Yo La Tengo Letting The Spinning Wheel Spin

Fans attending Yo La Tengo’s January and February shows may get the chance to see the indie rock band (and crew) act out a classic sitcom on stage. Maybe, maybe not. That decision is up to the giant spinning wheel the group is bringing along on tour.

Each night’s gig will be split into two sets. Yo La Tengo says they plan to bring a “Wheel of … Fortune? Fate?” on stage and spin it to determine how the first 45 minutes of the show will go down.

Along with “sitcom theater,” other options include the band performing as their alter egos, the Condo F**ks; a set showing off tunes from bassist James McNew’s solo project Dump; or a performance consisting of songs that include someone’s name.

Yo La Tengo promises to play songs rarely heard live if the wheel lands on “songs starting with S.”

One last option is for the band to play “The Sounds of Science,” a score Yo La Tengo composed for a series of documentary films shot underwater. The band explains it will show off “all the lovely sounds we created, but none of that pesky science.”

After the first set, the band will take a short break to decide what to play for the second half of the night.

The tour kicks off Jan. 20 at Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia, with dates on the books through a Feb. 5 gig at Mr. Small’s Theatre in Pittsburgh.

Additional tour stops include the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. (Jan. 21), Variety Playhouse in Atlanta (Jan. 28), Tipitina’s Uptown in New Orleans (Jan. 29), Nashville’s Exit/In (Feb. 1) and Metro/Smart Bar in Chicago (Feb. 4).

William Tyler is opening all shows.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Nov. 5.

Fans can also catch Yo La Tengo at Admiralspalast 101 in Berlin, Nov. 21, followed by the band’s annual Hanukkah shows at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, N.J., Dec. 1-8.

Click here for Yo La Tengo’s website.