There’s got to be a fancy scientific and/or Latin term for the process by which NKOTB and Yo La Tengo ended up under the same roof, 20 years ago today. For as Sleepyhead is my witness, that’s precisely what happened in Pittsburgh: Donnie, Jordan & the boys in the main room, the Metropole, and us in the adjoining Rosebud’s. Before we went on, we got the chance to watch the New Kids in action and perhaps that’s what inspired a few flourishes of showmanship on our side of the divider. I play the house piano amidst the chairs and tables in the middle of the room on an impromptu microphone-less version of “Cast a Shadow” with James on acoustic guitar. All of Sleepyhead joined us for a haphazard “Ramblin’ Rose.” At the end of the evening, NKOTB pointed their bus toward Indianapolis, and the YLT caravan made its way to Rochester, the twain never again to meet.
