From left, James McNew of Yo La Tengo, Glenn Mercer of The Feelies and Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo perform at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, June 9.
Glenn Mercer of The Feelies joined Yo La Tengo for the encores of that band’s June 9 concert at White Eagle Hall in Jersey City. And one of them was an amazing version of Tom Verlaine’s “Breakin’ in My Heart,” from his self-titled 1979 solo album. You can watch the performance below.
Verlaine died Jan. 28, at the age of 73.
According to setlist.fm, the other encores performed by Yo La Tengo with Mercer were covers of The Rolling Stones’ “Connection” and The Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning.”
Yo La Tengo members have often cited their fellow New Jersey band The Feelies as one of their biggest influences. “If it weren’t for the Feelies, we definitely wouldn’t be here right now,” Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan said at a 2012 concert. And Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley once defined the band’s influences as “A bit of US garage rock, ’60s folk rock, The Feelies.”
Kaplan and Hubley, who are married, met, in fact, at a 1980 Feelies concert at Maxwell’s in Hoboken.
The White Eagle Hall show was Yo La Tengo’s only New Jersey date on their current tour, which began in mid-February following the release of their This Stupid World album.
Here is “Breakin’ in My Heart,” along with another cover from the show: Bob Dylan’s “Love Minus Zero/No Limit.”
CONTRIBUTE TO NJARTS.NET
Since launching in September 2014, NJArts.net, a 501(c)(3) organization, has become one of the most important media outlets for the Garden State arts scene. And it has always offered its content without a subscription fee, or a paywall. Its continued existence depends on support from members of that scene, and the state’s arts lovers. Please consider making a contribution of any amount to NJArts.net via PayPal, or by sending a check made out to NJArts.net to 11 Skytop Terrace, Montclair, NJ 07043.
