Jump to content

theashtraysays

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    2,713

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by theashtraysays

    Jeff Tweedy — 25 November 2019, Chicago, IL (Second City Theater)

    in After The Show

    Posted

     

    The most wonderful time of year...

    ]

    Sorry I missed you! Would have loved to meet and say hi. What a great evening. I crashed at 1:30 and bailed out then. Bbop was hanging in there when I left but our gal Wendy was starting to fade...lot of adrenaline expended!

     

    And for the record, I was going to switch things up on my request had my bid won a song. But glad that it seemed to help chip in a couple extra bucks for the cause!

    Vince

    Wilco — 13 November 2019, Louisville KY (Palace Theater)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    I learned tonight that this was apparently a bit of a boo-boo by whomever typed/printed the setlists (Matrix?) in that it was actually monitor tech Jared's birthday. And I assume that was the intention of the "Impossible" mention (Matrix does have a sense of humor, but perhaps spaced out on the 'J' names among the crew?) Anyway...extreme fan nerdery here. :shifty

    I've wondered who's in charge of the printing / cutting / distributing of those. 

    Wilco — 13 November 2019, Louisville KY (Palace Theater)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    "Oh yeah, it's Wilco Wednesday.  It's just like Taco Tuesday, except it's Wilco.  And it means that you have to be better than just a Wednesday audience."

     

    And with that proclamation after the fourth song, the challenge was upon us.  I thought we did a pretty admirable job in stepping up, but maybe I'm biased. 

    Wilco delivered another intense and full-throttle show for the Louisville audience in the gorgeous Palace theater this evening, playing to a rather sparsely filled venue (the balcony was filled about halfway back, and the wings on the floor were pretty sparse in the back as well) on a mid-week chilly night.  Deep Sea Diver opened the show for their last time on this tour, with a loud and rocking 28 minute set as well as a nice cameo on Cali Stars later in the evening.  The opening band was also spotted watching most of the show from the edge of the pit and rightly enjoying themselves the whole time.

    A few random items of note... the background image during One and a Half Stars is the same geometric pattern that is on Glenn's new kick drum... Jeff was donning the beanie all evening... he once again did the off-mic "I'm the man who loves you" line at the end of IATTBYH... the "rODEo" guitar was AWOL again, with Jeff using the small one with the two large silver knobs sticking out the side near the neckfor the new songs... during Hummingbird (when he has no guitar in his hands to keep them busy), he walked over and gave one of Glenn's cymbals a couple smacks during one of the instrumental parts... and I guess that's about it.

    The crowd:  was great.  Standing on the floor the whole time, except for a few folks in the pit and near it who sat but didn't fuss about it.  Even some folks in the balcony stood and went nuts during songs like "Always in Love", which Jeff noticed as the the lighting allowed and gave them some smiles.  Long, loud applause, and very little if any heckling to speak of.  There were a couple guys in the front row smack dab in front of Jeff, who were a little chatty and very busy taking video's of everything.  They earned a bit of a finger wag and VERY direct "It's Not About Youuuuuu" directed right at them during Reservations, but otherwise folks were pretty good. 

    The banter: good though not overly generous.  Later in the set, Jeff announced that "the dirges and sad songs are all done now, so you've got to BRING IT!"  He also commented (after a less-than-over-the-top applause for one song) that "we seem to be missing some secret sauce for Wilco Wendesday... you're gonna have to give it up some more".  Which we did, and after Always in Love received a "That's more like it".  Another good one early on was when he did his second "howyadoin", which came out a little on the wimpy side.  He noticed that and said "That's not the tone they teach you for that line in rock and roll frontman school", and then proceeded to really dial up the wimp factor for a couple more lines before the audience rescued him out of it.  The only other notable one I recall was after the fake encore break, when the crowd is showering them with applause and Jeff was feigning the shock and overwhelmedness(?), Jeff thanked us for the "spontaneous outpouring of affection".

    Nova report - stunning, even without the Cat.  I heard from the lighting guy Jeremy that the visual effects for that one are neither motor oil nor actual blood, but simply acrylic paint and oil oozing over glass.  Now you know.

    Pat report - a bit more animated than Cinci, with noticeably more oomph in the windmills and improved trademark sneer. 

    Deep Sea Diver joined for Cali Stars in the encore, with Jessica playing guitar (including taking one of the "lead" breaks between verses with some amazing guitar dueling with Nels) and singing backup with John.  Good stuff. 

     

    Here is the setlist as played, and there were no changes from the printed setlist... other than the notable nod to the lighting guy below.

     

    Bright Leaves
    Before Us
    I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
    Kamera

    Handshake Drugs

    ALTWYS

    One and a Half Stars
    Hummingbird
    White Wooden Cross
    Via Chicago
    Bull Black Nova

    Random Name Generator
    Reservations
    Impossible Germany (AKA "Impossible Jeremy" as listed on the printed setlist)

    Jesus, etc

    We Were Lucky
    Love Is Everywhere (Beware)
    Box Full Of Letters
    Everyone Hides
    Theologians
    I’m The Man Who Loves You (fake encore break)
    Hold Me Anyway

    Late Greats
    ----------------------------------
    California Stars (with Deep Sea Diver onstage)

    Red-Eyed and Blue>

    I Got You (At The End of the Century) >

    Outtasite (Outta Mind)

     

    It's well past my bedtime and I gotta go to work tomorrow... cheers all!!

    Vince

    Wilco — 9 November 2019, Cincinnati OH (Taft Theater)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    Well, bbop, you missed a good one.  A Saturday night in a packed out INDOOR theater with plenty of heat to go around, in a city that tends to have pretty good Wilco audiences imho. 

    The Taft is the lesser of the two main theaters in Cinci, a bit shabbier and smaller than the Aronoff a couple blocks away.  Seated floor and balcony, with boxes in the front of the balcony and a couple very small side boxes flanking the stage.  The guys seemed to be in pretty good spirits, and quite relieved to be playing indoors once again.  "This is fucking awesome.... nice and toasty" Jeff remarked early on, after commenting about how they couldn't feel their arms the night before at the outdoor show. 

    Jeff was adorned in the usual WARM beanie (WARM logo turned to the back), and wearing a kind of shirt-jacket in light blue denim.  Not quite the trademark jean jacket of old, but sorta.  We did have the backscreen projections, and the odd geometric lines / grids on the kickdrum instead of the Ode to Joy shape thingie.  Sound was quite good, with nice speakers on the edge of the stage for those of us in the front. 

    Did we stand?  Yes we did.  There were a couple of us diehards in the rows just behind the small pit, including one who had been shouted down in Pittsburgh for standing.  We stood as they came out, and stayed on our feet the whole time.  For the first couple of new songs, the crowd generally stayed seated - but once they started the familiar IATTBYH, things picked up.  It seemed that the folks in the back half of the floor started standing, and it kinda worked its way forward.  For pretty much the whole show, the vast majority stood.  Some (half?) of the folks in the pit sat a lot, but that was just fine with me as it gave me a really sweet sight line from the third row.  No talkers in my area, and definitely no "sit down"-ers.  'Twas nice. 

    And no hecklers.  I think I heard maybe one song request shouted, but really all you heard between songs was really extended applause and cheers.  Jeff commented toward the end of the main set "I gotta tell ya Cincinnati you're really bringing it tonight!  We've had some real dogshit audiences on this leg, but you're something else.  You know how to make a band feel good.  We don't like most of our audiences."  Good stuff. 

    Not a ton of banter, and with the lack of hecklers, there wasn't much interaction with anyone.  There was one guy in the front row of the pit on the end near Nels, who apparently snuck out (not as stealthily as he thought) early on.  Jeff saw him when he got back to his seat and said " I noticed you went and got a beer during the new song... I notice everything."  And a little later, to a woman in the front in the same area he chastised her for distracting Nels somehow (I didn't see what she was doing other than very exuberant dancing) and said "Quit taunting him!  He doesn't have his contacts in so he can't even see you.  I've got my eye on you."  A little weird. 

    At the "fake encore walk off" after ITMWLY, they got a very loud ovation and cheers, which prompted Jeff to have a Taylor Swift-like moment of faux shocked appreciation and utter a very humble "goodness gracious!" to the extended applause. 

    The "THANKS FOR THE POETRY AND MAGIC" sign made its appearance at the real encore break, and seemed to bring one more smile to the guys as they headed off for their 30 second pre-barnburner break, returning with Cali Stars and the Being There triplet to close the show. 

    Bull Black Nova report - We got the full NovaCat treatment, flanked by Via and RNG, which absolutely ignited the crowd and erased any stand or sit question once and for all.  Good lord that's a mighty mighty run right there. 

    Pat report - a bit subdued this time, and I'll just leave it at that. 

    Side note on the signage - I went with the "ODE TO NOVA" sign vs the traditional BBN sign, which didn't get much of an acknowledgement really.  But since I forgot to bring anything to write on for note taking, not even a ticket (mobile entry), it did provide plenty of scribble space for the evening.  Oh, and the security folks temporarily confiscated them both upon entry (only the second time that has even happened to me), but a quick slip in and out of the foyer was all it took to be reunited for the evening. 

    All in all it was a helluva rock show on a Saturday night, and I'm pretty sure nobody went away disappointed. 

    Here's the setlist as played.  The printed setlist had "Late Greats" after Cali Stars but wasn't played. 

     

    Bright Leaves
    Before Us
    I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
    Kamera

    Handshake Drugs

    Side With the Seeds

    One and a Half Stars
    Hummingbird (with a brief removal of the beanie...)
    White Wooden Cross
    Via Chicago
    Bull Black Nova

    Laminated Cat

    Random Name Generator
    Reservations
    Impossible Germany

    Jesus, etc

    We Were Lucky
    Love Is Everywhere (Beware)
    Box Full Of Letters
    Everyone Hides
    Theologians
    I’m The Man Who Loves You (fake encore break)
    Hold Me Anyway
    Misunderstood
    ----------------------------------
    California Stars

    Red-Eyed and Blue>

    I Got You (At The End of the Century) >

    Outtasite (Outta Mind)

     

    Wilco — 20 October 2019, Nashville, TN (Grand Ole Opry House)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    Well, at the risk of preempting Sir bbop, a few observations from last night's show.

    A first for me - at the noisy end of IATTBYH I saw / heard Jeff back off the mic and sing a couple "I'm the man who loves you" lines, just like the record version.  I've never seen/noticed this before.  I was right up on the stage, so I'm pretty sure that's what he did.  Quite cool.

    At the start of ALTWYS, when the band first kicks in after Jeff's solo intro, Glenn went quite beast-like as the drums kicked in.  I kinda figured that since he's so deliberate / subdued in all the new tunes, he was just bursting with drummer energy when the got to a song where he can let loose.  And boy did he let loose. 

    Glenn's drumming / percussion sounds on those new songs are everything that everyone says they are, and more.  He has a TON of "accoutrements" that he uses to make all the sounds.  For at least one song, he uses a Cabasa (kind of a wooden wheel on a stick with steel balls on the outside, which is usually rotated in your hand) which is attached to a pedal that he plays with his foot while all 4 of his hands are busy otherwise.  All those doodads keeps his tech Ashwin very busy, running out to do "something" to the kit almost as often as Jeff swaps guitars.  During one such equipment swap later in the set, Glenn took a towel and wiped the sweat off Ashwin's head and face... pretty cute moment. 

    It's a great setlist, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  Sure there are some songs we'd all love to hear that are missing.  Sure we could use a break (or not - I'm not judging) from Cali Stars / Jesus / Box most nights.  But the way that the new songs mesh in with the older stuff is superb, and hearing the new songs a little less sparse and with just a little more oomph is pretty damn sweet.  Those drums!! We're gonna miss the OTJ songs just like we miss the Star Wars songs that they played every night but have since shelved (who wouldn't love another Cold Slope / King of You right about now?), so I say get 'em while you can and enjoy the moment.  They are stellar, and the band is rockin em. 

    The venue (my first time there) was pretty cool.  I liken it to a supersized Ryman, complete with pew-style seats (padded, tho) fan-shaped and great acoustics.  Very thoughtful fill speakers at the edge of the stage kept things excellent for those of us down front.  The crowd was good, with almost everyone on the floor standing the whole time, and nobody bitching about it.  The 3-D trippy graphics are very subtle but quite pleasant and really enhance the music nicely.

     

    Pat Report:  He's fine.  Moved around a lot, played to the crowd nearby him, smiled and nodded at Jeff and John a few times, seemed to be enjoying himself just fine.  Side note (perhaps related?) - we saw him drive up to Grimey's in his own car separate from the bus... with his GF in the car.  So, yeah, there ya go. 

    Nova report: It just gets better and better.  The intro was quite a bit different than I remember it from earlier this year, and for a moment I thought we'd get Lammy Cat instead... but it cruised on out and was glorious as always.  Perhaps it was the "ODE TO NOVA" sign from the audience?  Probly not, but that did not / will not stop me.  Pogo's ensued.  Oh, and the trippy 3-D graphics are perhaps the best on this one. 

    Video Cameo report: At both Grimey's and the Opry show, right before playing "Everyone Hides" Jeff mentioned that they made a video for that song.  I'm pretty sure that at both shows he was scanning the front crowd for a certain Uber-Star to continue the quest for complimentary beverages, but came up empty both times. 

    I'll let bbop relay the Impossible Flub and justification thereof.  Pretty funny stuff.

    There were no changes/omissions for the above set to the printed version. 

    I can't wait for the next one!!!

    Vince

    Wilco 10/18/19 Atlanta

    in After The Show

    Posted

     Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like they're using less gear on stage than ever before.  Massive guitar collection aside, they could haul their stage gear around in a van.  I like that they can cover so much sonic territory with a fairly small amount of equipment. 

     

    Funny you should mention that.

    At the in-store performance they did at Grimey's in Nashville, they were all 6 crammed into a tiny platform maybe 12x8 feet? Small amps for Nels, Jeff, John, Pat... keys for Mike and Pat... small kit for Glenn. 2-3 guitars each for Nels and Jeff.  This was NOT a hootenanny setup.  Played 7-8 songs, mostly new ones.  All sounded just about like the full versions later that night, although Glenn clearly didn't have his full set of doodads ("accoutrements" per Jeff).

     

    Jeff mentioned at one point in the set something like "If this is all it takes for us, we're gonna start touring in a VAN from now on!"

     

    (and yes, the crew unloaded that batch of equipment from a van before the bus showed up....)

     

    Live at Grimey's (record shop) Nashville Sunday Afternoon before show

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    I saw that, luckily I ordered the vinyl/wristband thing yesterday right when I found out. It appears on the website that the wristband is just for "priority admission" and the record signing, but from what I hear from someone who called up there, you're pretty much not getting in at all if you don't have a wristband.

    That certainly makes sense. For Jeff’s solo instore earlier this year, wristbands were required and they still sold out and were packed.

    See y’all in line!!

    "Ode To Joy" Reactions

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    Well now after some time to digest I can say I love this album. The only songs that haven't really grabbed me are One and a Half Stars and White Wooden Cross, theres just nothing very exciting going on with those, to my ears at least. We Were Lucky is one that I thought wasn't super great on the first couple listens but it's become one of my favorites now. The two singles are fantastic and get stuck in my head all the time. And the first two tracks are just spectacular...they kind of outshine the rest of the album imo but not too too much. 

    I agree on the "skippers" - those haven't moved me as much as the others.  It's nice for this album to kinda settle in to something "normal" (faves, skippers, steady growers), but it also took quite a few repeated listens for me to start to feel that way.  And still not totally sure if it will be in heavy rotation in a year or five.  But happy to have it on steady repeat to find out!

×
×
  • Create New...