Three dollars and 63 cents

I booked it Tuesday night at $145 a night, which was the AAA rate and is refundable. The prepaid rate was $138, but I wanted the flexibility to back out if plans change. I wonder how many others did the same?

Part 2 is up. And is hilarious.

Model Kristen McMenamy. He's a bit of a fashion fanboy, or at least used to be. In his tour diaries from his tours with Mike Watt, he was always mentioning picking up and reading fashion magazines. Beat me to it, jff

Surly Furious is my favorite Minnesota beer. Anything Surly makes is pretty great, though.

Yeah. I figured it was worth locking in a room, especially since I can cancel anytime before August 10. A little overpriced, but not bad considering the area.

http://solidsoundfestival.com/ I already booked my hotel

:blink

I got the deluxe edition on iTunes this morning and gave it a first listen earlier. I really like it, both musically and lyrically, and all three of the bonus tracks were worth the extra $2. It flows better than Fate did, in my opinion. I'll probably give it another listen as soon as I'm done listening to the new Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings album (which isn't as good, unfortunately).

A friend isn't sure if he's going to be able to make it to the show on Friday and asked if I'd list his ticket here for him. The seat is in Balcony F (the far right section of the balcony), row F, and he's asking what he paid for it, $41, though I'm guessing he might be a little flexible. He lives in Northampton and works in Springfield, but we have other friends who are going to the show, so he might be able to send the ticket with them. PM me and I'll give you his contact information. I can't believe he's voluntarily missing a Wilco show, but other than that, I vouch for him 100%

Back in April of 2008, I saw the Singers for the first time at the Jazz Standard in New York, and I've probably never experienced a night of music that changed me more. I'll spare everybody from the long-winded explanation, but I knew by the end of that night I'd be stupid not to see them as many times as I could, so I followed part of both of the tours they did that June and July and saw them eight more times by the end of that summer. I don't regret a penny or a minute of it. In fact, if I weren't completely terrified of flying, I'd be trying to figure out a way to go see them in South Ameri

I'm surprised they haven't arrived yet. Crypto usually rewards those who pre-order by shipping as soon as they can. My copy of Coward arrived a month before it was officially released. The Crypto-related blog Downbeast is running a four-part "oral history" of the Singers. Part one is already posted here. They'll be in South America for about a week in June, and there are dates confirmed so far at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC July 6 (sets at 7 and 9:30) and in Philadelphia at Johnny Brenda's (sponsored by the Ars Nova Workshop for experimental music) July 7. It sounds like there are a few more sh

I vaguely remember hearing them sound check Kicking Television when I was walking around one of those days in St. Louis. Saturday, I think? I'm glad to see them breaking out some songs from the second half of Being There. Someday Soon was one of the highlights of the Scranton show for me. And hopefully they play More Like the Moon again in Philly next weekend! I went back and forth about whether I wanted to come down for these shows. Unfortunately I have a stack of papers to grade this weekend, so I couldn't manage it, but I'm still really glad to hear they were both so good.

I drove back to Ithaca after the show, too. Those patches of fog were a real pain. Thankfully they never lasted more than maybe half a mile, but I opted to go the 17/96 route in the hopes of avoiding the worst of it. By the time I got to Route 96, I felt like I'd been driving for twice as long as I had been.

Nels is the heightfullest member of Wilco

Nels somehow just totally missed the solo. At first I thought he was having problems with the top half of that double-necked guitar, but from the way he was cracking up, it looked like he'd just zoned out and forgot where he was in the song. He tried to save it, but it was just too late, so he stepped back from his pedals and just played the lower half of guitar. Jeff was really busting his chops after the song was over and there were a lot of drunk "We still love you Nelllllllls!" shouts from the crowd.

In terms of performance and sound, this was one of the best Wilco shows I've seen. I was over on Nels' side, but I was able to hear every instrument and John and Pat's vocals very clearly. The crowd around me was pretty awful for the first half of the show, though. A drunk couple decided right before the show started to push their way down front. They almost started a fight with a guy next to me, then spent the first two songs forcing all of their weight against me until they wedged themselves in front of me. Maybe six or seven songs into the show they got into another confrontation that almos

Here's a link to the most useful picture I found by doing a Google image search, here. For some reason, it wouldn't let me copy and insert a link to the picture itself. It looks like it's a cool old building, and I hope it's got good acoustics. That chandelier looks like it could obstruct some views With U. of Scranton and the Mall at Steamtown both nearby, there are probably quite a few restaurants nearby. I wouldn't count on there being food inside, though. I'm not looking forward to driving on 81 at rush hour, but I'm definitely looking forward to the show! At just under two hours, this

Exactly. Everyone who complains about Jeff's mood or about the new no-camera policy needs to realize that in the end, the band wants everyone to be able to enjoy the shows without distractions. I'm disappointed that it's gotten to the point where Jeff has to call people out and where we can no longer take cameras to shows, but it doesn't shock me. Some people only care about themselves and think that buying a concert ticket enables them to do whatever they want during the show, regardless of how it impacts the people around them, and those are the kind of people who ruin or at least detract fr

I've seen them 13 times and have only heard it once. It's my favorite, too, and I request it for every show. In fact, I just put in my request for it in Scranton this morning. The one time I did get to hear it, though, was pretty perfect--it was the first of those three St. Louis shows two years ago, and it was my first time ever getting to be in the front row for a show (any show, not just Wilco). I was right in front of Nels, and watching him play that long solo was pretty transcendent.

This is a really strange review I came across via Twitter. The reviewer left at intermission because "Handshake Drugs" overwhelmed him with fond memories of his own experiences with drugs and he couldn't think of a more perfect end to the evening. Yes, really. http://ow.ly/16S57u This, boys and girls, is why you should just say no, so somewhere down the line you don't write lame reviews of shows by awesome bands and make fools of yourselves on the internet. I can't believe an editor accepted this

Speaking of Wilco (the beers), Columbus Brewing in Ohio offers a more subtle seasonal nod to Wilco: I'll be out there at the end of May and am going to see if I can track down a six pack.

You always seem to have the scoop on where the closest good beer is to a show. That place you directed me to in Asheville before the Singers show two summers ago was excellent

I don't remember ever seeing anyone selling tickets outside the Electric Factory, but it may just be that I wasn't looking, either. There was a lot of security outside before the last show I was at there (Sonic Youth last summer), so I'm not sure if that meant they'd be chasing people away if they were trying to sell tickets or if they'd only be chasing them off the property to do so. It may turn out that somebody can't go at the last minute and sells their tickets for face on here or for a reasonable price on Craigslist, so it might be worth the risk of waiting. Good luck finding tickets.

I'm allowed to be disappointed that my favorite band from 1991 to 2006 or 07 has turned into one of the corporate machines they used to satirize so well in the Zoo TV era. I never thought there would come a day when I'd stop loving U2. I'm not bashing; I'm frustrated. I used to defend them pretty passionately, but I just can't anymore. I've been saying for the last decade that I think they have one more really brilliant album in them, on par with The Unforgettable Fire and Achtung Baby. Whether they're willing to take the risks involved with making it is another issue. The last U2 album I real

They're also releasing it on "limited edition" vinyl that fanclub members get the first chance to buy and get a discount on. You know, not get for free, but get the chance to buy. Oh U2, what happened to you? I keep getting emails to rejoin, since my subscription has lapsed after four or five years. I did actually like a few of the live albums a few years back, but I haven't even listened to the last few. I only kept joining for presales, and I was so frustrated when their tour was so limited in the northeast last fall. The tickets I ended up buying I couldn't use because I couldn't miss work,