Photo by Ellen Qbertplaya via @heronoblivion on Instagram

Yo La Tengo celebrated the penultimate night of their annual Hanukkah run on Saturday night, bringing up a slew of guests and paying tribute to a variety of Jewish artists like Carole King, Lou Reed, the Gershwins and members of The New York Dolls.

The evening began with comedian Joe Pera as well as a set by psych-rock quartet Heron Oblivion.

Yo La Tengo opened with “Drem Dream Away,” a cut from their 2018 LP There’s a Riot Going On, and moved through tracks like “Satellite,” “Here To Fall,” “Barnaby, Hardly Working,” “Green Arrow,” “Moby Octopad,” “The Weakest Part,” “Mr. Tough” and “Nowhere Near.”

The evening’s special guests emerged near the end of the band’s single set, starting with Meg Baird of Heron Oblivion singing Carole King’s “Goin’ Back” and her bandmate Charlie Saufley adding guitar to the set-closing, Roky Erickson arrangement of the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin.”

YLT welcomed guitarist Steve Gunn for the entirety of their encore including The New York Dolls “Puss N Boots” and Richard Hell’s “The Kid with the Replaceable Head.” Broadway performer John Cameron Mitchell – best known for his starring role in the film adaptation of Hedwig and the Angry Inch – also joined the party, singing Lou Reed’s “Turning Time Around.”

“We want to thank everybody here at the Bowery Ballroom for the amazing time we’ve had here,” Yo La Tengo guitarist Ira Kaplan said from the stage. “It’s made such a difference. It makes us feel like our own home here… What the hell is that?”

Suddenly, as music filled the air, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band emerged from the back of the venue in true New Orleans style, playing a brass-infused version of “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” with Kaplan and Mitchell on vocals to end the evening.

Watch John Cameron Mitchell perform “Turning Time Around” with YLT, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band play “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off” below:

Yo La Tengo
December 8, 2018
Bowery Ballroom, New York City 

Dream Dream Away, Satellite, Here To Fall, Barnaby, Hardly Working, Green Arrow, Moby Octopad, The Weakest Part, Mr. Tough, Nowhere Near, Goin’ Back%, I Should Have Known Better,
Out the Window, Sudden Organ, Heroin$

Enc:

Puss ‘n’ Boots^, The Kid With the Replaceable Head^, Turning Time Around^*, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off^*+

Notes:

% with Meg Baird of Heron Oblivion

$ with Charlie Saufley of Heron Oblivion

^with Steve Gunn on guitar

* with John Cameron Mitchell on vocals

+ with Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Source: Jesse Jarnow, Frank & Earthy