YO LA TENGO
Slim’s
San Francisco, CA
September 20, 1993
Stonecutter Archive #16

AUD > cassette (2nd gen.) > Tascam 424 Mk II > Sony PCM-M10 (Line In, 24/48) > WAV > SoundStudio > FLAC (16/44)
Recorder unknown, cassette copy provided by Rich B.
Transferred and digitally mastered by neil d

01 The Story of Jazz
02 From a Motel 6
03 The Fool Beside You
04 Nowhere Near
05 The Summer
06 Shaker
07 Double Dare
08 Out the Window
09 Big Day Coming
10 Sudden Organ

Rich B., aka Stonecutter, recorded hundreds of shows in New York in the '80s and '90s, and traded for hundreds more. Until recently, many of these have been stacked up in trays and trays of DATs and cassettes in his basement, never shared beyond a relative handful of tape trades back in the day. Through his generosity, a few of us are helping to digitize and share these hidden gems. No one can say how many of these there will be, as we haven't hit bottom yet.

A short opening set for the Breeders, featuring several songs from YLT’s about-to-be-released “Painful.” The story behind this short tour was told by Ira on yolatengo.com:

“In the weeks prior to the release of Painful in 1993, we were offered eight shows opening for the Breeders. Last Splash was a sensation, and the Breeders were playing clubs smaller than they could have. Space on stage was at a premium, and as good as a mix as it may have been musically--we were aware of Kim Deal watching more than one of our sets--that's how awkward it was personally. I wish I could say none of it was our fault. The second date was in New York, and we contemplated bailing on the remaining six, which included full-day drives to get from Providence to Chicago, and then again from Chicago to Portland (where we had our lone show without the Breeders). We were convinced to press on. After playing in Chicago, 21 years ago today, we left early, getting a head start on the trip west, sleeping somewhere in Iowa. We felt pretty good--soundman Terry Pearson, who knew the Breeders a bit dating from their dates opening for Sonic Youth, spoke for us all when he declared we had ‘turned the corner.’ He was right: As Georgia, James, Terry and Joe ate breakfast, I got the call from Bob Lawton that we'd been kicked off the tour. What to do? Convinced that it was all a misunderstanding--the communication between the two bands was that inept--we were reluctant to give up and drive home. But the Breeders were flying to the west coast, and no appeal could be heard until they landed. Our timetable to get to Portland did not allow us the freedom to wait for them to be accessible again; we continued driving and hoped that we weren't adding eight hours to a frustrating backtrack. If you saw us in Seattle, Los Angeles or San Francisco, you already know how this story ends. At a post-show soiree the final night at the Troubadour in L.A., I managed to call Kelly Deal Kim.”

The show itself, at least, is excellent, though there’s a bit of hiss on the quiet songs. Anyone who can identify the movie (I think?) clip played before “From a Motel 6” is, well, probably Brandon.

Meanwhile, Yo La has a new video out, and if you haven’t watched it yet, you owe it to yourself to do so. Go ahead, you can download this show in the background while you watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJwTSTlpsak