Live Review: Yo La Tengo

Fade, Yo La Tengo's newest album, is about as accurate a summation of the band's manifesto as they've ever delivered. Its cracked pop tunes ooze the awkward individuality of this band, and the prospect of witnessing these songs performed in the grandiose surrounds of Hamer Hall is delectable.

The three arrive at the front of the stage and begin with an acoustic version of the new album's opening number Ohm. It's a subtly affecting start with their vocal harmonies echoing through the hall and the song's mantra of “Resisting the flow” pretty well summating the trajectory of the band over the years. They follow this with the sleepy Two Trains, which gives guitarists Ira Kaplan and James McNew the opportunity to grapple with the acoustics of the space, deliberately broadcasting and tweaking feedback from their half-wrecked guitars while Georgia Hubley chips out the beat on a stripped drumkit. From here the first set ebbs more than it flows and though a few numbers jump out – Periodically Double Or Triple off Popular Songs gets a rousing response – one can't help wondering what lies beneath the sheets to the rear of stage.

After a decent drinks break the band return for the electric set and again it's the Fade songs that shine. Paddle Forward is a sonic dunking and Is That Enough (for all its cuteness and patchy sound mix) pulls a crazed reaction, but album closer Before We Run encapsulates the delicate brilliance that finds the band deserving of a Melbourne Festival guernsey.

Sugarcube and Little Eyes are fairly tokenistically thrown in the mix and, though it's a bloody long time coming (we're around two hours in now), the band finally descend into some kind of improvised chaos. The second, and über-badass, version of Ohm would have spelled a perfect end to proceedings, all fuzzy guitars and vocal harmonies as equally perfect as the first time around. Alas, the band persist well into the third hour of a show that would've been far more effective in a small, beery bandroom – especially the second half.