On Christmas Day, Yo La Tengo continued their annual Hanukkah run at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. The evening featured a stand-up performance by comedian Todd Barry, and Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo served as the surprise guest.

Fittingly, Christmas, bassist James McNew’s band before he joined Yo La Tengo, opened the show. It was their first performance since the early 1990s. Next, Todd Barry took the stage and delivered a set of stand-up comedy.

Yo La Tengo’s set opened with “Santa Claus Goes Modern,” during which guitarist Ira Kaplan was dressed up as Santa. Later, the band invited Michael Cudahy and Christmas’s Liz Cox to provide guitar and vocals (respectively) on “Laisse Tomber Les Filles/Chick Habit.” After they left the stage, Yo La Tengo invited horn player C.J. Camerieri to provide trumpet and French horn on four songs: “Moby Octopad,” “Shadows,” “Black Flowers” and “Before We Run.”

After a few songs with no guests, the band invited Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo to provide guitar and vocals on the set-closing cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Heroin.” The song was performed in the style of Roky Erickson’s arrangement.

For the encore, Yo La Tengo began with a performance of “Junk” by Christmas, followed by a cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s “This Ain’t The Summer of Love,” which featured Todd Barry on drums. Ranaldo then returned to the stage for the remainder of the encore, which closed with a performance of Sonic Youth’s “Mary-Christ.”

Yo La Tengo returns to the Bowery Ballroom this evening.

Here’s a look at last night’s setlist via Contributing Editor Jesse Jarnow’s Frank & Earthy site.

Wednesday, December 25, Bowery Ballroom, New York, N.Y.

Santa Claus Goes Modern (Sven Swanson) (plus Ira as Santa)
Big Day Coming (slow)
Can’t Forget
Let’s Do It Wrong
Point and Shoot
Laisse Tomber Les Filles/Chick Habit (France Gall/April March) (with Christmas’s Liz Cox on vocals & Michael Cudahy on guitar)
Moby Octopad (with C.J. Camerieri on trumpet & French horn)
Shadows (with CC)
Black Flowers (with CC)
Before We Run (with CC)
The Kid With the Replaceable Head (Richard Hell)
Nothing To Hide
Double Dare
Heroin (Velvet Underground, Roky Erickson arrangement) (with Lee Ranaldo on guitar & vocals)

*(encore)*
Junk (Christmas)
This Ain’t the Summer of Love (Blue Oyster Cult) (with Todd Barry on drums)
Temptation Inside Your Heart (Velvet Underground) (with LR & TB)
Temptation Inside Your Heart reprise (Velvet Underground) (with LR & TB)
Maggie’s Farm (Bob Dylan) (with LR)
Mary-Christ (Sonic Youth) (with LR)