep and personal look in their process.
The band played their most popular song, “Autumn Sweater”, towards the end of the show and finished off the night by interacting with the crowd as Kaplan passed off his pick to a fan in the front.