You can have it all
Monday, I got to go to the Yo La Tengo ACL aftershow at the Parish here in Austin. I’ve been really fanboy about Yo La Tengo since I was 15 or 16, when I started listening to the band because I read a record review in Rolling Stone that suggested those who enjoyed the Velvet Underground might like the band’s latest. I, being a teenager in an isolated part of the U.S., loved the Velvet Underground, so I went and bought And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out immediately — and by immediately, I mean 2 weeks later after the special order I placed at the Hasting’s in Wichita Falls finally came in. The fates have worked against me for years, and I’ve not had the chance to see Yo La Tengo live before, so I was glad to get my chance.
Overall, the show was a real treat, but the highlights for me were (a) “the Crying of Lot G” (b) “You Don’t Love Me Yet.” Yes, that “You Don’t Love Me Yet,” the one by Roky Erickson, the heartbreaking one. The one that leaves want lingering everywhere in its wake. A couple years ago, I was, by some bizarre chain of events, at an industry party mid-summer where Erickson was the entertainment. Seeing him sing that song, solo with acoustic guitar, to an intimate audience of no more than 60 is one of those things that will likely stick with me for decades.
Also, this is the second time I’ve seen the Black, who opened for Yo La Tengo, play, and I have to say, I’m impressed. They’re a real good time. A real good rockabilly time. Put on your Levi’s shrink-to-fits and rock out.