Yo La Tengo rocks, but the crowd does not

Fans trickled into downtown Pontiac’s Crofoot Ballroom in anticipation of seeing indie rock veterans Yo La Tengo.

For what ended up being a nearly capacity crowd, the crowd came in rather slowly, with many coming after opener Times New Viking had finished up their set. Well, that would be their loss.

Times New Viking offered the type of raw energy concert goers should expect from an opener. They built on each song drawing more and more crowd members in with each song.

The bands sound cannot really be section off into one area, but garage rock with indie sensibilities would work best if they had to be placed into a genre. Do not place much in that as their music will only make listeners a bigger fan after each song.

After a short break, Yo La Tengo, stepped on the stage to a screaming crowd. The room seemed to come alive in that moment, but unfortunately, really only in that moment.

Frontman Ira Kaplan did not allow the lifeless crowd to deter him, as he went on in veteran rocker fashion, dancing and crooning the night away.

The band are true performers and professionals, at no point did they try to draw the crowd in, they continued performing classic and new songs from their expansive discography now spanning 24 years.

Finally, as the concert got into a groove the more up-tempo songs from Yo La Tengo had some audience members dancing and moving. Still it was less than what could be expected from a near capacity crowd.

Yo La Tengo lived up to their billing as a band that has solidified a place in modern day indie rock. The age of the crowd put a stamp on it, as there were attendees that ranged from “Doctoral degree” to “some high school.”

Next time hopefully the crowd will be as lively, as the band’s performance was.

Photo by dailybeatz