By the Time It Gets Dark

First great show of 2007: Lambchop and Yo La Tengo. Unfortunately, YLT’s last visit to Knoxville was memorable for reasons having little to do with the amazing music that was played that night. But they came back anyway, God bless ’em, and this time they played to a large and rapt audience at the Bijou. They closed the show with this cover of the old Sandy Denny song, “By the Time It Gets Dark,” and I’ve probably listened to it a hundred times since. And I have to mention this: thanks to the kindness of a friend, I not only got to hang out with Georgia for a while and drink a beer from the YLT stash; I actually drove Georgia and Ira’s van. That smell you smell is indie rock cred. I reek of the stuff.