Yo La Tengo began Hanukkah 2025 with Sun Ra Arkestra & Jon Glaser (setlist)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: snow is on the ground and Yo La Tengo‘s annual Hanukkah residency is underway. The 2025 edition kicked off Sunday night and the night’s surprise openers were both YLT Hanukkah regulars: Sun Ra Arkestra and Jon Glaser. In fact, Sun Ra Arkestra — still under the direction of 101 year old Marshall Allen — are basically the only given each year and in a neat bit of symmetry, they and Glaser played the final night of last year’s run, which was on New Year’s Day.

The horns of the Arkestra, as usual, stuck around to play with Yo La Tengo for most of their main set, beginning with a cover of Sun Ra’s “We Travel Spaceways” and including “Let’s Be Still,” “My Heart’s Reflection,” “This Stupid World,” a “boogie” version of “More Stars Than There Are In Heaven,” a cover of Jad Fair’s “Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Desert By Mistake” and more, before they closed out the main set with Sun Ra’s “Nuclear War.”

Before the horns came out, the night opened with covers of Neil Young & Chrome Hearts’ recent anti-Trump track “Big Crime” and Russ Ballard/Ace Frehley’s “New York Groove,” which as they always do, was re-written as “Back With the New York Jews.”

For the all-covers encore, Yo La Tengo took on Richard Hell’s “The Kid With the Replaceable Head,” Blue Oyster Cult’s “This Ain’t the Summer of Love” and The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.” Check out the full setlist, via Jesse Jarnow’s blog, and a few photos via Instagram, below.

The night’s mix CD, available at the merch table, was made by Daniel Clowes, and proceeds from the night benefitted Housing Justice For All.

The remaining seven shows of the 2025 run (December 14-21) are currently sold out, but they often release tickets during the week, so it’s worth checking back.

We made some guesses as to who might be this year’s surprise openers.

Yo La Tengo at Bowery Ballroom, December 14 (Hanukkah Night 1)
Big Crime (Neil Young)
Back in the New York Groove (KISS) (as “Back With the New York Jews”)
Periodically Double or Triple
Can’t Forget
Madeline
We Travel the Spaceways (Sun Ra) >
Let’s Be Still
Don’t Have To Be So Sad
Dreaming (Sun Ra)
My Heart’s Reflection
Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Desert By Mistake (Jad Fair)
This Stupid World
Emulsified (Rex Garvin)
More Stars Than There Are In Heaven (boogie version)
Nuclear War (Sun Ra)

*(encore)*
The Kid With the Replaceable Head (Richard Hell)
This Ain’t the Summer of Love (Blue Oyster Cult)
Be My Baby (Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich/Phil Spector)