Yo La Tengo’s latest record is confrontationally titled I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass. Last night at the 9:30 Club, they did seem like a band unafraid, comfortable in their skin, and enjoying being on the road again. Whether or not they’re going to beat anyone’s ass is less certain, even just musically.

The set was heavy on new material. During one of the band’s few audience interactions during the main set, Ira Kaplan joked that only with the six bonus tracks on the 8-track release of the new record could anyone get an idea of where the band was really at; the 77 minutes on the record just wasn’t a full picture. The point is, even without those fictional bonus tracks, there were plenty of new songs to cover. Unfortunately, much of the new record seemed to fall a little flat in a live setting. It was not for lack of enthusiasm on the band’s part. But particularly during the mellower songs, the room seemed to take on a restless air, and people started casting glances around them rather than at the band. Even when they were paying attention to the stage, if one looked down into the audience from the balcony, one might as well have been looking at a crowd recreation at Madame Tussaud’s. Aside from the occasional bobbing head, there was a remarkable lack of movement even for a town renowned for its concert stoicism.

Photos by Kyle Gustafson. More photos after the jump.