“Yo La Tengo – Sala Apolo” by https://secure.flickr.com/photos/alterna2/ is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

On New Year’s Eve, Yo La Tengo finished their three-show residency at San Francisco’s The Fillmore with one last bash. After the storied trio set into their year-end series with Dean Wareham’s celebrated indie outfit Luna on Monday and Tuesday, the run’s grand finale culminated in a cover-packed encore, in the style of their eight-night Hanukkah celebration at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, and featuring several debuts and special guests.

Yo La Tengo launched their last show of the old year with the anthemic loud version of their Painful classic “Big Day Coming,” then cycled through 11 other setlist staples and rarer originals including “Let’s Save Tony Orlando’s House,” “The River of Water,” “Satellite,” “Autumn Sweater,” “Fallout,” “Decora” and “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind.” For the last note of their main set, Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew unexpectedly turned to “Take Care,” the stripped-back, sensitive farewell from Big Star’s 3rd.

YLT took the stage again just before midnight to bring the crowd to a roar with a stormy live debut of Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath,” immediately followed by a countdown to the new year. As the audience raved at the arrival of 2026, the band shifted to a more cheerful note with their first cover of Foreigner’s “Feels Like the First Time,” supported by backing vocals from some backstage crew members. They then warmly welcomed The Dils’ Chip Kinman as the evening’s first guest, and the guitarist and vocalist led a cover of his band’s 1992 punk staple “Sound of the Rain,” last performed by Yo La Tengo in May 2018.

Following similar collaborations earlier in the week, Luna rejoined Yo La Tengo for five songs in the encore, bolstering The Dream Syndicate’s “That’s What You Always Say,” Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” (last played in 2018), the traditional “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad” in the style of the Grateful Dead (last played in June 2023) and The Velvet Underground’s “What Goes On,” last played in April 2019 and also featuring Kinman. Finally, the full company returned to the former’s catalog for a heartfelt rendition of “Our Way to Fall,” with Wareham, Kinman and Britta Phillips trading off the microphone for each verse.

Yo La Tengo will perform next at Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky Festival in January. Find tickets and more information at yolatengo.com.