In a recent interview on allmusic.com, Yo La Tengo's James McNew was asked what it's like to play Japan. Here is a brief outtake of a cool interview YLT fans may want to check out to psych themselves up for the band's coming set at FRF07:l
MR: So then you go to Salt Lake City after that and then you go to Japan. What was it like when you first went there?
JM: It was amazing. I feel like I'd spent my whole life waiting to go there. We played there in 1998, and it was the most magical, over-stimulating, amazing place I'd ever been. We're playing in July at the Fujirock Festival, which is a very big, popular festival there. This'll be our third time playing at it, and I'm really excited about it. As soon as we get home we're always thinking, "How do we get back? What do we have to do to get back there?" It's really one of my favorite places in the world.
MR: What are the crowds like?
JM: They're great. They're sort of shockingly respectful.
MR: Well, I'm sure it's not shocking. You guys are a well-known band. Why wouldn't people respect you?
JM: It's pretty shocking. In America, maybe above any other country in the world, people will just talk during a show. When I go out to see bands play, people will just talk through the whole thing. And text. Actually, texting isn't so bad just because it doesn't make any noise. It still boggles my mind that people will pay $20 each to get into a show and talk the whole way through it. When I'm elected mayor, I will make that...well, certainly a ticketable offense. Maybe more. I haven't decided exactly what the punishment would be for that.
...check the original interview for more.
