Yo La Tengo rounded the halfway point in their annual Hanukkah residency last night with the fourth of eight shows at New York’s Bowery Ballroom. The iconic indie trio’s latest holiday celebration had already welcomed some massive guest stars, including Sun Ra Arkestra, Built to Spill and Scrawl, and Wednesday’s staging raised the stakes with top-shelf talent joining as the nightly surprise opening act, comedian and special guest.

Night four began with an opening set from Bonnie “Prince” Billy, with storied singer-songwriter Will Oldham on acoustic guitar and Eamon O’Leary accompanying on bouzouki. Oldham led an untraditionally expansive opening set that moved throughout his expansive discography, beginning with 2023’s Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You standouts “Behold! Be Held!” and “Rise and Rule (She Was Born in Honolulu).” The artist looked back on his Palace days with “We All, Us Three, Will Ride,” “The Brute Choir” and “New Partner” and covered Sally Timms & Jon Langford’s “Horses” before closing with “I Called You Back.” Comedian and actor Wyatt Cenac delivered the evening’s stand-up set.

Yo La Tengo delivered a straight-ahead main set, eschewing their customary full-set sit-in or any covers to focus on tight treatments of 15 tracks from their four-decade discography, as always avoiding any repeats from previous nights. Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew came flying in with I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One favorite “Green Arrow” and Painful staple “From a Motel 6,” then turned to more recent material with “Tonight’s Episode” from This Stupid World. Further highlights in the mix included “Here to Fall,” “A Worrying Thing,” “Pablo & Andrea,” “False Alarm,” “Sugarcube,” their first treatment of “Two Trains” since 2023 and the set-closing “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind.”

Yo La Tengo set up their all-covers encore by welcoming Bonnie “Prince” Billy back to the stage, then continued their custom of celebrating Jewish songwriters with a curveball debut of P!NK’s “TRUSTFALL.” The opener stepped aside shortly after to clear a path for returning Hanukkah guest Matt Berninger, who stayed onstage for the remainder ot the night and lent his talents to covers of Fred Neil’s “Little Bit of Rain,” his solo cut “Inland Ocean” and The National’s classic “Bloodbuzz Ohio.” Yet another curveball came with the arrival of Lenny Kaye, who added vocals and guitar to Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction” and a full-company finale of his Patti Smith co-write “Free Money.”

Yo La Tengo will return to the Bowery Ballroom tonight, then continue with their Hanukkah residency through Dec. 21. For more information on the band, visit yolatengo.com.

Read the complete setlist via Jesse Jarnow here.

yo la tengo at bowery ballroom, hanukkah night 4.

opening act: bonnie prince billy
comedian: @wyattcenac.com
mix CDR by tara jane o'neil
post show DJ: @amnazz.bsky.social
benefitting smoketown thunder
#nyc

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— jesse jarnow (@bourgwick.bsky.social) December 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM

hanukkah night 4 began with the breathtaking bonnie prince billy before yo la tengo as classic trio ("motel 6," "pass the hatchet"), & encore with oldham (pink's "trustfall"?!), the national's matt berninger, & st. lenny kaye & oldham for "free money" (!!) setlist: jessejarnow.com/2025/12/yo-l…

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— jesse jarnow (@bourgwick.bsky.social) December 18, 2025 at 2:06 AM