Yo La Tengo - Hanukkah 2021

While I don't have a formal "bucket list," if I did, attending the annual run of Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows would certainly have been near the top of it. That box is ticked! It was amazing. (A bit of an endurance test for this old, tender-footed man ... but well worth the barking dogs.) 

Consciously decided to not try to over-document the experience, so just one video snip from Night Two captured and no photos (apart from one of the last night's poster) but there are ones probably better than any I would've taken in the BrooklynVegan and jambands posts I'll be linking below. 

First Night:

Whatever trepidation I felt about having to navigate the subway to get to the venue dissipated as the whole process of getting from JFK to my lodgings, to Neilalien HQ, then to the Bowery Ballroom, and finally making way back to the room went as smooth as could be hoped. Walking for miles during the day to take in the atmosphere of Brooklyn was not my smartest idea though. 

This was my first time in a very crowded setting since the pandemic started and, as Ira acknowledged from the stage, it was both exciting and somewhat terrifying to be in that milieu. Over the course of the week we'd be hearing more and more about the Omicron variant emerging so the crowd's almost universal compliance with the plea to wear a mask was comforting. As was the vaccination card check at the door. 

Opening night was a terrific start to the week. Enjoyed Amy Rigby well enough (in retrospect, my reaction when describing her set the next day was more along the lines of, "Meh"), David Sedaris was funny, and Yo La Tengo delivered an outstanding set. I wasn't familiar with Steve Gunn but came away a fan of his jamming with Ira. 

Jambands write-up

BrooklynVegan write-up

SETLIST: Yo La Tengo @ Bowery Ballroom 11/28/2021 (Hanukkah Night 1)

Back in the New York Groove (KISS) (sung “Back With the New York Jews”)

Today Is The Day (fast)

For You Too

Let’s Do It Wrong (acoustic)

Serpentine

Shadows (with CJ Camerieri on French horn & trumpet)

Beanbag Chair (with CJC)

Eight Candles (Sam Elwitt) (with CJC & Kevin Micka on drums)

Walking Away From You (with CJC)

1-2-3 (Len Barry) (with CJC)

Before We Run (with CJC)

Sudden Organ

Artificial Heart

Decora

I Heard You Looking (with Steve Gunn on guitar)

*(encore)*

At the Well (Last Roundup) (with CJC & Amy Rigby on guitar/vocals)

She’s My Best Friend (Velvet Underground)

It’s All Right (The Way That You Live) (Velvet Underground)

I Heard Her Call My Name (Velvet Underground)

Always and Forever (Heatwave) (with DJ Time Traveler on vocals)

[If reposting, kindly credit Frank & Earthy: http://www.jessejarnow.com/category/ylt / @bourgwick ]

Second Night:

I don't recall what my shortest turnaround between attending Yo La Tengo shows was prior to this week, but it was definitely a heck of a lot longer than 24 hours. Was delighted to find upon arriving that Sun Ra would be opening. Hadn't seen them since a Central Park summer series concert some time in the 90s. Still wild. And you know "Nuclear War" is going to get played at some point in the night so there's that to look forward to. 

BrooklynVegan write-up

SETLIST: Yo La Tengo @ Bowery Ballroom 11/29/2021 (Hanukkah Night 2)

Stupid Things

Ashes

Awhileaway

Tiny Birds

Madeline

Paul Is Dead

I Was the Fool Beside You For Too Long

86-Second Blowout

Here You Are 

My Heart’s Reflection (with Sun Ra Arkestra horns)

Dreaming (Sun Ra) (with Arkestra horns)

Principal Punishes Students With Bad Impressions (Jad Fair) (with Arkestra horns)

Emulsified (Rex Garvin & the Mighty Cravers) (with Arkestra horns)

More Stars Than There Are In Heaven (boogie version) (with Arkestra horns)

Nuclear War (Sun Ra) (with Arkestra horns)

*(encore)*

This Ain’t the Summer of Love (Blue Oyster Cult) (with Todd Barry on drums)

Can’t Make It On Time (The Ramones)

TV Set (The Cramps)

Heaven Only Knows (Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich)

[If reposting, kindly credit Frank & Earthy: http://www.jessejarnow.com/category/ylt / @bourgwick ]

Third Night:

Third and Fourth Night enjoyment factor dipped a bit first half of each set as they went a little slower a little longer than I was in the mood for, but more than enough highlights to keep my spirits up. Wasn't a fan of the opening act's set, although they were great support while playing with Yo La Tengo.   

Jambands write-up

Setlist: Yo La Tengo @ Bowery Ballroom 11/30/2021 (Hanukkah Night 3)

You Are Here 

The Fireside 

Damage

The Point Of It

Love Minus Zero/No Limit 

The Ballad of Red Buckets

Shades of Blue  

Flying Lesson (Hot Chicken #1)

Satellite

Tears Are In Your Eyes (instrumental) 

Shaker

She Cracked  

Double Dare

Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind 

Blues Stay Away From Me  Entire set with Marisa Anderson and William TylerE:

The Kid With the Replaceable Head (w/ Ivan Julian on guitar/vocals)

Going, Going, Gone (w/ Ivan Julian on guitar/vocals)

Blank Generation (w/ Ivan Julian on guitar/vocals)

[If reposting, kindly credit Frank & Earthy: http://www.jessejarnow.com/category/ylt / @bourgwick ]

Fourth Night:

I was late to this one, missed the opening act and comedian but caught all of YLT. 

BrooklynVegan write-up

SETLIST: YO LA TENGO @ BOWERY BALLROOM 12/1/2021

Out of the Pool

Little Eyes

One PM Again (without YH)

Can’t Forget (without YH)

Lewis (without YH)

Tears Are In Your Eyes

The Race Is On Again (without YH)

Above the Sound

I Found A Reason w/ John Cameron Mitchell(Velvet Underground)

Waves of Fear w/ John Cameron Mitchell (Lou Reed)

Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Desert By Mistake (Jad Fair)

Out the Window

Styles of the Times

Tom Courtenay

Little Honda (The Hondells)

*(encore)*

Wasn’t Born To Follow (Carole King/Gerry Goffin)

Cool Metro (David Johanson/Syl Sylvain)

Hanky Panky Nohow (John Cale) (without YH & NC)

[If reposting, kindly credit Frank & Earthy: http://www.jessejarnow.com/category/ylt / @bourgwick ]

Fifth Night:

Well, all I can say is I was trying to do pain management, I knew I couldn't do another full night on my feet so arrived during Low's set and sat out Fred Armisen downstairs just listening.

BrooklynVegan write-up

SETLIST: YO LA TENGO @ BOWERY BALLROOM 12/2/2021 (HANUKKAH NIGHT 5)

Surfin’ With the Shah (The Urinals)

Five-Cornered Drone (Crispy Duck)

Forever

Detouring America With Horns

Center of Gravity

Black Flowers

Fog Over Frisco

Don’t Have To Be So Sad

Nowhere Near

Baby Strange (T-Rex)

I Should Have Known Better

Big Day Coming (fast version)

Sugarcube

Ohm

The Story of Yo La Tango

*(encore)*

Sorrow (The McCoys)

Orange Song (Antietam) (with Tara Key on guitar/vocals)

(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais (The Clash) (FA on guitar/vocals, Joe Puleo on harmonica)

I Am, I Said (Neil Diamond) (with Alan Sparhawk & Mimi Parker of Low on guitar/vocals)

Keep It Warm (Flo & Eddie) (with AS & MP)

[If reposting, kindly credit Frank & Earthy: http://www.jessejarnow.com/category/ylt / @bourgwick ]

Sixth Night:

Best night to this point thanks to context of hot pot dinner with friends at 99 Favor and having one of  them join me for the first time in the run. My buddy and I struggled with the opening act but, mercifully, they were more enjoyable when they played with YLT during the main set. This was the night I splurged on merch grabbing the soup can t-shirt and Ira's mix tape.

BrooklynVegan write-up

SETLIST: Yo La Tengo @ Bowery Ballroom 12/3/2021 (Hanukkah Night 6)

Cherry Chapstick

Nothing To Hide

She May, She Might 

Ack Ack Ack Ack (The Urinals) 

She May, She Might

Pablo and Andrea

Have You Seen My Baby (Randy Newman)

Tired Hippo

I’m On My Way

I’ll Be Around

As the Hour Grows Late (with Jaimie Branch/trumpet, Jason Ajemian/bass, Lester St. Louis/cello)

Let’s Be Still (with JB/JA/LSL)

The Summer (with JB/JA/LSL)

Moby Octopad (with JB/JA/LSL)

Right Side of My Mind (Angry Samoans)

From A Motel 6

Mushroom Cloud of Hiss

*(encore)* with the Dream Syndicate

Definitely Clean (Dream Syndicate)

Too Little, Too Late (Dream Syndicate) (without Ira & James)

Hero Takes A Fall (The Bangles)

Some Kinda Itch (Dream Syndicate)

Tell Me When It’s Over (Dream Syndicate)

[If reposting, kindly credit Frank & Earthy: http://www.jessejarnow.com/category/ylt / @bourgwick ]

Seventh Night: 

Natural Information Society were punishing. Show was great once done with them. Figures this was the night I had a group of friends with me and wanted them to have the best experience possible. Oh well, rest of the show was great at least. Jon Langford and Sally Timms were the rumored possible guests I was most hoping to see; even in my debilitated barely able to stand condition I hopped up and down and hooted when they came out. One could quibble with Ira about setlist & doubling down on Dan Dare – Out of Space (It’s A Really Nice Place) rather than hitting some other Mekons or Timms classic but that's just nitpicking, I suppose. 

SETLIST: Yo La Tengo @ Bowery Ballroom 12/4/2021 (Hanukkah Night 7)

Green Arrow (with Natural Information Society)

I Can’t Stand It (Velvet Underground)

Let’s Save Tony Orlando’s House

Mr. Tough

Did I Tell You

Is That Enough

Swing For Life (with Natural Information Society)

The Last Days of Disco (with Natural Information Society)

The Room Got Heavy (with Natural Information Society)

False Alarm

Too Animalistic (Angry Samoans) (with Dutch Worthington)

Drug Test

Upside Down

We’re An American Band

Blue Ling Swinger

*(encore)*

I Threw It All Away (Bob Dylan)

I Don’t Care (The Ramones) (with Jon Langford & Sally Timms)

Dan Dare – Out of Space (It’s A Really Nice Place) (The Mekons) (with JL & ST)

Keep on Hoppin’ (The Mekons) (with JL & ST)

Dan Dare – Out of Space (It’s A Really Nice Place) (The Mekons) [take 2] (with JL & ST)

[If reposting, kindly credit Frank & Earthy: http://www.jessejarnow.com/category/ylt / @bourgwick ]

Eighth Night:

Final night. Eleventh Dream Day opened and Joe Pera was hilarious. (Started checking out his show on Adult Swim after getting home. It's not exactly what I expected based on this act but it's growing on me.) This may have been the strongest YLT set of the run? I don't want to get in the business of ranking them, and the night with Sugar Cube and Ohm might have been the pinnacle, but I was riding so high and had such a great time, the fact it was coming to an end had me trying to really soak it in as much as possible. 

BrooklynVegan write-up

SETLIST: Yo La Tengo @ Bowery Ballroom 12/5/2021 (Hanukkah Night 8)

From Me To You (The Beatles, sung as “From Me to Jews”)

Today Is The Day (slow version) (with Janet Beveridge Bean/drums, Mark Greenberg/keyboards, James Elkington/guitar, Doug McCombs/bass)

Stockholm Sydrome (with Rick Rizzo/guitar, JBB, MG, DM)

The Crying of Lot G (with JE, DM, JBB, MG)

Avalon or Someone Similar (with RR, JBB, MG, DM)

Season of the Shark (with JE, JBB)

Two Trains (with JE, JBB, DM)

When It’s Dark (with JE, JBB, DM, MG)

Goin’ Back (Carole King & Gerry Goffin) (with JE, RR, JBB, MG)

Group Grope (The Fugs) (with JE, RR, JBB, MG, DM)

Some Kinda Fatigue (with RR, JB)

Autumn Sweater

Deeper Into Movies (with JB)

Sister Ray (with MG, RR, JB, DM)

Our Way To Fall

*(encore)*

The Whole of the Law (The Only Ones)

Dum Dum (Bush Tetras) (with Cynthia Sley and Pat Place)

Run Run Run (Velvet Underground (with CS & PP)

Too Many Creeps (Bush Tetras) (with CS & PP)

Here Comes My Baby (Cat Stevens) (with Marilyn Kaplan/vocals & Mark Luecke/whistling)

My Little Corner of the World (Bob Hilliard, Lee Pockriss) (with MK)

[If reposting, kindly credit Frank & Earthy: http://www.jessejarnow.com/category/ylt / @bourgwick ]

Wish I'd been able to start going to these Hanukkah shows years ago. Great time, great band. So glad I finally got to see what I'd only had clips and downloads of from past years. Yo La Tengo fans, it was Mecca ... you should do it once in your life if you're able. 

Cited for CWS (Cycling While Sexy)

Biker pulled over by NYPD for sexy outfit: 'I thought he was joking': 

Image via NY Daily News

Cycling while sexy could be hazardous to city motorists - just ask Jasmijn Rijcken.

If that was a problem, how does the Naked Ride happen? Should Ms. Rijcken have applied for a permit or something first?

Update based on Glen's comments on Friendfeed:  Ms. Rijcken's linkedin profile, where he notes she's also a marketing consultant. So what we've got here is less of a news item and more of a (successful, to her credit) publicity stunt. Nice job, NY Daily Publicity Stunts!

cdogzilla's current status: feeling gullible, like a maroon.

Awesome New York City Movie Map

Name the 91 Films on This Awesome New York City Movie Map -- Vulture

Detail from a larger image.

Obvious miss: Remo Williams is not depicted hanging from Lady Liberty's spikey crown.

Elderly self-styled Vietnamese 'Robin Hood' faces three years in jail, hate crime charges for Chinatown theft spree

Pick-pocketing 'Robin Hood' faces three years in jail, hate crime charges for Chinatown theft spree: 

A lawyer for Vasko said she is a diagnosed kleptomaniac with serious mental health problems, including lingering post-traumatic stress from the war in Vietnam.

A headline that grabs your eye, looking like it might be a tale of adventure and intrigue, which pretty quickly reveals itself as another sad tale of mental illness.

Pot Slope? (Broooklyn's hemp heyday.)

Fields of Cannabis in Old Brooklyn - Carroll Gardens, NY Patch:

Image via Carroll Gardens Patch

There was a time in Brooklyn’s history when marijuana plants as tall as Christmas trees grew out in the open in vacant lots across the borough. From Avenue X to the banks of Newtown Creek, the plants grew in what a Brooklyn Eagle reporter described in 1951 as “lush impudence.”

Brooklyn Rocksteady (Documentary) by Samuel Gursky — Kickstarter

Brooklyn Rocksteady (Documentary) by Samuel Gursky — Kickstarter:

Vic Ruggerio of The Slackers, talking ska.

Brooklyn Rocksteady: The Roots, The Scene & The Culture is an exploration of NYC Ska and Rocksteady music since 1981 up until 2011, including interviews from members of The Toasters, The Slackers, The Pietasters, Westbound Train, Victor Rice, The Forthrights, Royal City Riot, The Hard Times, The Frighteners and more!

MMA-watching subway hero defeated crazed knifeman

Watching Cage Fighting Saved Me: NY Subway Hero - Joseph Lozito's leg sweep defeated crazed knifeman Maksim Gelman: 

Lozito's scalp laceration. Via Newser.

(Newser) – The New York City subway rider who helped disarm a knifeman accused of murdering four people and wounding several others says watching mixed martial arts fights on TV for 20 years likely saved his life. As slasher Maksim Gelman lunged at Joseph Lozito with a huge knife, Lozito used his leg to sweep his attacker off his feet. 'I guess you watch it for 20 years, you just pick up some things through osmosis,' Lozito, who suffered stab wounds to his head and hand, tells ABC News.

So there remains the possibility that all the hours I've devoted to watching Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Tony Jaa, Bruce Lee, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Mark Dacascos and Donnie Yen movies may yet save my life. (In the event I'm attacked by movie bad guys. Pretty sure I've not logged nearly enough MMA time to have absorbed any practical martial arts.)

Black man suing FDNY for race discrimination finds noose in his locker

Black man suing FDNY for race discrimination finds noose in his locker:

Seabrook, who is black, and four other minority electricians filed complaints with the New York State Division of Human Rights, charging the Fire Department overlooks minority electricians for overtime opportunities and promotions.

Yup, still living in "post-racial" America.

"Are you the Key Master?"

The Coolest Locksmith Shop in New York City | Scouting NY:

From a distance, it looks like a bunch of golden squiggles and spirals have been added, snaking whimsically across the facade. But get a little closer and you’ll find the real magic…

Whales Return to NYC

Whales Return to NYC - 'Menagerie of giants' calling New York's waters home:

(Newser) – Whales have returned to the waters around the Big Apple in numbers not seen for at least a century, a comeback experts believe is the result of anti-hunting laws and cleaner waters. Dolphins and seals have also made triumphant returns, and one ferryboat captain estimates the numbers of marine mammals have risen tenfold in recent years. One pod of at least 30 fin whales lives in the waters just beyond the Verrazano Bridge.

I haven't been on a whale watch since at least middle school, but it is simply an awesome experience.

The way it's snowing up there, it's a good thing they aren't orcas.