MJ Lenderman Teams Up with Yo La Tengo for a Bob Dylan Cover Performance in New York

MJ Lenderman joins Yo La Tengo

MJ Lenderman took the stage with Yo La Tengo in New York on Sunday (December 29) to deliver a cover of Bob Dylan – check out the footage below.

• READ MORE: MJ Lenderman – Review of Manning's Fireworks: Literary Magic from America's Golden Boy

This collaboration marked the last night of Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah residency at Bowery Ballroom, where they perform nightly until January 1st.

Opening act and special guests

Lenderman and his band The Wind were the evening’s opening act and he made a special appearance during Yo La Tengo’s set to perform “Something There Is About You,” from Dylan’s 1974 album Planet Waves.

Notable drummer Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth also joined the performance. You can catch the footage from the event below.

@stevenhyden.bsky.social something about you featuring MJ, yo la tengo, Steve Shelley

— (@tinymontgomery.bsky.social) 2024-12-30T06:05:59.962Z

Setlist highlights

'You are here'
“Om”
“The Ballad of Red Buckets”
“Today's Episode”
“Let's do this wrong”
“There's something about you”
“Don't be so sad”
“Nowhere Nearby”
“Deeper into the Movies”
“Drug Test”
“From the Window”
“Sudden Organ”
'Sugar Cube'
“Mushroom Cloud of Hiss”

This concert is just one of many memorable moments from Yo La Tengo’s ongoing residency. On Saturday, the post-punk band The Soft Boys reunited to open the show and later joined Yo La Tengo for an encore featuring songs from The Beatles and Velvet Underground. Other special guests included Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan, Wilco’s Pat Sansone, and comedian Fred Armisen. Proceeds from the performances support the Homeless Coalition.

In other news, Lenderman recently covered Counting Crows’ “A Long December” in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina.

His fourth album, Manning Fireworks, launched in September, reaching the top of the charts and claiming a spot in NME‘s list of the 50 best albums of 2024. The track “She’s Leaving You” also made it onto NME‘s list of the 50 best songs of 2024.

“Breakup songs can express various emotions: despair, uncertainty, resentment. Conversely, M. J. Lenderman’s “She’s Leaving You” conveys a casual sadness, echoing the oppressive silence of grief in its chorus: “It’s getting dark, we all have work to do”, as NME noted, describing it as “Idle rock melancholy at its most enlightened.”