It’s that time of year again, as Yo La Tengo‘s annual eight-show Hanukkah run at Bowery Ballroom began on Thursday night. Sun Ra Arkestra, who are Hanukkah run mainstays and our only “shoo-in” guess for surprise guest this year, were the surprise musical opener, and John Early was the Night 1 comedian.
Yo La Tengo opened their set with a cover of “My Little Corner of the World,” and then launched into “Sinatra Drive Breakdown” from this year’s This Stupid World and then “Autumn Sweater.” (There are no repeated songs during their Hanukkah Run, so they got one of their most-loved songs out of the way early.) The Sun Ra Horns — James Stewart (saxophone), Knoel Scott (saxophone), Cecil Brooks (trumpet), Dave Davis (trombone), Michael Ray (trumpet) — joined the band for the second half of the set, which included covers of Sun Ra’s “Unmask the Batman,” “Dreaming,” and “Nuclear War,” which closed out the main set.
For the all-covers encore, they had The Ladybug Transistor‘s Gary Olson and Julia Rydholm on hand for Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman’s Elvis hit “Suspicion,” and Burt Bacharach & Hal David’s Dionne Warwick hit “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me.” They then brought out John Early to sing “I Have A Little Dreidel,” and he stuck around for “Where or When” from the Rodgers & Hart musical Babes in Arms.
Clay Pigeon made the night’s mix CD, WMBR’s Jon Bernhardt was the post-show DJ, and proceeds from the night went to Palestinians in Gaza relief org Anera.
Check out photos from Night 1 by Qbertplaya, plus the setlist (via Jesse Jarnow), and fan-shot video (including John Early’s whole set), below.
You can also check out photos by Ellen Qbertplaya, setlists, and recaps of all the Yo La Tengo Hanukkah 2023 run, as they happen, here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUdl31Kk4vM
SETLIST: Yo La Tengo @ Bowery Ballroom 12/6/2023 (Hanukkah Night 1) (Via Frank & Earthy)
My Little Corner of the World (Bob Hilliard & Lee Pockriss) (with Mark Luecke on whistling)
Sinatra Drive Breakdown
Autumn Sweater
For You Too
Madeline
Lewis
Shaker
Don’t Have To Be So Sad
Dreaming (Sun Ra)
Artificial Heart
Unmask the Batman (Sun Ra)
Brain Capers
Emulsified (Rex Garvin & the Mighty Cravers)
More Stars Than There Are In Heaven (boogie version)
Nuclear War (Sun Ra)
*(encore)*
Suspicion (Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman) (with Gary Olson [vocals/trumpet] & Julia Rydholm [keyboards] of Ladybug Transistor)
(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me (Burt Bacharach & Hal David) (with GO & JR)
I Have A Little Dreidel (Samuel S. Grossman & Samuel E. Goldfarb) (with John Early on vocals)
Where Or When (Richard Rogers & Lorenz Hart) (with JE)