Johnny Meltone

Nothing from Being There. Hmm. But How to Fight Loneliness! That's been MIA for a while. Great setlists so far.

Bull Black Nova left me breathless. Holy cow!

Agreed!! Another highlight for me was Radio Cure. If anyone was at the show a few years ago at the Los Angeles Theater (right down Broadway from the Ace,) Radio Cure was a total mess. It seemed like Jeff was completely lost and about to abort, but managed to hold on til the end. Rough. But Tuesday night at the Ace it was perfect - really sharp, almost majestic. A great redemption.

Overall, the entire show, with the simpler arrangements, was outstanding. I've seen them a dozen or so times and the show Tuesday really stands out.

Is noone going to mention the ceramic Persian sitting on John's Ampegs? Apparently Nels & Yuka found it in some shop on Hilhurst before the show.

Really great set as mentioned by all above. Everything from Star Wars really shined. Pickled Ginger and the 1-2 punch of Cold Slope into King of You really rocked. The Australian EP version of Kamera really rocked too. Nothing at all from WTA, but hey, you can't have it all every time.

Great show. Great venue. Great night. Ceramic cat.

Like many visiting this page I'm a bit of a Wilco fan-boy. And by "bit" I mean huge. That said, after a couple spins I love Star Wars. Why? Well, it's fun and crisp and whole - qualities that were, IMHO, not really in short supply, but incomplete on SBS, WTA, & WL. Don't get me wrong, I love lots n lots about those albums, but as follow ups to the sledgehammers of perfection that preceded them?....not so much. Sukirae really caught me off guard by how great it is - completely unexpected. And now Star Wars layers on where the Tweedy lp left off. Has anyone else noted a Loose Fur aesthetic on Sukirae & Star Wars? I love that live & let die song structure and performance vibe that got a little lost for a few albums in a gloss of self-consciousness, or preciousness, or maybe careful precision. Something like that.

Anyhow, high marks for Star Wars. Got my tix for the Greek 8/5, and now my anticipation spike is sky high!

I don't think you get tickets...I think they just "save" some for you...then if you by more (different) events they upgrade your seats.

At least that's what I thought I read...

It is more of a reservation thing than picking your actual seats, but it gets your ass in a seat for the show at the ticket price level you choose. Happy to do it.  My experience with the Front Gate Wilco presales has been kind of awful - I don't think their servers have enough horsepower to handle the volume a city the size of LA generates and they tend to crash or time out.  Anyway, I'll touch base if my optimism turns to rage.

August 5 The Greek LA

FYI - Tix are available RIGHT NOW if you sign up for the Greek P.A.S.S. on their website.  Its free to sign up - no commitment other than Greek Theater spam.

Of the 3 SoCal shows I saw on this tour I'd have to rate Santa Barbara as the best, but the bowl show was terrific. The sound was as good as I've heard at any shed concert (althogh the mix was shaky the first 5 -10 minutes.) One thing I did find distracting was the video screens that pretty much focused on Jeff, Nels, and Glen only - even when the other guys were ripping it up. There were a few instances where Pat was soloing and the cameras were on Nels. No big deal really, just kinda distracting. Loved the album version of Sunken Treasure, but missed any WTA (the forgotten album.)

OK, for M. Christine (and anyone else that might care), here was Jonathan Richman's set from last night — at least as best as I could decipher it:

 

No One Was Like Vermeer

Let Her Go Into The Darkness

new song-We Had A Fight Last Night

La Festa e Bomba? (Italian party song)>

Ja La? (Hebrew and Arabic party song)>

La Fiesta? (Spanish party song)

I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar

My Affected Accent

Her Mystery Not Of High Heels And Eye Shadow

O Moon, Queen Of Night On Earth

Keith Richards (w/"fast" reprise)

 

Regarding the foreign language interludes, Richman would preface each by saying something like, "If this song seems like it's in Italian, don't worry; it's just 17 different ways of saying 'It's a great party.'" And so on for the other languages...

 

It will be interesting to see 1) if Jonathan gets a little more time as the tour goes on (probably dependent on venue) and 2) how much his set varies from night to night (he's got so many songs and doesn't seem to use a setlist, so each set could vary at least somewhat...which would be cool).

OK, for M. Christine (and anyone else that might care), here was Jonathan Richman's set from last night — at least as best as I could decipher it:

 

No One Was Like Vermeer

Let Her Go Into The Darkness

new song-We Had A Fight Last Night

La Festa e Bomba? (Italian party song)>

Ja La? (Hebrew and Arabic party song)>

La Fiesta? (Spanish party song)

I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar

My Affected Accent

Her Mystery Not Of High Heels And Eye Shadow

O Moon, Queen Of Night On Earth

Keith Richards (w/"fast" reprise)

 

Regarding the foreign language interludes, Richman would preface each by saying something like, "If this song seems like it's in Italian, don't worry; it's just 17 different ways of saying 'It's a great party.'" And so on for the other languages...

 

It will be interesting to see 1) if Jonathan gets a little more time as the tour goes on (probably dependent on venue) and 2) how much his set varies from night to night (he's got so many songs and doesn't seem to use a setlist, so each set could vary at least somewhat...which would be cool).

What will be really interesting is if Wilco & Jonathan will play together at any point (Roadrunner?) When Nick Lowe started opening for them back east they didn't play together but added that bonus after a few shows.

Any word on Jonathan Richman for this show? He's listed as opener for all the west coast dates leading up to this, but not for this date. What gives? I have this fantasy of Jonathan & Wilco doing Roadrunner together and if it happens everywhere but the Bowl I'll be devastated.

Has anybody here pre-ordered from Nonesuch? If so, has anybody gotten any email on their order status yet? Saturday's almost here, and i thought that they would've sent it out by now.

I received the box from Nonesuch Tuesday 4/17. They did email shipping status in advance.

Such an energetic show! Great venue too.

Does anyone know why they didn't have the rag-ghost backdrop? I was sitting in the balcony at the LA Theater and couldn't get the full scope of the lights show on the backdrop. Floor seats at the Arlington and *poof* no backdrop. Of course they disn't need it, but...And the rag-ghost trees on the side seemed awkward without the backdrop.

Anyhow, one of my favorite Wilco shows.

RE: Radio Cure...Jeff totally got lost in the arrangement. A good recovery though. Shouldn't be ashamed was amazing.

The last night of the Chicago stand was a deep cut bonaza (heavy on the Mermaid Ave.) Is anybody going to the last night of the LA stand? Should we expect another night of deep cut gems? I know, I know, Chicago is their home town and they did 5 nights, not just 3. But still...a boy can hope.

It's not always bad. I saw Wilco this past fall for the first time in a seated venue (the Ryman in Nashville) and every single person on the floor was standing from start to finish, which was impressive seeing as they opened with One Sunday Morning. I had the same concern you did, but i think more often than not, Wilco crowds want to stand just as much as you do.

Honestly, I much prefer the seated venues. I'm too old to be jockeying for position and that whole competitive rat race of general admission. I'm going to Santa Barbara & LA Theater - both seated - and I couldn't be happier. I live in Hollywood near the Palladium but I'd rather travel a bit for traditional seating. BTW, I forgot all about the LA Theater ticket sale until almost 11:00 but still managed to get decent seats. Can't wait! White Denim too! That band is fantastic.

I know that Android doesn't support Quicktime, so does anyone have a work-around in order to listen to the Wilcoworld Roadcase shows?

My link

The Magazine Stand

It's the end of July, 2009 and magazine stands in America have become, predictably, ersatz shrines to the late “King of pop”/pedophile-junkie, Michael Jackson. But there are two other magazines, magazine covers really, that have got my attention.

The first one is abundantly obvious to anyone who knows me and my unhealthy obsession with the quintessential American rock band Wilco. The August issue of SPIN magazine has on it's cover Wilco's leader, Jeff Tweedy. The second cover, the catalyst for theses words really, is the September issue of AARP magazine which has on it's cover American rock-n-roll icon Bruce Springsteen. That's right, AARP, as in American Association of Retired Persons.

Now the SPIN/Tweedy cover is not surprising on any level. Wilco is a band of vast, if not indie-credibility, certainly non-mainstream appeal. Exactly the type of artist SPIN puts on it's cover issue after issue, with the possible exception of Tweedy's age, 42(2 years younger than I) – which is older by some years than the SPIN target demographic. If there is anything surprising about this SPIN cover it's the deranged grin on the Nudie-clad, usually dour Tweedy. The Wilco cover story inside is your typical rock press fluff piece complete with article-specific photo compositions by some fancy schmancy photog.

“The Boss Turns 60” proclaims the AARP cover along with a stock photo of Springsteen in a stock rocker pose. (also “Service Rocks! 13 cool ways you can make a difference”) The accompanying article is an embarrassing schlock about getting all weepy during a recent performance of Badlands, and recognizing new era meanings in old Springsteen songs. Come to think of it, not a bad piece for, well, AARP.

Now Jeff Tweedy and Bruce Springsteen have monumental significance in my own personal rock-n-roll mythology/iconography. Springsteen was introduced to me on a mixed tape my older brother Mick made for me in 1978. Listening to Candy's Room & She's The One over & over for six months changed forever my understanding of rock music and liberated me from what I finally understood were the shackles of Top 40 A.M. radio. I continue to be a fan (and apologist) of Springsteen and it's impossible for me to imagine his music losing it's appeal. Wilco's discovery came about twenty years later when my friend Dave gave me a cassette tape of their 2nd album Being There. Listening to Misunderstood & Monday and the whole thing really, over & over for six months changed forever my understanding of emotion and fun in rock music, and liberated me from feeling that it needed to be pseudo-angry or rote or pretentious or formulaic.

And here they are on SPIN and AARP. One magazine trying to seem older. One magazine trying to seem younger. Two giant personal icons that redefined my understanding of artistic integrity and honesty having their coolness cache being played up to facilitate demographics and market-appeal and unit-shifting. SPIN I picked up at a book store. AARP I picked up on my elderly mother's coffee table. I have seen both artists perform live and was acutely aware of my relative age each time; younger than average at Springsteen, older than average at Wilco. It's difficult to be sure why these covers, these juxtapositions have me questioning the essence of cool and rock-n-roll. It's entirely possible, and quite likely that I never knew. Maybe that's just it.

The soundtrack lists Jesus, Etc. as Wilco with Andrew Bird. Although AB was the opening act @ Tanglewood, he did not perform with Wilco at any point. I wonder if they filmed a version for the movie prior to the show. Or possibly at some other show where they did perform together.

hmm

I've been searching for a torrent , stream. link or whatever for a couple of days and haven't come up with anything.

A little help...........THANKS!

Aside from the nightly staples, Imp Germany, Spiders, Shot in The Arm, ANY song is possible on any given night. Expect Andreww Bird to sit in for a bunch. And they've had The Total Pros horn section with them alot lately, expect them. You can do the research to find what songs are usually played with those players.

The early (6:30) show time makes me think that they want to play a long set B4 the T/Wood curfew.

This will be my 2nd show and I couldn't be more psyched! Last summer in Boston was amazing!

HAVE FUN

During the show in Boston someone handed me a stick-on badge, "Wilco 07 Aftershow" with the SBS artwork on it. Did anyone else get one of these? What the hell is it? Did I miss something cool? Should I quit drinking?