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theashtraysays

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    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!

    "Ode To Joy" Reactions

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    This album release has sure brought out the worst in Wilco fans. Love or hate OtJ, a few minutes in that FaceBook group is more unpleasant than any music Jeff has put out in his entire career. It's really sucking the fun out of this album cycle. 

     

     

    That said, yeah, the Facebook group is pretty nasty right now. By no means the mod team's fault (I can't imagine how frustrating a job like that would be at times like this ...for no pay!!). I think it's just a symptom of the Facebook group getting too large in the past few years. ViaChicago continues to contain the best Wilco dialog on the internet. 

     

     

    This 100%. I was lamenting to somebody earlier that I missed the tight knit days of VC in comparison to the huge, and sometimes kinda volatile facebook group,

     

    If you had told me 10 years ago that VC would be the safe haven for civil discourse regarding a new Wilco record, I would have called you a liar.  Or at least a lousy prognosticator.   :fish 

    "Ode To Joy" Reactions

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    Show me the Wilco waltzes.

     

    My most frustrating thing about this whole process has been people conflating Jeff's solo work and Wilco. I get it to a certain degree, but also, nobody looks at Thom Yorke like he's Radiohead and listeners surely don't conflate The Eraser, AMOK, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, and Anima with Radiohead. The trajectory for Wilco is Sky Blue Sky, Wilco (The Album), The Whole Love, Star Wars, Schmilco, and Ode to Joy. So again: Show me the waltzes. Not that there are none, but I bet the ones you're thinking of are on Sukierae, Warm, and Warmer.  

     

    Schmilco definitely had its share - Normal American Kids... Shrug and Destroy... somewhat Quarters, and even Common Sense (if you're waltzing on acid), which is why I put that in the arc to get from "noise to "dirge".  And yes, that ignores the powerpop/rock contributors like ST or SW, but that's been somewhere in the mix for almost every record.  I maybe should have added "introspective" in the arc (SBS/TWL), but that was too long of a word.  But yeah, Sukierae was the most prolific example of the waltz genre for sure.

     

    One thing that I mentioned to a couple friends yesterday was that I'm trying hard to listen to this record "on its own".  It's hard not to conflate (good word btw) the recent solo records with this one just due to the short time span and the similarities overall (Jeff's "dead guitar" style for example).  But even if I try to just let this record be its own thing, it still leans toward that dark, brooding, dirge-like end of the spectrum.  Which isn't a bad thing at all.  It's just a thing. 

     

    Personally, I'm still not sure what to do with this one.  I like it.  I'm very glad that Wilco is making the kind of records that they (or at least Jeff) want to make.  I'm very much looking forward to hearing the new material live, interlaced with the classics they have on the set lists lately.  But it needs a few more spins for me to settle in and find its place for me. 

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