One of the critics' (and my) favorite bands from the last 25 years added Sydney dates to their Down Under tour. One of those stops was at the Basement, a club that reminded me of a mix between your local sports bar, a cabaret theatre and cool jazz joint. In fact, I halfway expected Mr. Burgundy to whip out his jazz flute at some point. But instead, the low-key trio from Hoboken took the stage for their 'Freewheelin Yo La Tengo' set.
Along with a cool Dylanesque name, the Freewheelin shows are more Unplugged/Storytellers than your average concert. The band engaged with the audience and gave some insights into their large catalog of songs. It would be a more mellow affair than their gig at the Metro the next night, but good to see the band chill it out and get chummy with the fans. There were some faves, a cooled-out 'Autumn Sweater' and 'Mr Tough,' along with a super funky track about Nuclear War, where 'if they push that button...you ass got to go.'
I can't recall all the questions from fans, but they ranged from song meanings to their strangest gigs and Spanish-influenced band name. Here are a few examples:
- 'The Story of Yo La Tengo' isn't a sad song, in fact it's pretty upbeat...about how they made it as a band by trying really hard. Or in Spanish, duro.
- 'Afraid of Sharks' is a 9/11-ish song, about how all people were scared of on Sept 10 was shark attacks...until something really scary happens to replace that irrational fear.
- A few bad concerts stick out: anything for gay-heavy crowds...without the big shebang, probably not the music they're into. Then a Tibetan freedom concert, where lead singer Ira Kaplan was forced to hang with the Tibetan monks and M Ward to avoid the big jam session at the end.
- The band name comes from baseball phrase, when someone is trying to catch a flyball and call off their teammate: I got it! What makes this even better, is the story is from the infamous 1962 Mets team and the band are Mets fans themselves.
- They knew they made it as a band when they weren't in the salsa section of record stores anymore. Nobody in the band knows Spanish, the name is just a silly coincidence. One of those things you do as a band when you really don't exect you're going to do big things. Then promoters get turned off by thinking you're a Mexican mariachi band instead of an Indie rock outfit.
- They seem to like Australian morning tv. Ira's first guess for the name of the morning show was 'G'day.' Why not, that would be a good name!
One constant with these Q&A Freewheelin sessions is that nobody ever asks about the new record. No worries, we would get our fare share of Popular Songs at the Metro on Thursday.
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