I waited a long time for this one.

While randomly scrolling around the Web site of a local entertainment magazine a couple of weeks ago, I thought I was briefly hallucinating to see Yo La Tengo's name. I thought for a second, it must be a misprint. Surely they weren't playing in Birmingham. They've never played in Birmingham.

Seven years ago best friend Roy and and I drove to Atlanta to see them at the Tabernacle and the show was sold out. Later that night a crazy dog belonging to my sister's then roommate tried to attach Roy, tearing a hole in his shirt. My sister lived in the hood at the time. It wasn't a very good night.

The show was crowded, frustratingly so with two bartenders to work a crowd of at least 200. The opening act wasn't worth mentioning and I don't even care how un-arty and out-of-touch it is to say you don't give a shit about free-form jazz. It sucked, made my ears hurt and eyes want to bleed because of the mind reverberations caused by their clarinet craziness.

Yo La Tengo didn't disappoint. Most of the songs they played were from the latest album, I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass (2006, Matador) -- their classic mix of thoughtful short quiet pop songs interspersed with lengthy feedback driven twelve minute wonders with driving bass. I have liked them ever since I heard them on Auburn University's college station WEGL back in the mid-eighties and, like Sonic Youth, have been amazed at their career and mile long discography. It was songs from I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997 Matador) that I was hoping for the whole night. For me it was one of those albums that came out during a sad time in my life and listening to it made me hopeful like the future was worth waiting around for to have music this good to listen to (with a good friend like Roy to listen to it with). The band complied with "Little Honda" and then "Autumn Sweater" though the decision to leave the bass out and have James McNew play snare along with Georgia Hubley on the full kit was a bit of a mystery. The bass line is the best part of that song, but that it is my only real criticism of the performance.

Much of the crowd acted like it was on steroids. I got the feeling that many many youth hipsters there had not really followed the band much at all, but knew they were supposed to be cool and this was an event to be seen at. I didn't mind that part of it so much, but the constant talking, especially during the beautiful quiet songs with Hubley on lead vocals and keys, left me boiling pissed. It you are just there to make the fledgling indie rock scene, stay out in the bar area and talk your cardigan-wearing asses into the ground, but don't disrespect the band and the people who are paying $8 for a mixed drink in a plastic cup. After all, wouldn't it be nice to have bands like Yo La Tengo come back? The band didn't seem to mind and lead singer Ira Kaplan paid homage to the Birmingham by playing a Sun-Ra cover on the first encore. By the second encore the chatterers were bored and left which opened the small theater up nicely for the last songs of the night played for people who actually came to see the fantasticness of Hoboken, New Jersey's own.

Concert comrade Sara Leah Miller's photos are here.