adrock

I have two tickets for London Palladium on November 4 in the Circle. Unfortunately I now have to be in Dallas for business next week, which sucks on so many levels. Anyway, I live and work in Central London so anybody wants them just call me on +44 7771 697 878 or email me at adrock@sfr.fr and I'll figure out a way to get the tickets to you.

We should all learn a valuable lesson from adrock's failure to do a little bit of homework/basic research. Thanks and happy new year.

Yeah but it's much more fun to post on the forum and besides I now know that there is a fashion designer in New York called Jeffrey Tweedy. You lives, you learns.

I was just watching 'Awesome, I Fucking Shot That', the DVD from the Beastie Boys October 2004 Madison Square Garden show where they gave camcorders to 50 fans to shoot the show. In the credits, one of the fans/cameramen is listed as 'Jeff Tweedy'. It was a pretty A-list attended gig (also Ben Stiller was there

[Can someone explain this? I'm not English and haven't lived here long - what's the Wilco/London issue?].

Back in '95 on one of Wilco's first UK tours they played a show at the Shepherd's Bush Empire on a Sunday night at the end of a long tour. Jeff was tired and super cranky and the audience was in kind of a Sunday night lethargic funk. Jeff kept on berating the audience for being so quiet qnd unenthusiastic and eventually people started walking out (I stuck it out). So ever since then it's been kind of a running joke about his relationship with the London audiences.

Ashes of American Flags

Do You Remember the Mountain Bed

Company in my back

Bull Black Nova

You are my face

IATTBYH

One wing

Shot in the arm

Side with the seeds

Deeper down

Impossible Germany

Passenger side

Handshake drugs

Sonny feeling

Jesus etc

Can't stand it

I hate it here

Theologians

Walken

I'm the man who loves you

Encore 1:

You never know

Heavy Metal Drummer

Via Chicago

Poor Places

Spiders

Encore 2:

Monday

Hoodoo Voodoo

Phenomenal show. No, Jeff wasn't that chatty but was very focused on the music and let's face it, that's what counts. He did however complement the audience on the best country-without-English-as-its-first-language-singalong to Jesus etc. that he had experienced (faint praise?)!

I had seen them back in London earlier in the year at the Troxy and as was already mentioned on this forum, that show felt lacking the intensity that I usually assocaiate with Wilco shows.

As soon as I heard the first strains of Via Chicago for the opener I sensed this was going to be a great show. It's great to see that the new songs are finding the place in the natural order of the set and Wilco (the song) and Bull Black Nova as parentheses to a Shot in the Arm really highlighted the strength of the new material.

The run of 5 songs which ended the first set (Wishful Thinking, Impossible Germany, Cold Places, Reservations, Spiders) was absolutely stunning. A relentless and quite dark series of songs which kept me absolutely transfixed.

The aforementioned audience participation in Jesus etc for the first song of the encore was fun but it did seem to deflate somewhat the energy that had built up with that magnificent quintet of songs leading up the break. Sonny Feeling and Late Greats certainly got the place jumping again immediately after though.

A couple of my least favourite songs then really did pop the balloon a bit (Heavy Metal Drummer and Hate it Here) but the highlight of the second set/encore was undoubtedly Monday for which Jeff broke out his rainbow Gibson SG and rocked out!

All in all a great show and looking forward to Amsterdam in 10 days (where I suspect we'll get another Sonny Feeling ) .

Please call Adam on +33 6 11 87 36 06 or mail me at adrock@sfr.fr

I already have my ticket for Brussels but I have a friend who got back from vacation too late. I can pick it up on the night or will gladly pay p+p to Paris.

You can contact me at adrock@sfr.fr or +33 6 1187 3606.

Adam

I like how Jeff said "Does anybody have a cheeseburger?" during the guitar feedback intro to ITMWLY. Some people who were listening to the webcast may not have heard it, since he said it so quietly. That might become a running gag at future shows.

He made the same crack the previous night too.

"Don't know if you've had this in the US/Australia for a while, but the big difference for me compared to a couple of years ago was how much more obviously everyone seemed to be enjoying it. JT was practically beaming most of the time, with much more expression and inflection. "

I was on the balcony level one, right in front of the stage left speakers and had a great view of jeff all night. I completely agree that Jeff's demenaour and in fact the rapport amongst the whole band, was the most relaxed I've ever seen them. I can honestly say that for the first time since I've been seeing Wilco shows (nigh on ten years) that there was absolutley no edginess about Jeff last night and he acyually seemed to be enjoying the show. It was a joy to behold.

"They were rocking (so much for SBS being a mellow album), and though I 've been enjoying SBS, the songs are certainly much better live. Even Walken, the one track I can't get on with, came to life."

Again, completely agree. Walken doesn't do much for me on the album but really came alive last night (not so much on the first night, but I think that was a combination of jet-lag and Sunday-night London-itus, as you call it). Hate It Here followed by California Stars to close the show was an inspired piece of set-listing.

Anybody coming to Paris for the Bataclan show next week?

I noticed that the setlist from last night is posted as May 21st, when in fact it was May 20th. Anyways, I was there last night and have to admit to being the guy who said 'it doesn't work like that' when Jeff said that the audience couldn't speak to him as he was not insitgating conversation. I agree with the previous posters who said that all the banter was light hearted and in good humour.

Back to tonight's show....

Setlist:

Sunken treasure

You Are My Face

Side with the Seeds

I am Trying to Break Your Heart

Handshake Drugs

At Least That's What You Said

A Shot in the Arm

Via Chicago

Impossible Germany

Sky Blue Sky

Hummingbird

War on War

Jesus etc.

Walken

Theologians

I'm the Man Who Loves You

-----

E1

Misunderstood

Poor Places

Reservations

Kidsmoke

-----

E2

Hate It Here

California Stars

Although it might be tempting to look at the setlist and think that this was a similar show to last night, the reality was as Jeff said at one point, that they played much better tonight. In fact it was on a different plane! There was a real energy tonight that in retrospect just did not appear last night. Jeff did not so much as open his mouth other than to sing until about 10 songs in and then as soon as he did someone yelled out for a song and he did the whole mock self-pity thing 'That's why I don't talk to the audience...' But there is no doubt that he was up for the show and there was a crispness to the whole evening.

One thing I have always loved about Wilco is how quickly the new songs blend into the live repertoire with the new album no exception. Hate it Here, which he dedicated to his wife as the song she dubs the 'Liar Song', and Walken feel like they have always been there are are set to become real crowd pleasers in future live shows.

Well I did use the word ramblings in the topic title so no one can sue me under the trades description act, but in the immortal words of Marti de Berghi, enough of my yakkin.