Hoboken rock heroes Yo La Tengo concluded their 12th semi-annual Hanukkah shows on Sunday night at the Bowery Ballroom with an incandescent, improvisation-filled performance in which the veteran indie trio were joined by jazz legend Bill Frisell, avant-garde luminary Laurie Anderson, and guitarist Ira Kaplan’s mother Marilyn. The show capped an overstuffed week that has become one of the most generous musical traditions in New York or anywhere: eight benefits highlighted by surprise openers, comedians, catalogue deep dives, debuts, jams, obscurities, rearrangements, guests, “seasonal numbers” written by the great Jewish songwriters, and a crowd so respectful than one can hear the floor creak during quiet songs.

Held at Maxwell’s in Hoboken on and off from 2001 until the venue’s closing in 2013, Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah shows relocated to the Bowery Ballroom three years ago and have taken on a strict policy of no repeated songs, no spoilers, and maximum FOMO for anybody who dares to skip any. With some 35 years of music tied intimately to the local music scene, the shows each found arcs of their own, building on guitar jams, whispered ballads, atmospheric improv, blasted noise, layers of shared history, and what is clearly an insane amount of coordination and rehearsal on the part of Yo La Tengo and organizers.

Featuring nearly 150 different songs over eight shows, this year’s Hanukkah included seven tunes by Lou Reed, four by Bob Dylan, and three by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri—plus five drummers, two mentalists, one ballpark organist, one reunion, and guests ranging from improv dignitary William Parker to voice-disguised, ski-masked comedian Jon Glaser. It is almost certainly the only Hanukkah celebration anywhere in the world to create a single canon honoring the Cramps, Richard Hell, Blue Oyster Cult, the Circle Jerks, Irving Berlin, and Lenny Kaye.

Night 1: Sunday, December 22nd

Opening act: William Tyler and Steve Gunn

Comedian: Jon Glaser

Benefit for GLTBQ Legal Advocates and Defenders

Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah shows have often been a platform for the previously unthinkable. On opening night, that included an Ira Kaplan-sung cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Wharf Rat,” further obliterating the divide between indie rock and Dead-land. Along with opening act Steve Gunn and William Tyler’s version of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s “Mission in the Rain,” it rocketed the all-time list of Hanukkah Dead covers to two. It also provided a centerpiece for an improvisation-filled night whose thrills came in the beautifully painted corners by guests Tyler (who played almost the whole set alongside the band), Gunn (who played the second half), and Fred Armisen (who played an additional drum kit for the entire show alongside Georgia Hubley). Opening with the Beatles’ “From Me To You,” repurposed as “From Me To Jews,” Yo La Tengo gave special attention to a trio of songs from 2000’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, including Tyler’s instrumental version of “Tears Are In Your Eyes.” But if the proceedings bordered on the shaggy-haired and lyrical, karmic counterbalance came during the encore via Red Cross/Circle Jerks/Bad Religion guitarist Greg Hetson, playing on the Circle Jerks’ “Live Fast Die Young” and the Ramones’ “Carbona Not Glue,” among others. Comedian Jon Glaser closed the night in a ski mask and Santa cap as “Jon,” the federally relocated main character of his Adult Swim series Delocated, singing “White Christmas” through a voice disguiser. What would Jerry think? (I’m actually curious.)

Night 2: Monday, December 23rd

Opening act: Lucinda Williams

Comedian: Fred Armisen

Benefit for Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide

“Back behind the drums where she belongs,” Ira Kaplan said when he introduced former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss, playing her first show since a summer car accident left her with a broken leg. By the time the formerly implausible moment du jour arrived a little later on, it fit perfectly into a path that moved between Christmas novelty songs (Jan Terri’s “Rock and Roll Santa”), ambient slide guitar glows (“Green Arrow”), and heart-aching soul (“I’m On My Way”). When surprise opening act Lucinda Williams joined the band, singing Bob Dylan’s 1971 “Wallflower” and the Velvet Underground’s “Pale Blue Eyes,” it was both equally plausible and fully tear-jerking, especially as Williams’ quavering voice combined with Georgia Hubley’s more plaintive delivery. But then Williams delivered the truly improbable: a triumphant version of T. Rex’s immortal proto-glam anthem “Get It On” (by noted Jewish songwriter Marc Bolan), and a more Yo La Tengo/Hanukkah moment couldn’t be found. Except maybe when Fred Armisen returned for the last part of the set to add a third snare drum alongside Hubley and Weiss, and help drive the band into an ecstatic Feelies-like groove, peaking with their noisiest jam epic, “Mushroom Cloud of Hiss.” Or perhaps when Patti Smith comrade Lenny Kaye joined alongside former A-Bones Miriam Linna and Bruce Bennett for a tribute encore to Flamin’ Groovies frontman (and former Hanukkah guest) Roy Loney.

Night 3: Tuesday, December 24th

Opening act: Sun Ra Arkestra

Comedian: David Cross

Benefit for National Immigration Law Center

To say that Yo La Tengo were joined by a horn section on Christmas Eve would be inaccurate. It was the third night of Hanukkah, thank you very much, and the sextet joining the band were members of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Now more than a quarter-century since their bandleader’s ascension, the Arkestra continues their mission of cosmic Saturnian swing under the direction of 95-year-old saxophonist Marshall Allen, a big band that’s only grown tighter in recent years. A half-dozen members added sweet and anarchic Arkestral gorgeousness to Yo La Tengo originals and covers, both loud and quiet, beginning with an unspoken tribute to Daniel Johnston, the fan favorite (and Hanukkah rarity) “Speeding Motorcycle.” Other selections included Jad Fair’s “Clumsy Grandmother Serves Delicious Dessert By Mistake” (from Fair’s 1998 collaboration with Yo La Tengo, Strange But True), the traditional noise-drenched blow-out on Brian Wilson’s “Little Honda,” and Sun Ra’s own “Dreaming” (sung achingly by Georgia Hubley) and “Nuclear War” (sung by James McNew on Yo La Tengo’s 2002 version, but liberated this evening by veteran Arkestra trumpeter and birthday boy Michael Ray).

Night 4: Wednesday, December 25th

opening act: Christmas

comedian: Todd Barry

benefit for Community Musicworks & Eva’s Village

Yo La Tengo rewrote Abbott and Costello’s “who’s on first?” routine on December 25th when the answer to that eternal question was (the band) Christmas. It was the first show in 28 years by the Boston psychedelic surrealists, and was also their first show since bassist James McNew signed on with Yo La Tengo for a European tour and stuck around. Gloriously packed with harmonies, playful arrangements, and delirious prog-punk turns, the set was also unfinished business—the band’s first gig since the posthumous release of 1993’s Vortex. Joining Yo La Tengo mid-set for France Gall’s “Laisse Tomber Les Filles,” Christmas’s Liz Cox and Michael Cudahy channeled their later exotica-tinged group, Combustible Edison. It made for a beautiful pairing with a sublime mini-set with trumpeter/French hornist C.J. Camerieri, most lately seen with Bon Iver, including “Black Flowers” and an elegant, extended “Before We Run.” Offering counterpoint was former Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo, tearing silvery holes in the sky with Ira Kaplan on a scream-fest arrangement of the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin” borrowed from the late Roky Erickson, and fronting the trio for encore covers of Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” and Sonic Youth’s “Mary-Christ” (usually sung by bandmate Thurston Moore). There were other gifts a-plenty, including the live debut of 2006’s “Point and Shoot” and Ira Kaplan opening the show in Santa drag, delivering the obscure Sven Swenson chestnut “Santa Claus Goes Modern” (from 2002’s Merry Christmas From Yo La Tengo EP) while tossing t-shirts to the crowd.

Night 5: Thursday, December 26th

Opening act: Sir Richard Bishop

Organist: Josh Kantor

Mentalist: The Amazing Kreskin

Benefit for Alliance For Justice

Boxing Day provided a candidate for the most truly psychedelic bill in the history of Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah shows. First, former Sun City Girls guitarist Sir Richard Bishop alternated between nimble ethno-folk-jazz solo guitar instrumentals and more outré assaults, including his former band’s indelible 1987 tune “Horse Cock Phepner.” The 85-year-old mentalist the Amazing Kreskin made for the week’s third oldest guest (after Sun Ra Arkestra leader Marshall Allen and Ira Kaplan's mother Marilyn), blowing minds with old-world showbiz chatter and brain-confounding predictive skills. Before and after Kreskin, Fenway Park organist Josh Kantor played ballpark-style arrangements of Jewish songwriters (including hits by the Ramones, the Bangles, and KISS). His second appearance flowed directly into Yo La Tengo’s set, as the band picked up with the recent instrumental “You Are Here” and flowed into the reworked “Ballad of Red Buckets” with Kantor and Bishop joining. Bishop added celestial guitar for a pair of songs before disappearing, but Kantor stuck around to add organ as the band highlighted their own elegant pop constructions (including 2009’s “When It’s Dark” and “If It’s True”), a pair of tunes by ‘60s songwriting team P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, as well as the debut of the band’s very own Hanukkah song, “Eight Candles” (from the recent Hanukkah+ compilation). For that last song, the band was joined by Kantor and Sam Elwitt to create a YLT-sized Wall of Sound. To cap all the elegance, during the set-closing “Ohm,” Ira Kaplan passed his guitar to the front row for audience members to play, and crowd-surfed to the rear of the room and back while continuing to sing. After the crowd politely passed him back to the stage, they politely passed his guitar back, too.

Night 6: Friday, December 27th

Opening act: Sylvan Esso

Comedian: Brittany Carney

Poetry/music: Luc Sante and William Parker

Benefit for the National Abortion Federation

Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah shows have almost always been jammy, but night six was perhaps the jam night of this year’s installment, due to the set-long presence of Yeah Yeah Yeahs (and free improv) drummer Brian Chase playing second kit, and a song selection that favored open spaces and weird zones. Bookended by an opening “Out of the Pool”/“And the Glitter is Gone” combo and a massive “The Story of Yo La Tango” freak-out, jam night offered a wide variety of ecstasy for the discriminating YLT-head. William Parker had appeared as an opener with writer Luc Sante, paying tribute to the late poet and jazz-head Steve Dalachinsky, and joined Yo La Tengo on upright bass (“Don’t Have To Be So Sad”) and ecstatic horn blasts (“Outsmartener”), as he did on their 2003 studio versions. New generation noisemaker Nick Sanborn of surprise openers Sylvan Esso joined for another one of the run’s best transitions, from There’s A Riot Going On’s abstract centerpiece “Above the Sound” into old favorite “The Crying of Lot G.” The menorah wasn’t the only thing lit on jam night at the Bowery Ballroom. “I’m always really impressed by the preparation of this audience to bring that much pot to one of our shows,” Ira Kaplan remarked. “You think, after the first song, ‘well, they’ve gotta be out of it,’ but then we come to ‘Above the Sound’ and they go into the reserves...”

Night 7: Saturday, December 28th

Opening act: Snail Mail

Comedian: Matt Walsh

Benefit for RIP Medical Debt

Another cherished Hanukkah semi-tradition is the return of guitarist Dave Schramm. A founding member of Yo La Tengo (with a great recent album by his namesake band), Schramm added his kaleidoscopic countrypolitan hot licks to a quartet of songs, including an unexpectedly deep jam on 2006’s “The Race Is On Again.” The set checked off a trio of old favorites (“Autumn Sweater,” “From A Motel 6,” and “Blue Line Swinger”), new favorites (“I’ll Be Around”), obscurities (“Avalon or Someone Very Similar”) and, for the encore, welcomed Soft Boys/Egyptians songwriter Robyn Hitchcock. “Happy Hanukkah, we’re going to do some mean-spirited drug songs by Jewish artists,” the British musician announced, launching into the 1965 Bob Dylan single “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window,” the 1974 Lou Reed screed “Kill Your Sons,” and the Cramps’ immortal “Drug Train”—all welcome additions to the Hanukkah canon.

Night 8: Sunday, December 29th

Opening act: Jon Spencer and the Hit Makers

Mentalist: Zabrecky

Menefit for Equal Justice USA

Some years, jam night rings twice. The last show of Hanukkah featured jazz legend Bill Frisell joining Yo La Tengo on guitar for nearly the entire set. In places, the song selections seemed programmed around Frisell’s floating runs and weightless chords, including the exotica-tinged “Ashes” (from There’s A Riot Going On) and the debut of the instrumental twang-scape “Return to Hot Chicken,” the first song on 1997’s beloved I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One that had previously never been played live. But in other places, the programming also seemed to remember that the well-mannered Frisell was also the guitarist in John Zorn’s Naked City, and he stepped up to join Kaplan in barbed noise exchanges. Just as often, though, the 68-year-old jazz vet pushed Kaplan (and band) without making much noise at all, helping drive their eternal show-closer “I Heard You Looking” into heightened new territory. With a radiant smile and no fuss at all, Laurie Anderson plugged in her electric violin to add a gentle squall to the band’s drone arrangement of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and a rich, layered, not-gentle-at-all squall to her late husband Lou Reed’s “Venus In Furs.” For a song about sadomasochism, it felt remarkably like a family singalong. And the actual family singalong which closed out the entire run, “My Little Corner of the World,” was sung endearingly by Kaplan’s mother Marilyn, and felt like something even more intimate: Yo La Tengo.