Photo used without permission, taken from Christoph!’s photostream on Flickr

There’s a whole host of Yo La action to update you with this week. Tonight, the band will be speaking to Gideon Coe live on BBC 6 Music, show starting at 9pm.  You can listen live via DAB digital radio, or log onto Gideon’s 6Music page here for a live stream.  The band will be discussing Popular Songs, their career and playing some of their favourite tracks from their most loved artists.

And tomorrow, at 7pm, Yo La Tengo will be playing a rare instore show, Freewheeling style, at London’s Rough Trade East store.  It’s a free show, but you’ll only get in with a wristband.  WRISTBAND COLLECTION 1 HOUR PRIOR TO STAGE TIME, STRICTLY ONE PER PERSON.  So get down to the store early to guarantee entry.

Rough Trade East can be found :

‘Dray Walk’
Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane
London
E1 6QL

The band will also be playing this weekend’s All Tomorrow’s Parties Nightmare Before Christmas festival at Butlins, Minehead.

Yo La Tengo : Friday 4th December, 8.30pm-9.45pm

As well as YLT, you can also catch Sonic Youth and Fucked Up down at ATP.  Check the ATP listings for everyone else playing.

Sonic Youth : Saturday 5th December, 8.45pm-10pm

Fucked Up : Saturday 5th December, 2.15am-3.15am

Filmore date in bold below. Tickets are going faster than Usain Bolt’s pet cheetah (who to be fair, is locked up)

Sat-Nov-21 New York, NY Terminal 5 * (SOLD OUT)
Sun-Nov-22 Boston, MA Wilbur Theatre **
Mon-Nov-23 Boston, MA Wilbur Theatre ***
Tue-Nov-24 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg + (SOLD OUT)
Wed-Nov-25 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg ++ (SOLD OUT)

Mon-Jan-04 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre ~
Tue-Jan-05 Phoenix, AZ Marquee Theatre ~
Thu-Jan-07 San Diego, CA House of Blues ~
Fri-Jan-08 Pomona, CA Fox Theatre ~
Sat-Jan-09 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern ~
Sun-Jan-10 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore ~

* – with Dinosaur Jr.and Cold Cave
** with The Feelies
*** with The Meat Puppets and Cold Cave
+ with Talk Normal
++ with Jemina Pearl
~ with Sic Alps

(Kim photo by Kirstie Shanley)

Hand in hand with their recent appearance on Gossip Girl, be sure to check out Sonic Youth’s  “Star Power (Acoustic 09)” which is, as guessed, an acoustic version of the EVOL classic. This exclusive single  comes coupled with “Antenna” (The Eternal version) via iTunes. Speaking of which, for a limited time you can pick up The Eternal, at iTunes for the nice price of $7.99.

A slew of dates coming up including 3 sold out NYC shows. Get those tickets while you can:

OCTOBER 21 – BERLIN-  COLUMBIAHALLE – TICKETS
OCTOBER 22 – BRUSSELS ANCIENNE BELGIQUE SOLD OUT
OCTOBER 23 – LONDON, UK FORUM SOLD OUT
OCTOBER 25 -PARIS PALAIS DE CONGRES – TICKETS

NOVEMBER 7 – SAO PAOLO, BRAZIL PLANETA TERRA FESTIVAL – TICKETS
NOVEMBER 13 – TEXT OF LIGHT – NEW YORK, NY  – HIGH LINE – INFO
NOVEMBER 21 – WITH DINOSAUR JR. + COLD CAVE – NEW YORK, NY TERMINAL 5 SOLD OUT
NOVEMBER 22 – WITH THE FEELIES – BOSTON, MA – WILBUR THEATRE – TICKETS
NOVEMBER 23 – WITH THE MEAT PUPPETS + COLD CAVE – BOSTON, MA WILBUR THEATRE – TICKETS
NOVEMBER 24 – WITH TALK NORMAL – BROOKLYN, NY – MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG SOLD OUT
NOVEMBER 25 – WITH JEMINA PEARL – BROOKLYN, NY MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG SOLD OUT

DECEMBER 4-5 – ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES -  MINEHEAD, UK – TICKETS
DECEMBER 6  – DUBLIN, VICAR ST. SOLD OUT

JANUARY 4 – WITH SIC ALPS – TUCSON, AZ RIALTO THEATRE – TICKETS
JANUARY 5 – WITH  SIC ALPS – PHEONIX, AZ MARQUEE THEATRE – TICKETS
JANUARY 7 – WITH SIC ALPS – SAN DIEGO, CA HOUSE OF BLUES – TICKETS
JANUARY 8 -  WITH SIC ALPS – POMONA, CA FOX THEATRE – TICKETS
JANUARY 9 – WITH SIC ALPS – LOS ANGELES, CA WILTERN TICKETS – TICKETS

(photo by Kirstie Shanley)

Sonic Youth and Matador regret  to announce that guitarist Lee Ranaldo has fractured his left wrist, requiring the band to reschedule their upcoming west coast tour to the following new dates:

Mon Jan 04 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theater
Tue Jan 05 – Phoenix, AZ – Marquee Theater
Thu Jan 07 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues
Fri Jan 08 – Pomona, CA – Fox Theater
Sat Jan 09 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern

Tickets for the original dates will be honored.  If necessary, refunds will be available at the point of purchase.

Two of the band’s planned fall appearances will NOT be rescheduled, however – September 26 in Santa Barbara and October 4 at The Austin City Limits Festival.  Refunds for the Santa Barbara show will be available at the point of purchase.

Lee fractured his wrist while playing tennis, no minor injury for a guitarist, writer, and visual artist.  Or a tennis player. Please join us in wishing him a quick and thorough recovery.

(Ayal Senior’s YouToob shots of SY at Toronto’s Massey Hall, June 30, ‘09)

No sooner than we announced Sonic Youth were playing Boston’s Wilbur Theatre on November 23 than an internal message was circulated stating said date was not supposed to be revealed to the public for another week. Good luck getting the genie back the bottle — it’s a slippery slope from a Matablog post to a mention on The View or an angry editorial from Tass.

Anyhow, even if the incidents are completely unrelated, we’ve learned today that Sonic Youth have added another Boston show (again, at the historic Wilbur Theatre) on November 22. If you wanna give me all the credit, I’m happy to take it. There’s nothing more important to us than THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW.

(Lee, Thurston and Kim, being grilled by Matson On Music’s Andrew Matson. Video courtesy KEXP)

Lest anyone suspect Sonic Youth’s ‘09 USA touring would conclude with October 4th’s appearance at Austin City Limits, the band have just added a pair of Eastern dates ;

Sat-Nov-21 New York, NY Terminal 5 (with Dinosaur Jr.)
Mon-Nov-23 Boston, MA Wilbur Theatre

(‘The Eternal’ 2XLP/CD/digital album still available from The Matador Store)

Though Sonic Youth’s current Western swing was due to end Sunday night in Oakland prior to the heading to Japan, we’re happy to confirm they’ll be playing at The Independent in San Francisco this coming Monday night, August 3, with support from Sic Alps (above).

(Lee and Steve photos by Kirstie Shanley)

Though tickets for SY’s 9/29 show at the Wiltern and their October 4 ACL appearance have been available for a while, the rest of the schedule below is on sale starting today.

Fri-Sep-25 Pomona, CA Fox Theatre
Sat-Sep-26 Santa Barbara, CA Arlington Theatre
Mon-Sep-28 San Diego, CA House of Blues
Tue-Sep-29 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
Thu-Oct-01 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
Fri-Oct-02 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
Sun-Oct-04 Austin, TX Austin City Limits