theashtraysays

For sure the back to back LammyCat’s and not a Nova in sight was a letdown for me in Oakland. Sunday was such a great show, I was pretty pumped for night 2. Loved hearing Kamera. And Monday was a joyride even with the “alternate” lyrics. But yeah i enjoyed night 1 (and a couple other shows this run) more than this one. Maybe we’re all a little weary. This 10-show run stuff is new for me. Methinks I’ll take a three day nap now. cheers!!!

sigh.... as husband Scott might say.... "AW SHIT MAN!" Glad they're sprinkling it in to some of the single-night shows. Still got Oakland tho! Cheers!

What a Wilco Wednesday indeed. Pure Joy. I haven't smiled so much in a very long time (though I doubt anyone noticed as we were all masked up!). I was lucky enough to get one of the YFF Library books from Scott (via Tad and an extendable grabber, because, you know, Covid), as one of the leading "standers" down front for ALL of the YFF opening sets. A prized possession for sure. Mikael's appearance was a delight, but did cause me to worry a bit that it might be all the collaboration we'd get. Thankfully I was wrong as usual. The Wilco set, with the Lazarus-like resurrection of the cr

ahem, I believe that you failed to mention that said monomaniacal denizen was one of only two attendees standing throughout the YFF set. Can't believe the lack of love for any Scott band up here. Maybe Seattle will be better. And I figure if Nels gets to sit down, then so do I. We're practically the same age after all. Fun show for sure. Once again we had a particularly large unused portion of the stage (10-12') in front of the band and ahead of the front row which made the band seem tucked away from those of us up front. The sound was very good up front, even without any aud

It really was a strange room. The shallow floor section, along with the practically vertical 3-layer balcony, made the room taller than it was deep, and not very wide either. As mentioned above, the band set up behind the curtain line, which made the front 15' lip of the stage this weird wooden expanse between the front row and the stage monitors. The sound board was set up behind the last row of seats on the floor, which meant that you had to walk in the 3' narrow walkway BEHIND Stan and Jeremy to get to the far side of the floor seats. The crowd sat for the Fellows, who didn't reall

Happy to trade in the Nova for this set last night. May all shows be night 2 shows. (Though I suppose we could say we did indeed get a NovaCat, just with a 24 hour intermission!) And I continue to be enthralled with the Young Fresh Fellows. Scott thanked Wilco for being so supportive of up-and-coming bands like themselves, later saying that they were more likely on the "legacy" list along with folks like Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson, and a couple others. He was having a ball. Well, they all were. Kurt stepped to the lip of the stage ripping solo's a time or two, despite

Night 1 of the Portland double-date was some solid Wilco for sure. And having the Young Fresh Fellows set the stage with 30 minutes of "let's have a ball playing and watching you sit in your seats" was a pretty good clue that we weren't going to get the original OtJ opener and bring down the room. The floor was standing for the whole Wilco set, and the balcony even popped up around I'm the Man. It was nice hearing a few songs swapped into the rotation like Seeds and especially Ashes for the first encore song. Was surprised that Scott and Co didn't show up somewhere in the encore - hope tha

NovaCat? As the ENCORE??? Goodness gracious that IS something special. Nice pair of reviews sir!

Nice review and pics Tim. Love that "two set" format they have for their Evening With shows. Really looking forward to seeing them out west next month. Two-night stand in Portland, so hoping they can stretch out a bit. Been too long.

Nice to hear it's settling in to the setlist... here's hoping it can make the long drive out west next month. And "unsettling"? I suppose. And right on the heels of Via Chicago, it's certainly a double dose of vivid imagery. One of my theories on the song is that it's the answer to the question "What if the 'dream' last night in Via Chicago wasn't really a dream after all?", which is why it's often played right after VC. But it's not like it's a murder ballad or anything. Oh, wait. Never mind.

Oh I forgot one other fun little tidbit. The gap between the rail and the stage was pretty small and nearly filled with big subs. Wilco comes on, and a couple photographers emerge and start snappin, somewhat climbing around the speakers and doing the best they could to get the shots they wanted. Third song starts, and they keep snappin. Eric (rather intimidating tour manager, aka strictangel) appears a couple minutes in and talks to both of them, rather sternly, holding up two fingers. Apparently the deal was just two songs, not the usual three. Eric leaves, as does one photog. Photog #2 sw

Being the big name in a small, local festival means that you can just stretch things out a little more than being in one of the larger multi-stage summer festivals, and it just felt like Wilco was able to stretch out a little more and play a terrific 23-song set out in the street in the northern Illinois town of Bloomington. The one-day, one-stage, four-band affair was short on big corporate sponsors, and long on local folks who just wanted to enjoy music in a camp chair out on a gorgeous Saturday night at what was only the second iteration of this little hometown festival. Being in honor of

Phoebe Bridgers

Well? It was a super easy little venue. Empty rail 15 minutes after doors… well, other than me.

Drive By Truckers