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There are two things you can be sure about at a Yo La Tengo show: bored security and an odd mix of cutesy indie pop lying next to long instrumental noise jams. Ira Kaplan along with his wife Georgia Hubley and James McNew, elder statesmen of the modern indie scene, brought their “New York kitsch” to the Arizona desert for a performance at the drab Marquee Theater. Opening with the swirling rock number “Here to Fall,” the band tore into the guitar squaw workout of “And The Glitter is Gone” – two tracks off their latest album Popular Songs.
It’s not often Yo La Tengo travels to the southwest as Kaplan made note of a prior visit twenty one years ago to the small but appreciate crowd: “We played here in 1988,that was a nightmare, this means the world to us, thank you.” It’s clearly better to have a small and respectable room than a large rude one. Although the gawky Kaplan sounds like Woody Allen when he talks, he plays guitar like fellow New Yorker Thurston Moore during many of his guitar workouts that involves him playing with his back to the crowd while making what is lazily called “white noise.” For a girl getting up there in digits, Hubley can sure throw down some inviting beats in her best do it yourself garage band style.
Showcasing the new “popular” numbers was expected, as the band visited “I’m On My Way” (sung by McNew) and the 60’s fueled organ nugget – “Periodically Double Or Trouble.” Other highlights included the piano friendly “Mr. Tough” and an acoustic shot at “You Can Have It All” from 2000’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out. But it wasn’t an October show without the seasonal favorite “Autumn Sweater” being worn on stage, as Yo La Tengo made an otherwise small show at the Marquee an education in modern indie rock.
