Four years ago on this day, we opened for Wilco in Coney Island at the Cyclones’ stadium. Was fun playing both our set and joining Wilco on “Spiders (Kidsmoke),” but I have to say my favorite part of the night happened offstage. The path to our dressing room was through the third-base dugout. When some people applauded for us as we left the field, I instantly realized this was likely to be my only opportunity to take a baseball player’s curtain call, so I emerged from the dugout, waved to the fans, and went to the trainer’s room to ice my hammy. Three years later, we opened for Belle & Sebastian in Pittsburgh while the Mets played the Pirates next door to our venue. Hated to miss the game (which the Mets lost 4-2), but we were very happy to have auxiliary B&S members C. J. Camerieri and Max Moston sit in on “Before We Run.” Anna writes from Toulouse, so unsurprisingly she has nothing to say about baseball, but it does include a return to Brooklyn: My first “live” encounter with Yo La Tengo took place in Summer 2006, back when I used to live in New York City. I was lucky enough to catch your amazing concert in Prospect Park, where you performed a goosebump-inducing soundtrack to Jean Painlevé’s “legendary but rarely seen” series of underwater documentaries. My friend Joan and I left the concert in a state of awe, and I did not realize I had lost my wallet until I reached the subway station. I tried my luck and went back to the park entrance, where security directed me to the band’s merchandise stand. There, a man handed me over my precious wallet, and I profusely thanked him while checking out credit cards and banknotes, and luckily nothing was missing. I caught Joan gaping in wonder, and as we headed back to the station he blurted out: “It was Ira!!! It was Ira who gave you back your wallet!”, and as I turned around, sure enough it was him, the kind person who smiled at me, and was now chatting away and helping out at the stand. This anecdote only reinforced my love for the band, and having moved to Florence, Italy, I could not miss your intimate concert at the Auditorium Flog, in November 2009. It was another wonderful experience, and I truly hope to “meet” you again in the future, wherever I am in the world, as I always come out of your concerts renewed.
