Yo La Tengo's "The Sounds of Sounds of Science" | Shea's, Buffalo

I'm not quite sure what has gotten into Buffalo's greater institutions, but whatever it is I like it. Last year, the Albright Knox Art Gallery went big with their Rockin' at the Knox benefit and brought Wilco and My Morning Jacket for a show nothing short of amazing. They continued this year by brining Blondie and some great local bands, including different weblog favorites, Sleeping Kings of Iona. On Tuesday, three well-respected Buffalo institutions brought an event I never thought would bring its way around here. The Buffalo Museum of Science, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, which I had not heard of until this event, and Shea's Performing Arts Center all collabrated in bringing Yo La Tengo to Buffalo to perform "The Sounds of Sounds of Science" to the films of Jean Painleve.

I was very surprised when I discovered this was at Shea's, because I would have bet large sums of money this wouldn't come close to filling Shea's. Shea's is usually used for off Broadway performances, and occasionally comedians like Seinfeld and Carlin, who sell out the just over 3,000 capacity venue. My prediction was right as the place probably wasn't even 1/4 full, and that's probably being slightly generous.

Despite this, the show was nothing short of fantastic. I had not seen Painleve's films before, and was amazed at the kind of footage he was able to get, considering some of them were made as early as 1929. The films feature underwater footage of sea horses, sea urchins, octopi, shrimp, and other sea-life at microscopic levels. The only drawback to being in the second row was trying to read Painleve's subtitles accompanying his films, which were both informative and witty, when Ira Kaplan or James McNew weren't blocking them.

Yo La Tengo, armed with the usual drums, guitars, and an array of ancient looking keyboards, synths, and effects pedals, beautifullly accompanied the films. The songs come to life when paired with the films, as their performance syncs up wonderfully. Most memorable to me was a scene from "Shrimp Stories" whereupon a shrimp, who had just shed its skin, was attempting to rebalance itself on its legs. Georgia Hubles scattereed, tribal-like drumming perfectly captured the shrimps frantic scrambles to get back on its feet.

As exciting as this was, it's not the last of Yo La Tengo for us here at different weblog. In a few weeks, David, myself and other WRUR crew will hit Chicago for the Pitchfork Music Festival!