Author: Ira

Twenty-five years and one day ago, Tesla played Virginia’s Richmond Coliseum.  They had February 1 off, so went straight to Charlotte NC, where they were booked for the following night, and where as it happened Yo La Tengo were opening for the Feelies.   At some point that night at the Pterodactyl, Georgia overheard one or more people–Brian Wheat? Troy Luccketta? crew?  your guess is as good as mine–trying to talk their way into the show, dropping the name Tesla.  The door man would have none of it, and Georgia didn’t have the juice to get them in.  We tried to convince the Feelies to intercede and maybe even jam, but oddly this idea didn’t fly.  “I bet you’d let us in if we were R.E.M.” complained one of the Teslas, no doubt correctly assessing the situation, and that’s [popup url=”https://yolatengo.com/wp-content/uploads/howimet.jpg” width=”833″]how I (almost) met Tesla[/popup].

 

Named after the above taunt hurled at us by a disgruntled Dutch audience member, our alter ego Sleeping Pill debuted on this date 22 years ago, on a bill with Mofungo and Chain Gang at CBGB.  Our set debuted the as-yet untitled new songs “Sudden Organ” and “Double Dare,” the latter eventually ending up as the B-side of “Big Day Coming.”  In other news of the day, a pair of guest drummers gave Georgia a breather on January 31:  John Convertino played “Little Black Egg” (sung by Georgia and Joey Burns) in St. Louis last year, and Todd Barry handled “Jeepster” during 2007’s Super Bowl week in Miami with his customary aplomb.

 

Let’s be honest: Florida can be problematic.  But as we recollect two different visits to the Sunshine State on January 30, never is heard the oftmentioned discouraging word.   1996: James and I enter through the crowd, playing marching band tom-toms, at the Covered Dish in Gainesville.  I believe this is our final appearance in what had been our favorite city to play in Florida, and not only because it was the home of Mama Lo’s.  2007: We find an Ace Tone organ and somehow manage to get Sam Rivers to open for us at the Social in Orlando, all on the same day.

Roughly due south of Florida, Emi and Marian write from Argentina. Due to its length, I’ve posted  their story, in both prose (Marianela) and poetry (Emilio), as links, but these self-described “improvised English” writers made our day.

 

On January 29, 1999 we performed at Tramps in NYC.  Other Dimensions in Music opened, we premiered “Our Way to Fall” during our set, and oh yes, a nekkid Phil Morrison sang “Ramblin’ Rose” during the encore.  A great night, and one I’d be happy to detail were I not in a hurry to get to the email we received from Greg of Washington D.C.:

So this may be a little heavy but I have two linked YLT moments: Jan. 29, 2005 and Dec. 9, 2012.

 
Here goes–on Jan. 29, 2005 I was in the middle of a tour in Iraq (I was an Air Force officer).  I was working in the U.S. Embassy in the Green Zone when we were hit by a rocket attack and we lost some friends.  The next day, I directed all the people who worked for me to follow my lead and come up with their 100-things-to-do-before-you-die list.  We all promised each other to spend the rest of our lives fulfilling the list.  Well, on my list was seeing a Hanukkah show at Maxwell’s.  For the next few years I was always overseas over those dates and could never make it back to the U.S. for a show–“This ain’t no Mudd Club or CBGB, I  ain’t got time for that now.”
 
Finally in 2012 I was in the U.S. and able to get tickets to the second night, which turned out to be the Fred Armisen/Sun Ra night, on Dec. 9.  The Arkestra was great, you guys kicked ass, and Maxwell’s was a gem!  What a loss.  Now that Maxwell’s has closed, I would have been devastated had I not pulled off that 2012 show.  Next month I’ll be ticking another one off the list–Easter Island!
 
There you have it.

 

Twenty years ago today (I guess technically tomorrow because the show started after midnight), we appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, performing “From a Motel 6” while Georgia and Emily Hubley’s animated film The Tower screened behind us.  I looked high and low for an image of the show without success, so instead here’s a photo of Gregory Harrison, that episode’s lead guest (who said something tasteless during the taping that didn’t make it to air).

 

James recalls January 27, 2000: Our old rehearsal space in Jersey City, NJ was on the 3rd floor of a disintegrating, city block-sized warehouse, just off Washington Avenue. The building can be seen briefly in “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.” Unlike that movie, the place sucked. But this was a day when it didn’t matter. Sue Garner, Peter Walsh, Daniel Carter, Sabir Mateen, and the late Roy Campbell, Jr. braved the icy fire escape stairs, the terrifying freight elevator, and the never-to-be-mentioned-again bathroom to come and record the “Now 2000″/ “Excalibur 2001″ 2×7” EP with us.