LittleSavage

I requested Less Than You Think for the Ryman shows last fall and was shocked when they opened with it on night two.

The cassettes are up for sale now at the Wilco Store. $25.

According to http://musictap.net :

Nonesuch Records will release a 3CD/1DVD Box called Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions with bonus from the Grammy-nominated 1998 classic by Billy Bragg & Wilco. This expanded, Deluxe Edition is scheduled for March 20 in a Limited Edition roll-out.

It's almost gone

The night is dissolving

In a cup God lifts to toast the lightening

I gotta think it's just the mood they're in, because I know I can't request something like Airline to Heaven or My Flying Saucer and expect to hear it...(MA 1 & 2 are among my favorite albums of all time ever and the only song they ever play is California Stars since Hoodoo Voodoo got rotated out. Not awful, but IMO not the best from those discs...) So maybe it's just a question of requesting something they've played within the last few weeks? Just some $.02.

Well, I requested "Less Than You Think" for Ryman night 2, never expecting that they'd play it, and they opened with it, nearly causing me to fall out of the balcony. Whether they played it in response to my request, or it was just a happy coincidence, I couldn't have been happier than I was that night. Of course I'll always try to convince myself that they played it for me!

Less Than You Think was my request! I was stunned when they opened with it! I never thought I'd ever hear that song live. It was beautiful. Pot Kettle Black was another wonderful surprise. Great show, much better than last night's, in my opinion.

And even with this system, it would be pretty easy to issue at least a generic ticket stub to everyone when they enter. Which isn't ideal if you collect the stubs, but it's something.

When I saw McCartney last summer, they had a system like this in place. When they scanned your credit card to admit you, the scanner printed out surprisingly nice color ticket stubs with all of the concert/seat info on them to keep as a souvenir. Only took a few seconds. I thought it was a great way of doing it.

see you there buddy. mf-3 row x, seat 3-6. got 2 sets of 2 for sat, one set is back center main floor, the other 2 are main floor 3, row y, seat 14-15...says obstructed view. Any Ryman vets with any insight on that?

The obstructed view seats on the floor are the ones directly against the front walls or, as in your case, the seats behind the columns supporting the balcony. The columns are at about row T.

I saw him live for the first time this past week as well and was very impressed -- the songs are incredible and he's a hell of a good guitarist. I was in awe of the sound he was getting out of that 12-string.

I'd love to hear Jeff sing Going, Going, Gone.

My copy arrived today in Ithaca, NY, so U.S./Canada folks should be on the lookout. Exactly one week after receiving the shipping email. Big thanks to paulcalypse for the initial heads-up.

Saw this picture online. Don't have any details, but a friend has a Japanese-made Fender Aerodyne Tele and this looks just like it, only a 12-string version.

The entire bridge of "Theologians" and they way they transition into it.

"On and On and On" is a rough one for me too. It's starting to get to the point where it is comforting and inspiring instead of just too hard to listen to.

The PBS station here in central NY repeated the ACL episode a bunch of times over the weekend. I caught it three times! So great.

After a bunch of lousy experiences in a row at Wilco concerts -- crowd-related, not band-related -- last night in Scranton was finally a completely great experience all around. We lucked out, I guess -- we were in front of Pat and everybody in the vicinity was great and into the show. Of course we could hear the constant din of chatter that set Jeff off, and he was well justified in his comments. But it was a great show, probably second only for me to the amazing Schenectady show in that little college chapel back in 2002. The drive back to Ithaca in heavy fog was a drag, but the show was well worth it (and made it home just in time to see Drive-By Truckers tear it up on Jimmy Fallon).

Poor Places. Definitely Poor Places.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - s/t

Elvis Costello - Secret Profane and Sugarcane

Patterson Hood - Murdering Oscar (and other love songs)

Wilco - Wilco (The Album)

Dave Rawlings Machine - Friend Of A Friend

Monsters Of Folk - s/t

Regina Spektor - Far

Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard - One Fast Move Or I'm Gone

Works Progress Administration - WPA

Patty Loveless - Mountain Soul II

Buddy and Julie Miller - Written In Chalk

Levon Helm - Electric Dirt

Avett Brothers - I And Love And You

Drive-By Truckers - The Fine Print

The Gourds - Haymaker!

Justin Townes Earle - Midnight At The Movies

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band - Between My Head And The Sky

Brendan Benson - My Old, Familiar Friend

Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi

Son Volt - American Central Dust

John Wesley Harding - Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead

Bob Mould - Life And Times

Felice Brothers - Yonder Is The Clock

Yim Yames - Tribute To

Bob Dylan - Together Through Life

The Negro Problem

Dig A Pony

Oh, yes! Absolutely!

Almost chronological....

01. I Must Be High

02. 100 Years From Now

03. Say You Miss Me

04. Sunken Treasure

05. At My Window Sad And Lonely

06. A Shot In The Arm

07. How To Fight Loneliness

08. Jesus, etc.

09. Poor Places

10. Spiders (Kidsmoke)

11. Theologians

12. Impossible Germany

13. Please Be Patient With Me

14. I'll Fight

15. Country Disappeared

Nothing to do with U2, but everything to do with sly live Wilco covers -- Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at Larimer Lounge in Denver on Halloween included the big riff in the middle of "Spiders (kidsmoke)" for several minutes into the DBT song "Never Gonna Change". The recording is out there...

OK, the two that I sent in:

warm tubes hum and sing

rhythm tight and insistent

joyous din of friends

birthday party crashed

camel in a Nudie suit

the loft smells funny

Beatles - White Album

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

Elvis Costello - King of America

Dan Bern - New American Language

Drive-By Truckers - Decoration Day

Oops. I forgot:

Slobberbone - Barrel Chested

Dan Bern - New American Language

Sugar - Copper Blue / Beaster

Nick Lowe - The Impossible Bird

Son Volt - Trace

Elvis Costello - Mighty Like A Rose

Elvis Costello - Brutal Youth

Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac

John Wesley Harding - Why We Fight

Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball

Drive-By Truckers - Pizza Deliverance

Aimee Mann - Whatever

Buddy Miller - Cruel Moon

Richard Thompson - Mock Tudor

Tom Waits - Bone Machine

Tom Waits - Mule Variations

Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne