Gig review: Yo La Tengo, Edinburgh

CULT heroes for 27 years now, US alt-rock noiseniks Yo La Tengo are at a stage where they can comfortably do what they like and expect their fans to happily go along with it. The Reinventing the Wheel Tour sees the Hoboken trio – centred on husband-and-wife team Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley – getting an audience member to spin a wheel of fortune, spontaneously selecting the format of the show's first half.

We could have had anything from a Q&A session to sitcom theatre, where the band reenact an episode of Seinfeld (lots of people had their fingers crossed for that one). But Edinburgh got Dump, a set of songs by bassist James McNew's side project. Probably it wasn't high on most folks' wish list, but his melodic three-chord noise-pop numbers weren't far removed from what the mother band do so well. It was like Yo La Tengo reborn as their own perfect support act.

The second half yielded a cross-section of the band's eclectic and charmingly wonky repertoire, from the fuzzed-out bliss of Sugarcube to the chiming piano-led Beanbag Chair and a 15-minute feedback-soaked instrumental climaxing with Kaplan performing wrestling moves on his guitar.

Much as it was a fun deviation from the standard gig format, the wheel's popularity evidently isn't proving universal. "There's plenty of seats free in Gateshead tomorrow night if you want to come," Kaplan joked dryly ahead of the closer, You Can Have It All. "Who knows – maybe you'll get sitcom theatre?"