Woodgrain

This entire minimum-wage increase 'debate' is a farce. The Democratic party has been putting forth minimum wage increases every year since the last increase, and they have been shut down by Republican majorities at every turn. Now, when the American people are realizing that this do-nothing Congress has effectively accomplished nothing outside of needlessly debating wedge issues for the last year, they suddenly find it in their heart to put forth a wage hike?

...with attached benefits to large businesses and billionaires?

It's not even a valid argument, and the American people should see it as such. It's a political maneuver designed to neuter the Democratic party's genuine platform for economic reform, and it smacks of the same kind of trickery that they have used on their 'debates' regarding the Iraq War, gay marriage, and flag burning. It's just another example that the current Congressional leadership would rather play on the emotions of the electorate and retain their seats than actually accomplish something for their constituency.

Fuck that.

(I've been gone forever and ever and ever because I am working a lot, but if any of you are interested, you can check out my blog over at Deny My Freedom.)

I feel so much better!!!!!

...i have yet to see how she was being anything but kind comrade. we're all friends here, no need to get defensive. hell, i took my fair share of jabs when i posted my thread on this show...i think it just comes with the territory as the 'relatively new person.' in my experience Wendy is one of the good guys, so to speak, and i find it hard to believe she was trying to show you up in any way.

Was this just an opp. to show everyone your clip from MSG?

...even if it was...i can't pass up an opportunity to see that clip again

-thomas

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Magzine Called Sunset

Kingpin

Red Eyed and Blue > I got you

Late Greats

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one hell of an encore if you ask me.

Wow, everyone shaved.

...though Jeff's hair is still an untamed beast...

from the kamera of a comrade:

part deux:

exciting conclusion:

My take on the evening...

The weater was nice and the flowers were indeed in bloom. We arrived a few songs into the opening act and took our seats in the 'front row,' which was sadly behind the orchestra pit. The pit could realistically hold maybe fifty people comfortably seated, but they had set up around 20-30 chairs for Union Board members and the like. Hey, don't get me wrong...I am all for rewarding civic virtue and the like...but there were definitely some folks up there who were going into the concert with no previous knowledge of the band. Regardless, the openers were decent but not stellar, and after a short break the lights dimmed and the feature presentation took the stage.

...I don't think anyone has mentioned this elsewhere, and I don't know if this was a recent development at all, but John is clean-shaven once more. I can only assume this was for the wedding? And Jeff's glasses are to be permanent if this show was any indication.

I agree with the previous statements regarding the odd crowd, especially at first. I think partially it may have been a lot of people who liked Wilco passingly, or even knew their material fairly well, but had never been to a show before. I think there was a general feeling-out of how the night's mood would take shape. I will say that by no means were people super-chatty, at least towards the front. Rather, it was almost dead, which I attribute possibly to the fact that the Union Board pit-folks stayed near their seats, leaving a sizable void between the audience and the band.

As stated, Jeff took a break a few songs in and referenced my post as a way of introducing the idea of enthusiasm to the masses. He proceeded to invite the Union Board kids up to the stage, which they did. Unfortunately, this left a ten foot gap between the two-deep row of people on the stage, and the fans in the seats behind. This was kind of awkward, but by no means bad, (I could see everything much more clearly for pictures and the like), but after the song was finished, Jeff commented on the space.

What followed was the degeneration of civilization as we knew it... Essentially, Jeff looked at the two security guys who were guarding the two entrances to the pit, and said "I really don't care if the rest of them come down..." Around halfway through this statement, the floodgates were opened, and all hell broke loose. We quickly realized we were going to be overrun, so we joined the masses as they moved to the front. Jeff immediately launched into 'The Good Part' as people jockeyed for position. The crowd by itself was not obnoxious though, and if you took out the people standing on chairs for a view, things would have probably turned out civil enough for the remainder of the evening.

Unfortunately, security decided that it was time to regain order after Walken, and they began trying to clear people from the pit area. My security guard dispensed of people with a light tap and a 'let's go,' which was fine. I made my way back to my row, which was at this point full of people. My friends on the other side of the stage were a little less lucky, and two of them got fairly decent shoves in the back. I know at least one report was filed last night against the security, though I think it was just an awkwardly bad situation for all parties. I heard Jeff say in between songs to Guitar Roadie something along the lines of, "Tell them I am sorry about that..."

Regardless, it was an excellent show, and one of my friend entered the show only owning YHF and Being There and left a die-hard convert. Highlights for me consisted of Always in Love (from where I was, I couldn't hear the synth part at all. I don't know if this was true for others elsewhere, but it came across as very crunchy rock... ), Forget the Flowers (Nels can hold his own on the countrified solo work in addition to his freak-out stuff), and The Good Part. More than anything, the lack of set-list surprises mentioned was not an issue for me just because they all seemed to be enjoying themselves up there. They were all smiles for most of the show, and the looser the crowd got the better everyone appeared to enjoy things.

In conclusion, I am glad to hear that most people enjoyed themselves. I've heard from multiple sources multiple times that the Bluebird has tried to get a solo Tweedy before, and I can only hope that this comes true eventually (after June 24th preferably). I wish I could have stuck around to meet the guys, but I had many peoples to deliver to places, so it was not meant to be. I will try to upload my pictures today, and we will see how well my attempts to capture Pat mid-windmill turned out.

thomas.

p.s. Did anyone who talked to them after the show have their wits about them enough to ask what they might play on Conan? I figured it was worth asking.

If John was wearing a ring, I believe it!!

oh, there was a ring. they seemed really happy together, and i can only assume they are registered with some wedding service if we all want to pitch in for a crock pot or something.

Another awesome show from the guys. Jeff mentioned Woodgrain's letter, talking about "one of the websites where people write about us," and said the crowd was pretty tame, he asked if they weren't intoxicating us with their music. After the first encore break he said that a momentus occasion had passed: he and John got married. The opening act was pretty good; the crowd got more into it as the show went on after a lame start.

twice.

...more to come upon further reflection...