First off, congratulations to Andres, who won our Spin-Off Sweepstakes ($250 Guitar Center Giftcard, Technics SL-1200 MKII turnables, and Technics headphones), to Nate, who won a 30Gig video iPod loaded with every Outkast album and video, and to Kat and J, who each won a pair of tickets to the Virgin Festival.
And now for the coolest contest Stereogum has ever done…
Stereogum and Matador Records are going to fly two lucky winners (and two friends) via helicopter from Manhattan to Jersey City to see Yo La Tengo play at the Loews Theater 9/29. The ride will include a swing around the lower tip of Manhattan, over around the Statue of Liberty and up to Jersey City. VIP passes will be included. (That means you get to chill with Ira, Georgia, and James.)
This contest is open to anyone in the world, as long as you can get your ass to the heliport at E. 34th Street in Manhattan on the special day.
Twenty runners up will receive a copy of the excellent new YLT album I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass. Here are two free cuts:
You can buy tickets to the Jersey show (the tour’s only NY-area stop) here. The new album comes out one week from today! (Or 9/8 if you live in Germany.)
Phew. Now ENTER HERE by Tuesday, September 19 @ 6 PM EST. Good luck!
UPDATE: We should clarify … you’re on your own getting back from Loews; no helicopter back to NYC. And to the cranky people in the comments: the band loves this contest. We don’t mean to promote irresponsible indie rock travel. Also, entering this contest is OPTIONAL.
UPDATE #2: Hey kids, our contest just got more green! YLT and Matador discussed some of you readers’ comments and concerns and have endeavored to make amends. From Matador’s blog:
In the history of rock ?n roll, one has to look no further than Stevie Ray Vaughn and Bill Graham to know that helicopters and rock concerts make dubious bed fellows. Thusly, when we conceived this audacious contest on Stereogum we thought the flack we?d take would be centered upon subjecting innocent, fun-loving Yo La Tengo fans to the perils of propellers and physics.But, we were quite mistaken. Some folks have pointed out that this contest is potentially harmful to the environment – something that both us and the band are particularly sensitive too. We have done some research and in fact, this flight will emit about 26 lbs of CO2 into the atmosphere.
In light of this, we have worked with Adam Stein and his good people at Terrapass to secure a $9.99 Puddle Jumper pass which is good for 2,500 lbs of CO2 emmissions – leaving us enough room to get Yo La Tengo?s tour bus from here to Chicago. Proof of purchase is below. Thank you for keeping us on our toes!
Going to see Yo La Tengo in a helicopter and reduced tour emmissions? Now that’s what we call a party.
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what, the 20-minute PATH ride there is too daunting?
good to see Matador and Yo La Tengo thinking about conserving fossil fuel. What they couldn’t rent the Stretch Hummer that day?. Maybe they should of said, hey ride the Path Train to Jersey City with Yo La Tengo. Can’t wait to hear Ira, Georgia and James have some cause they care about spewing from their mouths while they whisk around Manhattan in a helicopter.
if i enter this contest am i going to start getting a million spam emails like i did last time i entered a stereogum contest?
Wow, props to those YLT bitches for playing that venue–such a cool-looking old landmark, I’ve always wanted a reason to go there. Plus its like right in front of the Path stop.
This is especially funny because I see Georgia riding her bike around Hoboken all the time. I’m sure the band would deny ever having any knowledge that this promotion was authorized by them though… LOL.
The Loew’s is easily reached by mass transit because the Journal Square PATH Transportation Center is located directly across Kennedy Boulevard from the Theatre. PATH trains are available 24 hours a day to and from 33rd, 23rd, 14th, 9th, and Christopher Streets in New York, the Pavonia/Newport and Grove Street stations in Jersey City ,Hoboken (take the JSQ or Newark bound train) and Newark’s Penn Station, where direct connections are available to NJ Transit and Amtrak trains. Additionally, several dozen local and long distance bus lines terminate in the Journal Square PATH Center. For more information, call PATH at 1 (800) 234-7284 or NJ Transit at 1 (800) 772-2222.
and right around the corner there’s a whole street’s worth of pretty authentic (northern, i think) Indian cuisine. could be a good night out. who’s bringing the weed? matador should bag the heli and buy everyone dinner.
What, people don’t want to have fun and fly in a helicopter for 20 minutes? lighten up
I’m all for fun but it seems to be an obvious waste of fuel a rare commodity these days just for the sake of getting people’s emails so Matador and Yo La Tengo can sell a few more records, like the poster said, take The Path train with Yo La Tengo, even renting a car from Path and putting a bunch of fans on it would be better and cooler then a helicopter ride for 4 people.
You commenters are no rock-and-roll fun.
yeah one helicopter ride is going to ruin the world
maybe throw some blow and hookers in there and it wouldn’t be all bad
um, seriously, no one is giving your email addresses out, joel. we use a random number generator (http://random.org) to pick someone and contact the winner- that’s all we do with the entry data.
ps if you’re upset about the pollution, i will personally buy the winner CO2 credits via terrapass.
I can’t believe how ungrateful you people are! “Oh, you mean I don’t get a free meal too? Matador is too cheap to shell out for a limo? And just think of the poor environment! ” They’re are giving away a fucking helicopter ride and tickets to a Yo La Tengo Show, you miserable brats! I just hope whoever wins doesn’t bitch the whole time like you sorry pieces of shit.
yeah, someone should calculate the total CO2 credits we need to buy and let’s set up a collection – maybe even get Matador and Stereogum to help out. that will shut everyone up and let us all enjoy Yo La’s kick-ass new album
i actually just bought some credits for a flight to Madison- taking a jet all the way out there was about 750lbs of CO2. the smallest pass you can buy is 2500lbs for $9.99.
http://www.terrapass.com/flight/index2.html?utm_source=directmail&utm_medium=postcard&utm_content=terrapassforflight&utm_campaign=flightlaunch
i think if we buy that one, we’ll offset everyone at the show and the tourbus, too.
Wow Scott, as an anonymous antagonizer i must say, you’ve shut me up. This is fucking hot. Fuck all the haters on this one. I’m impressed.
http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/?p=117
Yo La Tengo has sounded relatively restrained on its last couple of full-lengths, but right out of the box on I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass they?re kicking ass and taking names with a ten-minute track full of Ira Kaplan?s gloriously noisy guitar. It?s not all like that; another thing that distinguishes this disc from its immediate predecessors is the huge amount of stylistic variety on display, from skronk to pop, from psychedelia to quiet drones, from a horn-decorated track that?s almost soullike to pretty folk-rock. They?re back with their first new material in three years, and they?re still great.