YO LA
TENGO
BROADCAST
Shepherds Bush Empire 10th April 2001
YO LA
TENGO
BROADCAST
Shepherds Bush Empire 10th April 2001
Tagged on to their itinery
at the end of the All Tomorrows parties festival, this is still a welcome double
bill. I suspected Broadcast's set to be similar to the one I saw at the Scala
but they've obviously been busy as quite a few new songs are introduced. The
movie backdrop (biology, industry) is the same but they only play about half
the material from 'The Noise Made by People'- 'C'mon Lets go', 'Papercuts' and
the gorgeous 'Echoes Answer' are best received. Also impressive is the epic
krautrocky tune that comes near the end of their set. BROADCAST + WISDOM OF HARRY
Support bands don't come much better than this, but then Yo La Tengo are one
of the best live bands around so they don't have much trouble following them.
An extended 'I Heard You Looking' opens the set, perhaps as a warning to anyone
just expecting the moody and mellow tunes from the last album to watch out!
However, with the exception of that and the fast version of 'Big Day Coming'
they don't delve too far into their back catalogue. 'Autumn Sweater' is another
older tune that makes an appearance, again extended with extra analogue synth
bits and percussion. Disco cover 'You can have it all' replaces the syncopated
dancing they did on the last tour with a triple drummer workout - it still gets
the best reaction from the crowd though!
As far as I can tell, there weren't any new songs played tonight, instead they
concentrated mostly on the last album 'And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside
Out'. Blissful tunes like 'Our Way to Fall' and 'Last Days of Disco' balance
well with Ira's guitar workouts on the likes of 'Cherry Chapstick'.
Of course, no Yo La Tengo gig would be complete without a few cover versions,
and tonight the encores consist of five of these! A punk thing called 'Neutron
Bomb' (any ideas?), a Flamin' Groovies tune I don't recognise, a couple of others
and then Big Star's lovely 'Take Care' to send us off into the night. Another
inspired performance.
London Scala 12th October 2000
The Wisdom Of Harry, now a duo, amble through about half an hour of material which flicks between Pete Astor's songs and electronic, percussion-heavy grooves. It is a strange combination but it always seens to work for me as I always enjoy their shows. However, most people are here to see Broadcast who, despite having made one of the finest records of the year ('The Noise Made By People'), are still a bit of an unknown quantity live.
Any worries about their lack of live experience are quickly dismissed and this turn out to be one of the best gigs I've seen in recent months. Helped along by impressively thought out visuals which rival the Flaming Lips, Broadcast play a very powerful live show. They are much more 'in your face' than I expected, and opening song 'Long Was The Year' is almost shocking in it's intensity. It's also during this that I manage to pin down which band they remind me of most. Everyone has heard the Broadcast sound described as folk, cinema soundtracks and easy listening mixed up with Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine and Stereolab, but it is during this first song that they evoke 'White Rabbit' by Jefferson Airplane. The strong female vocals cutting through the rising cacophony of the band.
They don't look back from there. Some material from the new EP is aired, but mostly they concentrate on the recent album. Highlights include the tuneful pyschedelia of 'Unchanging Window' and 'You Can Fall', the infectious 'Come on Let's Go' and the gentle ambience of 'Echo's Answer'. Just like on the album though, 'Papercuts' is the most striking tune, a shifting, swooning classic. Overall, a surprisingy impressive.