W(TF)

While Greg Kot mentions Nels extensively in his review of the first night, I think the band is far more balanced than ever before. We have come to expect Nels to be incredible and he still is, but now Pat gets more leads, more fills and is just generally more of a factor in the mix. I am not saying that simply because I was standing on his side, since I usually stand on the Pat and John side. Also Jeff seems to be taking more leads and interesting leads at that. So kudos to Pat and the entire band for really kicking into high gear last night.

I agree with Lou, based on the three shows I've seen over the last 10 mos., and the one in '07. Nels was still overpowering in Lewiston this summer, but I think it was the soundboard people's fault, the audio on that show was an awful mess for the most part. Maybe the Nels wow factor has just gotten more normal to us over time, but I definitely notice the changes as the three of them evolve their contributions on various songs. You'd think three wailing guitars aren't really necessary, but now I just can't imagine some of the tunes live without that huge wall of noise (i.e. Handshake Drugs is always a highlight once Jeff straps the SG on).

Ten bucks says the next Wilco album will be called Shit Songs, with the leadoff track titled Shit (The Song).

Sounds amazing....I was really hoping they would webcast this show. Assuming there were tapers, I'll wait patiently for it to appear on the webs.

I assume this was from last night? Great pic of Pat and the Pavillion crowd.

They sounded good, but they've never really grabbed me musically and last night I kind of felt the same way.

 

Jeff dedicated Just a Kid to the "kids in Tortoise... those up-and-comers" which was pretty funny given they are widely regarded as a seminal band.

In Toronto when Jeff brought Liam Finn onstage he said "thanks for helpin' us out, kid."

Liam does act like a kid though (I like him). Gf's comment after his set was that Neil Finn must've told Jeff, "Ok, you guys can use my studio and gear for a while, but only if you agree to get my son out of the house for a month or two!!".

They're now streaming side 1 of this on bluerodeo.com ... pre-orders for Nov.10 and this will be available on 2-LP set as well.

Not a knock on the song, but what "category" would You And I fit in as a single-- adult contemporary?

I'm pretty out of the loop, I suppose singles are mainly iTunes based now. Wilco hardly ever gets played on commercial radio in Canada. So it's hard for me to see how they can score and in what channel. Unless Dixie Chicks cover Country Disappeared, now that could go places. lol

Great, high energy show including Monday > Outtasite, Just a Kid, I'm Always in Love, John taking the mic for It's Just That Simple, Hoodoo Voodoo (great as always), Misunderstood with 36 nothings, Jesus, etc. singalong. Glenn played a gong on ITMWLY and they used some computery voice to introduce the band (...think Kid A...). A laid back hometown crowd vibe definiely brought a more upbeat set from the guys. On a few songs, Jeff was playing a really strange looking Gibson with odd bevels / coloring on the body. Sounded great, though. Hardly a complete setlist and I'm leaving a lot out but this is being written on a CTA blue line train.

In Toronto (1st nite) they did this too -- three different "voices", with the first (introducing Mikael and John) being in German. I believe these are supposed to mimic the unhuman-sounding voices that announce the athletes' names at the Olympics. At least that's what gf said.

p.s. Deeper Down was also a casualty at Lewiston...pretty much ruined by bad sound, where I was seated anyhow.

Well, Neil Young was the headliner at MSG and I had seats where family and friends of the band sit as well as those with complimentary tickets so I don't know if they were all there for Wilco but here's the list.....Bill Murray, Fred Armisen, John McEnroe, Noel Gallagher, Gem, Amy Poehler, Timothy Hutton, Norah Jones and all the members of Wilco including Spencer who either sat near us when NY played or when we saw them back stage. Those were the ones I could identify. Big score that night.

I believe the younger SNL'ers are Wilco fans. Though my memory ain't what it used to be. Norah Jones has covered Jesus, etc. (iirc).

Also, Jim and Dwight from The Office have been seen at some shows.

p.s. "all the members of Wilco including Spencer"...is that a prediction?

Dude, put the crackberry down and enjoy the concert!!!

I saw Ron MacLean (CBC's Hockey Night in Canada host) at a Massey Hall, Toronto show a few years back. Cool.

MacLean's a huge Wilco fan, I know he was seen at the 2007 Massey show (along with Ron Sexsmith). In that year's best playoff series he announced the start of game 7 with "Impossible Boston, Unlikely Montreal!!".

For any culture-starved masses who don't know, Ron is the dude on the left, Don Cherry is his nemesis/foil on the right.

mine too. 'she fell in love with the drummer....'

+1 I need to get the ones I'm missing....but I don't have a turntable at the moment.

My first marriage was interracial, and it isn't something I would highly recommend to a friend-- but that has to do with family cultural and religious differences, not skin color. Lasted 10 years and we have a child who's 14 now. It wasn't the reason the marriage didn't work out, but it didn't help matters any.

In the US, I think more interracial marriages in general would be a good thing. This jop sounds like a twit, his reasoning makes no sense to me.

A few that I liked..

Ready To Die (Biggie)

Life's A Bitch (Nas)

Hits From The Bong (Cypress Hill)

Cowboys (Fugees)

Calm Like A Bomb (Rage Against The Machine)

Stutter (Elastica)

Stupid Girl (Garbage)

London Fog (Heather Nova)

Possum Kingdom (Toadies)

Little Bones (Tragically Hip)

At The Hundredth Meridian (Trag Hip)

Fake Plastic Trees (Radiohead)

Bones (Radiohead)

I'm Ready (Tracy Chapman)

Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)

1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)

Two Princes (Spin Doctors)

The Messenger (Daniel Lanois)

Mysterious Ways (U2)

Tryin' To Get To Heaven (Dylan)

Not Dark Yet (Dylan)

Side Of The Road (Lucinda Williams)

I'm split on this issue. We all EXPECT the musicians to stand for most of the show (err, Glenn and Mikael excepted). I think the crowd should be allowed to find its' own way, and if the standers can sway the sitters in their section, then everyone stands. This happened a few times in our section on night 1. If you're the only one standing, yeah you need some sensitivity training. The appalling thing on 10/14 was how everyone in the first couple of rows (center section) sat down for the middle part of the show...except for one guy.

Just wondering -- did Jeff happen to dedicate Misunderstood to "Liz" (my daughter)? We were supposed to go last night, but it didn't happen. I didn't know how to cancel the request. I know he usually only mentions names at the solo/charity shows, but I wrote that she was 12 and it was her first real rock concert, so I thought, you never know...

---------------

Wilco (the song)

Misunderstood

California Stars (w/Liam Finn on acoustic guitar and vox and Eliza Jane Barnes on shaker and vox)

You and I (w/Leslie Feist on vox)

Kingpin

Casino Queen

I'm A Wheel

 

ARRRGGHH. Just for the encore set I wish I'd been at the Thurs show instead of Wed.!! WOW. Sounds like a great show. I love Monday, Can't Stand It, and Hoodoo Voodoo is a great closer, but..........

Oh well, Wed. was a very fine show too. Nice to see them take a break from Spiders (probably for time considerations), though Via Chicago is a staple that I find hard to let go of. It just seems odd they skipped both S(K) and VC two nights in a row. Anyway..we were just really hoping when Liam came onstage it would be for Cali Stars.

Bookmarked this. Will check you out next time I'm in the annex....

also Stereolab, and Dust/Chem Bros deserve some mention..

Were Nirvana really all that big of a deal before Cobain died? I'm not denying that they were, it's just that I didn't hear of them until after the fact. I'm sincerely curious about this. Granted, I was in junior high and listening almost exclusively to rap/hippity-hop in the early nineties so there were a lot of musical things going on that I didn't notice. It may just be that I wasn't hanging out with "Nirvana fan type people" until after 1994.

Yup. They were critical darlings from the time Nevermind came out, if memory serves. And they got a shitload of airplay on radio and MTV, to a point of saturation. There was also a lot of competitiveness between the Seattle bands and their fans, especially Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Not much doubt PJ were always superior musicians, but Nirvana had such undeniable passion, the list of critics who lauded Cobain as having "saved rock 'n' roll" must be endless. And yes that started before his death.

My favourite bands/artists from the 1990's would probably be: Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Rage Against The Machine, Nas, Fugees, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Beck, Breeders, Garbage, Tracy Chapman, Lucinda Williams.

I agree with this. I do believe that more often than not when a band starts doing a lot of covers they've found themselves in a rut regarding creating new material. Lord knows I saw enough of that with some of my favorite bands.

 

That said, can someone find JP so we can hear a "Ziggy Stardust"?

Funny, as I was scanning the last couple pages of this thread I thought, I'd love to hear the band do Diamond Dogs or Suffragette City. Would also love to hear Jeff and John harmonize on a song like In The Street. But as long as they're playing what they're into playing, I'm content to listen.

It was Outtamind (Outta site), but otherwise king got the setlist right on.

It was a very good show, my 4th. The boys got down to business from the start, they came on at 9 and worked against a strict 11pm curfew, I think the unions here fine bands by the minute if they don't finish on time. Pretty much guaranteed no second encore, but we still got 23 songs (16 + 7 + 0). So no banter at all until the start of Either Way- after that Jeff was pretty funny and cheeky. Comments included the history of technical glitches at MH, chiding the Canadian crowds about their abilitiies with singalongs (almost all of Jesus Etc was sung by the crowd only), and a dedication of HTFL to "my family in Toronto, you know who you are" (would they Sue's family or Jeff's?). We had a very elderly couple in our row and someone right behind them answered "hi Jeff" when he said that...so I wonder if it was that group. They did the band intros at the start of the encores with the computerized Winter Olympics ethnic voices, I think John and Mikael were introduced in German, the rest in English. Fucking hilarious. Jeff also introduced Liam and said "thanks for helping out, kid".

Anyway drank several beer before the show and had a great time. The show didn't top Rochester (for me) but with seats in the sixth row and being able to move 1 over and get an unobstructed view, can't complain. Honestly though, I think the people on the balcony were hearing better sound balance than we had in front of the stacks. Mental note to self.

Sonic highlights-- I thought Handshake Drugs, You Never Know and Can't Stand It really connected with the crowd, same for Hate It Here, Glenn was on fire. The best run (for me) was IF>HD>PKB>HTFL, just wonderful. A bit bummed we didn't get more Woody (we were esp hoping for Cali Stars) but it was a rockin' out kinda night. Apart from Walken 4 of the last 5 were screamers, kudos to Jeff, his throat must be sore this morning.

Lots of very cool guitars on tap, epecially the Tele's and Jeff's white Skyline. He pulled out the big Rickenbacker for Walken, don't think I've seen that in concert before. Nels used the double neck for YNK.

Skipping tomorrow but will catch them again on the Canada winter tour. THANKS FOR COMING BACK, WILCO!!!

I think playing live is really what energizes each member of the band, which is probably why this incarnation has lasted so long.

Yep. Methinks it's also what energizes many of us fans. It's also where the band makes most of their income, no?