Yo La Tengo has been a band for more than a quarter of a century. A number of its current Matador Records labelmates weren’t even born when the band released its first album, Ride the Tiger. While early contemporaries like The Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. peaked and imploded and got fat and reunited fifteen years later for condos full of cash, Yo La Tengo quietly built up one of the most solid discographies in all of rock music (indie or otherwise), consistently putting out solid albums of dreamy folk, droney jams, noisy guitar freakouts and whatever else seems like it should go on a Yo La Tengo album.

Last night at Warehouse Live YLT played a set heavy with songs from its newest album, Popular Songs, along with a healthy dose of old classics and covers. “Here To Fall,” stripped of its expressive string arrangements, became a noisy organ-driven freakout, and the swinging “Periodically Double or Triple” saw many in the crowd doing something that looked sort of like dancing. Highlight “Deeper Into Movies” was dedicated to Houston artist Dario Robleto, whose 2002 piece “At War With the Entropy of Nature / Ghosts Don’t Always Want to Come Back” was used as the cover to Popular Songs (a choice that strikes me as a bit incongruous - one of the least pretentious bands around joining forces with one of the most pretentious artists I’m aware of).

Trouble came when they focused on quieter material. Not because of the songs, or the performances – drummer Georgia Hubley’s sweet, lilting voice is the band’s secret weapon especially in softer moments, and the sound at Warehouse that night was the best I’d ever heard it* - but because of the crowd. I will never understand why somebody wants to pay $20 to talk through a band’s entire set, or why they need to stand right in front of me while they do so, or why I’m not supposed to hit people even when they’re assholes and I could probably take them anyway. But whenever the band brought the volume down, the tremendous dipshits who parked themselves right in front of me brought theirs up.

Stoic as ever, YLT didn’t let a roomful of obnoxious baseball caps get it down, turning up the volume towards the end of the main set for blistering takes on “Sugarcube,” the aforementioned “Movies” and an awe-inspiring “Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind,” the monolithic 11-minute opener from 2007’s I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass. The song is a revelation, a trancelike groove repeated ad-infinitum while singer/guitarist guitarist Ira Kaplin wrings peals of technicolor feedback from his guitar. It’s kind of weird watching a guy look like Gary Shandling flinging himself around the stage going straight-up Sonic Youth, but also kind of awesome.

“Pass The Hatchet” was followed by an encore of covers (by The Kinks, Alternative TV and Beat Happening) and a second encore of originals. During the last moments of the last song, a sweet acoustic ballad sang by Georgia, some miserable jagoff yelled “PLAY SUGARCUBE!” which got a smirk out of Ira, a grimace out of Georgia and no discernible reaction out of bassist James McNew (who looks more and more like Chief Bromden every year). I would give anything to find that guy and shake his hand: “not only are you the asshole who yelled at the respected band to play their ‘hit’ during what they already announced was their last song (of their second goddamn encore), but THEY ALREADY FUCKING PLAYED SUGARCUBE YOU STUPID STUPID PRICK.”

Then the song ended. People clapped and cheered. Georgia smiled and looked in the direction of the offending offender. “Don’t worry, you didn’t ruin tonight for us.” Me, I just hope YLT plays Houston again.

* - Due to a game of Wallet Forget I missed openers Times New Viking (whom I’d previously seen the last time they opened for Yo La Tengo), but everyone I talked to complained about the sound. What’s weird is everyone complained about something different: I heard that the organ was too loud and you couldn’t hear the guitar, I heard that the drums were too loud and you couldn’t hear the organ, I heard the drums were too quiet, I heard about eight different things about the vocals. Nobody mentioned anything about how Times New Viking actually performed, so I’m going to assume the sound was perfect and TNV were just having an off-night. The band was great the last time around, though.