Tony Thio
USA Today calls them “one of rock’s last true visionary bands”.
The band that we’re talking about, is Yo La Tengo, one of the headlining acts of the Mosaic Festival at the Esplanade this year. UrbanWire caught their performance at the Concert Hall on Mar 11, and to put It mildly, it very nearly rocked the house down.
This being a 23-year-old band, it was natural to see a slightly older crowd mill around the reception area before the concert. In fact, this reporter soon found out that he was possibly one of the youngest concert-goers in attendance.
However, if you had the impression that Yo La Tengo is an old fogey band, they’re anything but. Yo La Tengo is all about indie rock, and even after so long, they have stuck to their Velvet Underground vibe mix of solid pop tunes, noisy rock and wildly engaging jazz experiments. Right from the get go, they knew what they were capable of, and showed it off to their full abilities, and to a roaring, crowd who lapped it up with great appreciation.
The setting was simple, innocuous, plain. The concert stage is devoid of any embellishment – just musical instruments, and not even particularly fancy-looking ones either. The backdrop is black, and reads Esplanade presents Mosaic Music Festival Singapore 2007. The lights flicker between blue, white and green.
The restless crowd, eagerly anticipating the 3 rockers from Hoboken, New Jersey, are willing them to appear on stage. Loud cheering ensues, with catcalls piercing the air. The mood is electric. And then, Yo La Tengo calmly walks onto the stage, unassuming, with no hint of makeup. They pick up their instruments with seasoned assurance and start to perform.
The moment they play, what this reporter heard and saw was nothing short of marvelous. Yo La Tengo are great at what they do, and incredible “live”. They are emotive, evocative even. Frontman Ira Kaplan had the crowd eating out of his hand from the start, and combined with Georgia Hubley’s never-ending drum pounding as well as James McNew’s bass beats, it was aural pleasure at its peak. The intensity reverberated around the concert hall, enhanced by the excellent sound system, compelling some of the audience to stand and dance to the beat. 
Needless to say, it was Kaplan who outperformed the other 2. During his raucous guitar solos, he seemingly went into trance-like fits, with his back to the audience, yet the hands never seemed to stop strumming out heavenly yet intense tunes. He was gentle, yet brutal. He would pluck one moment, and then scratch the next. In his hands, the guitar was not just an instrument, it was his plaything, there for him to mould, to use as he pleased, just to churn out tune after tune after tune, further enhanced by the pedal.
Even though the music breached into the genre of metal at times (what with the maniac guitar solos, and the noise/music of the distortion pedal), McNew’s melodic bass line and Hubley’s steady, constant drum beats made the whole mix something that was weird, strange, but yet a pleasure to rock to. The ballads, such as “The Weakest Part”, and “I Feel Like Going Home”, were a welcome change and clearly showcased Georgia’s melodious vocals.
Still the star of the night was undoubtedly Kaplan, and judging by Yo La Tengo’s performance, Esplanade probably didn’t even have to bring in the other headlining acts.
Yes, Yo La Tengo was that good. If you missed their concert, you might want to get their album, I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass, out in stores.