It’s been 25 years since Yo La Tengo released ‘Electr-o-Pura’ and was reviewed as “a well-adjusted Velvet Underground”. In these 25 years I’ve seen them perform live twice. The first time after they had a massive fight with Henry Rollins backstage, resulting in their playing a white hot, frustrated cover of Sun Ra’s “Nuclear War”, eventually just shouting “Whatchu gonna dooooo? About your assssss?!” to a confused crowd of slightly bemused Belgians. The second time they shared the stage with Heath Ledger during a Bob Dylan tribute gig in New York. As we exited the building afterwards, we heard Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth was hosting an after-party in Brooklyn with Heath. We decided not to go. A few months later, Heath Ledger passed away. Three years later, Sonic Youth split.
Man, 25 years is a long time.
Anyway, here’s there restored video for “Tom Courtenay”, a silly little short about the band opening for a reunited Beatles in 1995.
Directed by Phil Morrison
