Freewheeling Storytelling: Yo La Tengo

LIKE A TRUSTAFARIAN'S 10-year plan or a poem by Rod McKuen, "The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo" show involves very little in the way of forethought.

"It's very different than the normal rock tour," said multi-instrumentalist James McNew. "Basically all the shows have begun with us deciding about a minute before we go on stage what the first song we're going to play is. Then the floor is open."

While a traditional Yo La Tengo concert might find McNew, guitarist/vocalist Ira Kaplan and drummer/vocalist Georgia Hubley jumping back and forth between their tender indie-rock ballads and feedback-soaked noise-pop, the Freewheeling series is a chance to get a little more intimate with the audience. Think of it as a version of VH1's "Storytellers" for the beards-and-glasses crew.

"We play quietly — without our normal amplifiers, keyboards and stuff. It's just acoustic-guitar-and-small-drum setup," McNew said. "Basically, we talk and people ask us questions. The answers sometimes lead to songs or they meander off into non-sequiturs. It's very spontaneous and interactive — although nobody uses that word [interactive] in a positive way anymore."

The idea came after New York University asked the band to perform a similar concert last spring.

"We were all kind of shocked how well it went and how much fun we had," McNew said. "We decided it would be kind of a special thing, a way to put on a show in a way that we've never done before."

While unpredictability has its benefits, it definitely keeps the musicians on their toes. With the audience calling the shots, Yo La Tengo is often called upon to perform songs that it hasn't played in years, if ever.

"There are songs that we recorded that we've never once played in concert," McNew said. "Inevitably somebody asks for one of those and then we have to sheepishly explain how we haven't gotten to that one yet."

Not to mention that it can be difficult to confront an audience head-on without the option to blot out the odd heckler with a burst of electric skronk.

"We played five cities in the Midwest last week and during one awkward moment I really did wish I could just turn my back and turn up my amplifier," lamented McNew. "But I really enjoy doing both [acoustic and electric sets]. I think it is more difficult to play quietly than to just turn it up and just steer with volume and dynamics. But I don't feel like, personality wise, we're doing anything differently. If we played a loud show and stopped and started talking to people it would probably go the same."

» Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria; Tue., 7:30 p.m., $29.50; 703-573-7328.

Written by Express contributor Aaron Leitko

Photos by Michael Lavine (top) and Matthew Salacuse