Yaz Rock

Banter Corner:

"When I get to play outside with my acoustic guitar and it's a day this nice, I always feel I should cancel. Because all my songs are so sad. I don't want to ruin this day for you. I've been kind of sad lately. Let's all enjoy my sadness together. It's my first father's day without my father so - yeah I'm just gonna pour it on, everybody. Save yourselves, run for the exits!... We love you - me and my guitar love you."

"One time I played an outside festival like this and there was a band on before me that had everybody in the audience with their hands in the air singing "Everything's Gonna Be Alright." Then I had to come out, saying "It's not gonna be alright, guys. You should take off" They did, they left.""

Preceding "Let's Go Rain.":  "You guys are familiar with the story (of Noah's Ark) in the bible, right? What would it have been like if it was worse than now? What was going on to make a flood happen then that isn't happening now?... This is the only thing I now how to do, to help.""

Before Not for the Seasons: "What a lovely day, Happy Father's Day. I wasn't paying attention when they booked the show on Father's Day. I would have thought there was some cruel Dad-rock joke to book me on Father's Day. But now I'm happy I'm here....  I love being a dad. I love being with my kids. We should all be with our kids. "

Jeff: "We should get to some of the hits. I should get to the hit. I don't know which one that is. One of the distinct advantages of having a career like mine is you don't have one song that you have to play. The downsides are fairly obvious. You don't have a hit song."

Audience member: "They're all hits."

Jeff: "They're all hits. That's what I told Warner Brothers." (Much laughter.)
Jeff quoting Warner Brothers: "You guys should make a pop song that could be played on the radio."

Jeff: ""What are you talking, about these are pop songs."... I've never tried writing a song that wouldn't be popular. I've succeeded in writing songs that aren't popular. But not intentionally."

(Goes on to say he's OK, sorry to bum out the crowd, and that this is what we're supposed to be doing, being together, taking care of our neighbors.. "And if we do that everything will be alright.... Ok I'm running for office." And how the frustrating part about "this" is how obviously awful some people are.... And how he's now developing a bond with the crowd. But politics needs more honesty. "Wanna know something really honest."There's probably only 3 or 4 of you in the audience who I would really like. That's OK, there's only 1 or 2 people in my family who I really like.")

After "California Stars": "That was the hit. See you all later."

Yes, the Festival has a great setting and we lucked out with amazing weather. Can't believe I've never attended before, and it's in my backyard.... Though there seemed to be a zillion cars in the parking lots, it didn't feel crowded at all inside, at least for those happy to zip about and grab an open spot in the GA pits between sets. And no line whatsoever in getting dinner before the main act either. Not sure what mid-day Saturday feels like but the late Sunday vibe was pretty good.

 

I had low expectations especially after the lead single came out. Besides that song, I like the rest of the album. Dark, angry, pissed-off records are what we need these days.

1/2-2/3 of Schmilco

Outside of that? Hm, there really aren't many I skip. Maybe Dark Neon.

As in, Drew Emmitt's songs were songs with genuine lyrics and structure. Herman seemed to be making his songs up as he went along. At one point it seemed he was just throwing random syllables out there.

Leftover Salmon. I loved that album Euphoria when I was in college, I played it so many times. Finally went to see them at Bowery Ballroom in the early 2000s. Literally ten people were in the room during the opening act. Very awkward. Somehow the room filled up between the end of the opening act and LS, who didn't go on until very late, well past 11pm. I had to leave early to catch that last Metro-North train home, so it is one of the very rare shows I did not see all the way through. Which was fine. I think they only did one song that I recognized from Euphoria. Drew Emmitt's stuff was somewhat redeeming but Vince Herman was just gibberish. I had no idea how much they were a jam/improv band. Just not my cup of tea.

I saw Gary Louris solo a few years ago. The new material just wasn't in the same ballpark as the old classics. Real slit-you-wrist stuff too. Put the nail in the coffin of my interest in seeing GL and/or Jayhawks live again.

Thanks for the tip. That guy sounds really good.

Lucius at Town Hall NYC. Also saw them on Sunday in Woodstock. They've added True Love Will Find You to the setlist, and continue to cover Strangers. Of course I consider both to be "Wilco/Tweedy" songs.

It wasn't my cup of tea either. On the bright side, the singles haven't always been the best songs off the albums, so there is still some hope.

New single just released, "from the band’s forthcoming album."

I guess this is "Live! Last Night!" but Eric Johnson at Infinity Hall in Norfolk, CT. I hadn't listened to the album in a long time but I was recently reminded that Ah Via Musicom might be one of my top 10 desert island discs (Eric is playing the album in its entirety on this tour).

Can't believe I forgot Ben Kweller. I saw Ben open for Jeff Tweedy on the Feb. 2001 tour as was immediately hooked.

BK Baby

How it Should Be (Sha Sha)

Launch Ramp

maybe a few others too....

Pearl Jam - Lukin

Setting Forth and No Ceiling from the Into the Wild soundtrack by Eddie Vedder.

 

I seem to have forgotten that there was an official live take of Strangers on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhbQTDDHd8E

And a studio version on a Deluxe edition of Good Grief. Huh. I should have known better. 

Never mind then! Wish they'd put these things on the dang CD in the first place rather than a deluxe digital download.

Woulda been cool to hear a proper studio version of Strangers, which they frequently did in the acoustic portion of their live show a couple years back. And I know it's a Kinks song, but in my mind is is a Tweedy/Smog tune.

I would love to see a Smog set at Solid Sound sometime. Seems especially unlikely nowadays however with Dan Murphy out of the music business. I also get the sense that a lot of Wilco fans aren't really into GS..

As for expanded Smog reissue, what could they put out besides live takes (but some official live releases would be sweet!)? Seems unlikely there are unreleased GS tunes, since GS tunes are essentially outtakes from the various members' main bands to begin with.

pretty cool, thanks for posting that pic.

Here's an alternate view, looks like that building was built into a hillside and was two stories at the "stage" end.

Nice, thanks for the reminder.

I preferred the August timing at first, something to look forward to all summer, but I now think June is much better.

I was thinking he looked like Martin St. Louis. circa 2004 Stanley Cup winner, LOL.

Any real-life conversation that begins with "we should talk" is never good.

That being said, I don't think the sky is falling here.

At the 2015 festival, a Mass Moca staffer told me what I think was widely known then anyway, that there was a five-year contract with Wilco, starting with 2011, and going through 2019 (2010 was a one-off when it occurred).

The comment about Solid Sound not being anyone's best pay day suggests the event still doesn't make much money, and to bring in more people or to raise the ticket price exponentially would mar the goodwill the event has established. But to make it worth the band's, the other artists', the management's, and the museum's time and effort, they may do things a bit differently next time.

The statement "Well, it took a while, but we’re pretty sure it’s working out. We’ve found the sweet spots, have developed a great relationship with our friends at MASS MoCA and the entire North Adams community and have managed, with you, to create something pretty special in many ways. It’s an honor, seriously." and the lengthy list of acknowledgements suggests to me that many folks depend on this event and/or simply want to see it continue, and that the right people and right working relationships are in place to make it happen again. No sense turning the machine off now.

I agree with the how-do-they-make-each-year unique train of thought, C-C-C. Would people leave the 2019 festival saying "best one yet!" if Wilco just played two "typical" shows? Or are we the fans setting our expectations bar unreasonably high? Have we defined the festival solely by whatever Wilco does on Friday night now, to the disregard of everything else presented to us, and does it put the band in a box it really can't get out of?

As far as feedback for the next festival, If I didn't say so already, establishing a "three-point line" on Joe's Field for lawn chairs and blankets was the best decision ever made for Solid Sound. The folks who wanted to claim turf could do so, and the folks who wanted to be up front could do so without having to spend all day by the stage. Win-Win. I hope that idea comes back in 2019.

LOL, gotcha. I was looking up and down for it, haha. I read "favorites" as being favorite versions of Spiders. Anyhow, good to have an prompt to dig into the vault, something I rarely do anymore. Thanks.

Spiders is more like a garage-pop song in that era than an extended noisy guitar freakout. I dig it! My favorites from the era: Majestic Theatre (10/5/01); Filmore Auditorium (9/14/02); Ryman Auditorium (10/29/02); Penn's Landing (6/28/03) and McDonald Theatre (9/4/03). All magnificent recording too.

 

 

 

 

Spiders isn't on my copy of 10/5/01 and doesn't appear on internet setlists. Did it really appear that early? This thread made me dig out some live CDs from that era. Man, Jeff's banter was a bit rough back then.

Beautiful shots, Rob!

Thank you, kidsmoke!

A few from Sunday.

Since the last couple of SS's have featured a theme (covers/acoustic shows), what if any do you all think this year's theme will be? Does the "We're bringing our friends" tag line hint at a full-album performance of Being There, now that they've broken the full-album seal (Star Wars)?

:guitar

Pro-shot director's cut of Temple of the Dog performance at the PJ20 festival was posted to youtube last night. Eddie Vedder gives a nice introduction to Chris beginning around the 7:20 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHIz3qWy8oI

Great thing about the "Seattle scene" was how much camaraderie and encouragement there was between many bands. Chris rightfully so appears in much of the early part of the PJ20 documentary for helping Stone and Jeff move forward after the death of Andy Wood, and for helping Ed find his footing as an outsider coming in.