The Sadies’ Travis Good Joins Yo La Tengo At Hanukkah Show In New York City

Yo La Tengo held the fifth show of their eight-night Hanukkah run at The Bowery Ballroom in New York City on Thursday. For night five, the band was joined at various points by The Sadies guitarist Travis Good.

Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew started Thursday’s main set with “You Are Here,” from their most recent album, 2018’s There’s A Riot Going On. The opener transitioned into “Green Arrow” from 1997’s I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, followed by the There’s A Riot Going On cut “Shades Of Blue.” Next was the always fun “Mr. Tough” from 2006’s I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass and an acoustic “Big Day Coming” off 1993’s Painful.

Good then came out for an extensive collaboration that began with “The Hour Grows Late” from 1995’s Electr-O-Pura. Good’s sit-in continued with “The Race Is On Again” from I’m Not Afraid of You and “The River Of Water” the latter of which was a bonus track on Yo La Tengo’s 1986 debut album, Ride The Tiger. Good also helped augment “On PM Again” from I Can Hear the Heart.

Good further assisted on a cover of the Paul Revere and the Raiders-popularized “Kicks” and “Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Dessert by Mistake #1” from the 1998 album Jad Fair recorded with Yo La Tengo, Strange but True.

The guest guitarist exited ahead of the Painful track “Sudden Organ,” a cover of “Let’s Compromise” by Vital Information and the Electr-O-Pura selection “Decora.” Good came back out for the remainder of the concert, joining the band on the set-closing cover of The Beach Boys’ “Little Honda.”

Thursday’s encore consisted of covers of the Carole King/Gerry Goffin-written, The Byrds-popularized “Wasn’t Born To Follow,” Bob Dylan’s “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” and Jonathan Richman’s “She Cracked.” Good capped the performance with The Sadies’ “A Good Flying Day” serving as the finale.

Setlist (via Frank & Earthy)

Set: You Are Here > Green Arrow, Shades of Blue, Mr. Tough, Big Day Coming (acoustic), The Hour Grows Late (with Travis Good on guitar/vocals), The Race Is On Again (with TG), The River of Water (with TG), One PM Again (with TG), Kicks (Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil) (with TG), Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Dessert By Mistake (with TG), Sudden Organ, Let’s Compromise (Information), Decora, Little Honda (The Hondells) (with TG)

Encore: Wasn’t Born To Follow (Carole King/Gerry Goffin) (with TG), Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues (Bob Dylan) (with TG), She Cracked (Jonathan Richman) (with TG), A Good Flying Day (The Sadies) (with TG)

Notes:

• Opening Act: Horsegirl
• Comedian: Eugene Mirman
• Mix CD: Georgia
• Benefiting: Red Hook Initiative