We Went There: Yo La Tengo + Built to Spill at Palace Theater
Indie rock legends Yo La Tengo and Built to Spill brought their shot co-headling tour to St. Paul Tuesday night and delivered for what seemed like a mostly full Palace Theater. The bands, who have linked up before, were training off opener and headliner spots, although past setlist had made clear both bands hovered around 75-80 minutes regardless of who hit the stage first. In St. Paul it was a Built to Spill headlining night, which meant that shortly after 7pm, just before torrential rain caused late arrivers to enter the show soaking wet, the legendary Yo La Tengo sauntered out on stage to a raucous ovation.
Despite the slightly more restrictive set time arrangement, the band continued their career-long tradition of playing whatever the hell they wanted. After opening with “Sudden Organ,” the band dove into a demented, wild “Sinatra Drive Breakdown.” From there they oscillated between massive wall of sound jams and brittle ballads, a change that was fairly jarring. During the quiet/acoustic tracks like “Aselestine” and the light salsa groove of “Center of Gravity,” which was driven by a drum machine and saw Georgia come out from behind the drum kit to sing on center stage, you could even hear the crowd in the back chatting. But if they lulled anyone into peaceful tranquility, they quickly ripped that rug out with red-lining feedback on songs like “Fallout.”
They closed out their set strong, with a fuzzy “Sugarcube,” deep cut (and personal favorite) “Drug Test” before dropping a ton of bricks on the crowd with a massive version of “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind.”
If Yo La Tengo are an amalgamation of various sounds, the musical equivalent or wearing a tailored suit one day and ripped jeans with tie dye the next, Built to Spill are a comfy flannel. The band’s catalog is similarly long as YLT, but much more defined and worn in. There isn’t really a question of what a Built to Spill set will sound like. Mastermind Doug Martsch and his rotating cast (although fairly steady for last half decade) closed out the night with a sampling of their music that helped define 90s and early 2000s guitar rock.
Their state set was even more simplified looking than YLT (albeit deceptively as Martsch’s pedalboard and table of electronics actually expanded on the more lo-fi ascetics of the opening set). Like YLT, Built to Spill have a collection of “hit” in the granular, if not totally technical, sense. And they busted out many of them to an appreciative audience. From early set highlight “The Plan” to later set mile markers like “I Would Hurt A Fly” and encore “Carry the Zero,” the band hit all the notes. There is level of appreciation I have for the consistency of ff project, exploring his esoteric songwriting with Neil Young guitar histrionics, a candle he’s kept burning for multiple decades without selling out or losing too much steam off his fastball. His playing and singing, backed by a catalog that features a bountiful collection of songs that don’t miss, found a receptive audience Tuesday for a tour that struck the right balance between artistry and nostalgia.
The photos in the post are part of a whole set Adam posted earlier, which you can find HERE.
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