Yo La Tengo/Feelies/Vivian Girls Show

Belated trip report of the New Year's Eve show at the Wellmont. Vivian Girls opened. The indie crowd seems to like them, and they're not bad, but not really my style. Three chicks -- actually two chicks and a third wheel of a drummer -- who do a mix of fast noise-punk and more shoegazy stuff. Short set, very peppy, but nothing stood out.

The Feelies were totally awesome. Very Dire Straits-y, in that their songs are just templates for an eventual bonecrushing solo by their frontman, Glenn Mercer. Nice, tight sound, great melodies, two (?) good percussionists. Some clunkers but small hurdles in an otherwise terrific set.

Yo La Tengo was a little disappointing, to be honest. I'm not a gigantic fan of them. But they are pretty bold. And I like the Belle & Sebastian-meets-MBV-meets-Wilco sound they have. For a trio, they certainly pack a wallop, and yet they have some fairly good slower or poppier tracks like "Mr. Tough" or "Daphnia." Yet they tested the audience's patience a little too much. Or at least my patience. I got there at 8:00, and was standing until 12:50. That's a long fucking time to be standing up, especially if you're listening to 11 minutes of unceasing guitar feedback and cymbal crashing. So, a word to the wise, YLT: when it's New Year's Eve, and the audience has been standing forever, try to close out the set with more accessible stuff.