Freewheeling Yo La Tengo @ QEH

Just back from Yo La Tengo's "Freewheeling..." show with mixed feelings. Yo La Tengo were great, they invariably are. And Georgia, Ira and James are clever and funny people. But the Q&A format of the show made for an uncomfortable and occasionally toe-curling experience. Mostly because of the inane (of the "what's your favourite..." variety) or just plain stupid ("have you been to Antarctica") questions that were asked and partly because of an environment (and room acoustics) that discouraged anything more serious or in depth from being asked.

The band coped admirably and managed to rattle through a decent number of songs including a Condo Fucks track and a couple from the new album, and it was nice that Ira managed to wig out occasionally despite the gentile environment, the chairs and the acoustic guitar.

The band appeared to have a Osmonds-like colour-coding thing going on with their shoes (James=green, Georgia=blue and Ira = red)... maybe I should have asked them a question about that.

One positive (for Yo La Tengo) was that they managed to sell at least two tickets for their proper show at the Roundhouse later in the year - because Stuart and I came away not fully satisfied.