Sun Ra Arkestra Joins Yo La Tengo On Night 1 Of 2025 Hanukkah Run In New York City

Yo La Tengo’s annual eight-show Hanukkah run at The Bowery Ballroom in New York City began last night to coincide with the Jewish holiday. Frequent collaborators in the Sun Ra Arkestra joined Yo La Tengo drummer Georgia Hubley, guitarist Ira Kaplan and bassist James McNew for much of their set.

Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah residency tradition dates back to 2001, when the run was initially held at Maxwell’s in the trio’s hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey. Yo La Tengo put the residency on hiatus from 2013 through 2016 after the venue was shuttered and brought the run back in 2017 at Bowery Ballroom, where it’s been held ever since.

Comedian Jon Glaser performed an opening set. The Sun Ra Arkestra, led by 101-year-old Marshall Allen, also played a set before YLT. The concert raised funds for Housing Justice For All.

Yo La Tengo opened with Neil Young’s recent politically-charged song “Big Crime,” followed by their “Back In The New York Jews” version of Ace Frehley’s “Back In The New York Groove.”

Later in the set, horn-playing members of the Sun Ra Arkestra returned to the Bowery stage and performed Sun Ra’s “We Travel the Spaceways.” Between Yo La Tengo songs, the Arkestra members also joined on Sun Ra’s “Dreaming” and were part of the set-closing, YLT staple “Nuclear War.”

The encore consisted of covers of Richard Hell’s “The Kid With the Replaceable Head,” Blue Öyster Cult’s “This Ain’t the Summer of Love” and Phil Spector’s “Be My Baby.” Scroll through videos posted from the show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGaZzhGpu-U

Setlist (via Frank & Earthy)

Set: Big Crime (Neil Young), Back in the New York Groove (KISS) (as “Back With the New York Jews”), Periodically Double or Triple, Can’t Forget, Madeline, We Travel the Spaceways (Sun Ra) > Let’s Be Still, Don’t Have To Be So Sad, Dreaming (Sun Ra), My Heart’s Reflection, Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Desert By Mistake (Jad Fair), This Stupid World, Emulsified (Rex Garvin), More Stars Than There Are In Heaven (boogie version), Nuclear War (Sun Ra)

Encore: The Kid With the Replaceable Head (Richard Hell), This Ain’t the Summer of Love (Blue Oyster Cult), Be My Baby (Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich/Phil Spector)

Notes:

Whole set from “We Travel the Spaceways” onwards with Sun Ra Arkestra horns