Yo La Tengo lament their camping days are over ahead of fourth End of the Road festival appearance

31 August 2018, 10:45 | Written by Adam Elmahdi

(News)

(Yo La Tengo) (End of the Road Festival)

Almost as much of an End of The Road institution as the peacocks that roam through its grounds, Yo La Tengo marked their 4th appearance at Larmer Tree Gardens with an accomplished and atmospheric Thursday night headline set.

Speaking to Best Fit, the ever-effusive Ira Kaplan reminisced fondly of intimate, "surreal" performances on the baroque Garden Stage, and indicated tonight's audience should expect the full bells-and-whistles YLT experience rather than the stripped-down "Freewheelin'" show they delivered in 2014.

The demands of scheduling, and the fact that that "none of the band are what you'd call 'camping' people" sadly precluded the alt-rock veterans from sampling any of this weekend's other musical offerings. But with their masterful command of both abrasive guitar noise and soulful, delicate songwriting, Yo La Tengo set the bar formidably high for all bands that have to follow.