Yaz Rock

You're very welcome, Paul! I'm happy to contribute and to follow your good lead. I'll report back with photos later on!

Wilco — 01 April 2023, Port Chester, NY (Capitol Theatre) [Night 3 of 3]

At Least That's What You Said
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
The Universe
Jesus, etc.
You Are My Face
Whole Love
Mystery Binds
I'll Fight
Side With The Seeds
One And A Half Stars
Tired Of Taking It Out On You
Everyone Hides
Impossible Germany
Sunken Treasure
Laminated Cat (aka Not For The Season)
Reservations
Either Way
Hate It Here
Dawned On Me
-------------------------------------------------------
The Late Greats
Heavy Metal Drummer
A Shot In The Arm
On And On And On


Unsurprisingly we got the Chicago Night #3 setlist tonight. Almost identical in fact except that Everyone Hides was added in, and that Jesus, Etc. was moved from the main set closing number to slot #4 when Nels experienced technical difficulty with his amp & pedals. Following an extended visit to Banter Corner which included commentary on the technical issues with the amp ("It worked well last night and the night before... and every night before that for 20 years."... "Oh, April Fools, someone took apart all your pedals. Great gag.") and the explanation of the Best Behaved Audience Member trophy, the band launched into a soft version of Jesus Etc where Jeff encouraged the audience to sing along. While this was happening the stage techs resolved Nels's issues. After the next song Jeff wanted to give the trophy to Nels but he declined (De-Cline-d?). Following Impossible Germany, Jeff asked Nels to give out the trophy which he awarded to Gary Lambert.

Others can no doubt delve deeper into the nuances of the performances so I'll leave that to them.

On the recently released 2-CD version of Scarecrow there is an acoustic version of Small Town that sounds so much like 1990s Jeff Tweedy singing. It could well be an Anodyne outtake if I didn't know better. Next time there is a Tweedy Show I will be requesting Jeff to play this. This version apparently was posted to youtube four years ago so maybe it was also part of another release.

Very few of my favorite bands released albums this year. I went to a bunch of shows but most bands were still promoting albums from 2020 and 2021 as they were touring for the first time since Rockdown began. So, there are only a handful of albums on my list. I might be forgetting one or two, but this was all I came up with.

1. Eddie Vedder - Earthling
2. Lucius - Second Nature

3. Joan Shelley - The Spur

4. Taylor Swift - Midnights

Of other bands I like, I don't find myself returning to Drive By Truckers - Welcome 2 Club XIII. It's missing the edge and immediacy that was pervasive throughout American Band and The Unraveling. Wilco's Cruel Country gets a spin here and there - it's kind of a nice album for headphone listening while lounging at home, especially the live version from SSF, but it's not a go-to CD for car rides. I'd rate it higher if it had 7 or 8 fewer songs.

 

Not Wilco but a song that sounds a lot like Wilco. I finally got a copy of the expanded 2-CD set of Dust by the Screaming Trees (I ordered a copy years ago and it went missing in the mail and anything else I found after that was from an overseas source), and on the second disc is the song Wasted Times, the beginning of which immediately struck me as very familiar. I spent about five minutes thinking of what song it reminded me of until the words to Say You Miss Me finally entered my head.

9 hours ago, calvino said:

Also, Tweedy use to play "Ripple" back in the day during his solo show --- so playing a Grateful Dead song is not unprecedented. 

 

At Irving Plaza in 2001 Jeff made comments that he really didn't like the Grateful Dead. He played Ripple a night or two before (Philly or Baltimore perhaps), and I recall that the story was he sang made-up/derisive lyrics. I don't have that tape but I was at/have tape of the Irving show. Maybe Jeff was just needling the particular audience member who got his attention, and didn't really mean what he said about the Dead. But I was surprised when later on when Jeff teamed up with the various remaining Grateful Dead elements. Maybe was just acting nice after growing up and sobering up, and having moved on to a higher rung in the rock and roll ladder where it paid to be more respectful of the elder statespersons, or maybe he really was a fan all along.

Anyhow, as far as Wilco goes, I don't think they've taken the GD thing far or anywhere at all. I don't hear a GD influence in CC or any albums. The only time I ever felt like "wow, that sounds like the Grateful Dead!" was Ashes of American Flags at the Capitol Theater in 2014. It sounded right out of spring '77.

I am far more interested in the Dead than in numerous bands that Wilco has covered and who Jeff has covered/referenced on the Tweedy show, or who they've invited to SSF. Wilco's musical influences and my personal favorites don't overlap much and the Dead is one of the rare cases where they do. The audience sing-along Ripple finale of that Capitol Theater run in 2014 was one of the best concert experiences I've been part of.

US Blues is fun and I dig Wilco's version.

1 hour ago, d. boony said:

Do you have to purchase CD's or LP's in order to get access to the digital downloads of the Super Deluxe? I'd happily pay good money for digital downloads. Don't have any use for  a bunch of physical discs or albums.

 

Unrelated: I was hoping Corduroy Cutoff Girl would make the cut on the Super version. Fun little number with some interesting ties to later YHF music.

 

 Yes, the only way to get the super deluxe download is to buy the physical product. Think of it is paying good money for the download and getting a bonus physical product. The book that comes with the super deluxe is really cool, I feel that was worth my money.

Corduroy Cutoff Girl is on the Super Deluxe. It is called American Aquarium.

4 hours ago, Daithi said:

I'm about half way through my first listen of the 11 LP version. Stunning. 

 

I notice some of you guys talking about a download link. I purchased from UK HMV and no sign of a download in the package. 

The official YHF Reissue store and the Wilco Bandcamp site offer downloads with purchase of the physical products. Not sure about independent stores, guessing they don’t.

Answering my own question, the new SendOwl link has tagging, but wildly inconsistent tagging. Each song appears to be titled, but some songs are labeled "Track X"; others are labeled "Track  Y/102". Some songs are labeled by disc number, some have no disc number. It does include 102 files which means it should be complete. There is no Cover Art.

Somebody on Reddit tagged everything and offered to share the properly tagged files if you could demonstrate proof of your purchase, but I do not have a Reddit account and I do not have access to their email address.

I received my Super Deluxe shipping notification today - "shipping label created , USPS awaiting item."  I noticed too an updated Send Owl download link. Can't download til I get home tonight - does it just include the missing IATTBYH track, or does it also include tags on all the tracks too?

Hear ya, I'd rather buy direct from the band (and I did), but just in case someone is still on the fence... I hope the book is really nice and I guess that in part justifies the $100+ price, but otherwise that does seem like a high price for an 8-CD set. I feel like I got some 4-CD sets not that long ago (Tom Petty, maybe, for basically $10 (or less) per disc, directly from the band's site).

Yes, I am also missing the first track IATTBYH from the SendOwl download. I haven't compared tracklists yet to see what else is missing, if anything.

On 9/28/2022 at 6:56 PM, TCP said:

There's two things I'm really impressed with:

1) The amount of content we've never heard before. 

2) The sound quality of the stuff we have heard

Sounds great on vinyl but I'm looking forward to having the digital version on Friday and bouncing between different versions of songs and comparing the differences. 🤓

 
Agree. I am glad I took the plunge and bought the Super Deluxe CD set. I am still waiting on the physical version though. I think I am hearing background vocals and instruments I didn't notice on a song or two before, though I swear it is otherwise the same take. I was surprised that some takes were not included - the slowed-down, rocked out version of Kamera (I believe it was called "Fuzz Mix" on the bootlegs), and the over-the-top, sped-up version of Not For the Season. Some of the Lonely in the Deep End cuts are a little uncomfortable to listen to - they sound like they were recorded on a boombox. Still interesting though - all the variations are just really cool.

I wish i knew to get the CDs from bandcamp in order to get the different digital downloads. I presume they will be tagged, unlike the mp3 downloads that came from the YHF Reissue store. I will have to manually rip the discs now. Also, Amazon is selling the 8-CD set for $68.95

4 hours ago, maxspr1 said:

The 8 CD set has all 102 tracks plus the rather extensive book/liner notes. It’s all housed in a vinyl LP sized box, in case anyone was wondering.

Great, thank you!

Thanks for the early reviews. Is the 8-CD set comprehensive, or do the vinyl and download releases have versions that are not included on the CD set? Thanks.

Wilco also have banned all cameras, again. Beginning with the 2010 Evening With tour they banned all cameras including non-detachable lens point and shoots, even though in 2009 it was still permissible to enter with a DSLR and 50mm or smaller lens. Then, with the rise of smartphones, it seemed that they gave up on enforcing the No Photo policy, and point and shoot cameras were allowed again around 2014.

At New Haven I was not allowed to bring in a small point and shoot camera. The security guy's boss said it was the band's policy, and that even cheap disposable film cameras are not allowed. I asked if they were OK with people taking photos and videos on smartphones and he said "We can't do anything about that". And, of course, people did take photos and videos on their smart phones all night. So, why ban one and not the other?

So it seems the band have had a philosophical change of mind about these things, perhaps due in part with bringing on their new management team. Disappointing, for sure.

The New Haven Roadcase sounds fantastic! I am glad to be able to relive the one show that I attended on the August tour. I look forward to listening to the SSF sets next.

Oh no, that is very sad news. RIP to a great artist. His visuals fit DBT perfectly.

7 hours ago, TweedyShowFan said:

Oh, also he forgot the words to California Stars, so John had to carry it for a verse. The perils of being over 55, I guess. 

After the song Jeff said "We talked about it... we didn't confirm anything." I don't think Jeff forgot the words, I think he was prompting John to take a solo verse, and John was taken by surprise and wasn't ready to take over in time.

Jeff also explained the stage backdrop doily is poisonous flowers including poison sumac - "Watch out for that doily." Then he said A Lifetime to Find is a conversation with death which has a long tradition in folk music, and is a topic that is worthy of being explored for the rest of everyone's lives.

The Spiders banter also included a bit about how the beat is "yours, it's your heartbeat, it's your fucking life, don't let go of it, it's yours. That's right, you can even sing it if you like, it's yours."

In Hummingbird, instead of "Gray fountain spray.." Jeff sang "The great Milky Way.." And after the song he spoke the correct line... "I know the words!" Between Hummingbird and Bird Without a Tail, Jeff said "That's, they're all true stories..especially this one. It's from the 15th century."

As for parking.... a few blocks north was free street parking. The first couple blocks from the venue was permit parking only but beyond that, no problems.
 

You're welcome!

6 hours ago, tinnitus photography said:

not really sure where to put this since it seemed self-gratuitous to create a new thread... my review and photos from the weekend:

https://digboston.com/fotobom-wilcos-solid-sound-festival/

 

Nice review and photos!

The last half of Many Worlds sounds like it would fit right in on any of Mark Knopfler's solo albums, with those long, wistful, sliding guitar solos. I love it. In fact, at one point at Solid Sound (maybe this very song) Nels played a guitar similar to the one that appears on the cover of Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms. And before Sylvan Esso's set on Friday the PA played Knopfler solo tunes for a solid hour. That made me happy.

1 hour ago, jff said:

, I can still hear the quality of what they are doing within that narrow range.  There's tons of interesting playing from all members of the band.  But I feel that it requires more deep focused headphone listening to uncover it than it used to. And my tinnitus is easily set off by headphones, so I much prefer listening on home stereo or car speakers. So it's gotten somewhat difficult to fully enjoy their records. 

 

 

 

 

Cruel Country is definitely a Listen-On-The-Headphones-at-home record for me. It is not my flavor of a Driving-In-The-Car type of album. Standout tracks for me include Hints, Tired Of Taking It Out On You, Falling Apart (Right Now). Lifetime to Find has the catchiest, most sing-along-y chorus of the album. There aren't many big sing-along moments on this record. Sad Kind of Way and Story To Tell also interest me.

On 5/20/2022 at 6:59 AM, d. boony said:

Do  you mind sharing the email address it arrived from?

3 hours ago, jff said:

Check your emails.  Supposedly SS ticket holders were just given access to the new album.

Thanks for the tip! The email was in my junk folder.

1 hour ago, Gold87 said:

They really play I Got You (At the End of the Century) without Red-Eyed and Blue proceeding it? That feels like having eggs with no bacon. 

I still feel that way when they don’t segue into Someone Else’s Song! Back in the day all three songs were played together.

Opening Solid Sound in 2013 with I Got You was awesome.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sunday night as well. I didn't sense any negative vibes in my section nor in the audience in general - in fact the mood was palpably positive. I sat further back this night, which allowed me to enjoy the light show a little better. I was pretty happy with a few photos I was able to take, but I didn't get a chance to post them last night. I'll reply later with pics.

The Good Part wasn't on my list of Deep Cut Prognostications so, good on the band for going deeper than even I guessed. In fact somehow that song was omitted from my YHF outtakes compilation originally, and I didn't become aware of it until the SBS era. As far as playing songs "representative of that era", I am surprised that Not For the Seasons has not appeared yet. That song opened many of the spring 2002 shows. I've always felt like it was the last song cut from the YHF album, if there ever was such a thing. Maybe tonight!?

I'm also thinking Monday in place of/in addition to Outtasite? Jeff has said before that that was Jay's favorite song to play, I believe. In any event, the encores have been fun and I enjoyed hearing those songs with the additional instruments. The sound on the floor has been great and the instruments clear, at least where I've sat.