#334 (of 365) "Cherry Chapstick" Yo La Tengo

Hoboken's own indie rock legends Yo La Tengo are a band I've seen live maybe as much as any other band. I haven't made a running list of all my concert attendance, unfortunately, but they play a LOT of shows in the greater Manhattan area, including their annual 8 Nights of Hanukkah appearances, and I go to a lot of them. In recent years, they've divided their performances into two parts, acting as the opening band for themselves, starting with their slower, more melodic tracks in the first set, then coming back out with their bangers. And boy does this band have bangers. They formed in 1984 and have been around in this incarnation since 1992, with Ira, Georgia, and James. It's kind of amazing. In fact, while listening to a long-form discussion of Dinosaur Jr., I learned that they played their first NYC show at the infamous Maxwell's in Hoboken (RIP 2013) in 1984, opening for Big Black (Steve Albini's band, RIP). The sound guy at the show? Ira Kaplan, who was just forming Yo La Tengo at the time. In the audience watching? Members of Sonic Youth. All this awesome in Hoboken roughly 30 years before I would move there (and Maxwell's would shut down-- coincidence? I hope not). But I do love me some Yo La Tengo. 

"Cherry Chapstick" - Yo La Tengo // And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000)