H.Stone

At My Window.... I'm sure that was beautiful--and particularly if the harmonies were especially clear. The last time I heard that (from the full band) was in 1998 at Summerfest.

I figured I'd be up front about not listening to TA because I'd get a sympathetic, mature response.

What would constitute a "sympathetic, mature response"? "Aw man, that's cool. You just haven't had the time or inclination to listen. I totally get it, man." People expecting you to listen to the album before you comment isn't immature or unsympathetic--it's reasonable.

can somebody tell me how big the venues in states for wilco are?

the volkshaus,zurich takes about 1'500 people.

Their summer tour included a lot of larger venues (amateur ball parks), but generally I'd say the venues they play are closer to 2000 or 2500 with places like NY and Chicago being regular exceptions.

Rob's pick?

Oh, it would have been had he been home. Girls' night.

Awww, I'm late to this party. I could have confirmed he played one in Chicago on Monday...but only because my husband pointed it out to me during the show. I had completely forgotten about it until reading your post.

I'm anxious to hear both Country Disappeared and Either Way again. What a nice little stretch there.

What time did they finish? We had a little dance party after dinner tonight, and my pick was "I'm A Wheel." Perhaps there was synchronicity? (I'm going to go ahead and assume "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and Iffy's "Double Dutch" were not part of your evening, though.)

I was OK with Heartbreaking Work ... although I understand why some people don't like it. But I really recommend both What is the What and Zeitoun even if you dislike Eggers.

I thought Eggers was in desperate need of a decent editor in Heartbreaking Work... but I adore What Is The What. If you've written Eggers off, give him one more shot and read WITW.

I thought it was pretty melodramatic and highly...supernatural? Supersitious?

Perhaps you just generally don't dig magic realism?

It's also the bible of many school administrators--it's one of the latest shiny, trendy things to worship and mine for half-assed initiatives.

QFT! I can't tell you the number of times this book has been quoted by administration in my district.

"Midniiiiight, and I'm a waitin' on the 12:05."

Wow. A Juice Newton reference? Not bad.

I curse you for the ear worm, though. "...hopin it'll take me just a little farther down the line."

I'd like to say thanks to Rob (allgodsmoney) and his wife, the English teacher who's name escapes me, for making our evening really enjoyable. Rob was nice enough to let my girlfriend swap spots with him so she could see better (he is much taller than her). Also, seriously, you two, pick up some more Sherman Alexie books.

It was nice meeting you, too. (It's Tamala, btw. ) Enjoy your upcoming Sherman Alexie "event," and I will certainly add more of his books to my To Read list. I wish I could say I'll be seeing you in Lansing, but school-year Sunday night shows multiple states away don't work out particularly well. Enjoy!

Last night's show was as fantastic as previous posters are saying. It had a little bit of everything, and the closing rockers were effing fantastic. Go, rainbow SG!

The setlist had some nice surprises (Kamera, Nothingsevergonna..., Poor Places, etc.), and I was really happy to hear Country Disappeared live for the first time. I also never expected to hear Far, Far Away. As cool as it was to hear a Being There-era Wilco reference from Bono at Soldier Field, I much preferred last night's performance. (If only their Arena Rock Stage had included stairs, Jeff could have draped himself along them the way Bono did.)

I have virtually no ability to put together coherent sentences right now, but the overall vibe last night was overwhelmingly positive. Everyone seemed to be having a lot of genuine fun, and it was a real drag to drive back to reality in the wee hours of the morning.

But what is, really? You'll be happy to know it made it back "home" safely, though it might have to remain in Chicago for the time being.

I think its heart will always be in Chicago anyway.

That's a better shot than the one that ran in the print edition. And I'm not just saying that because my eye made it in.

Great. Can't wait to see that.

Too bad you didn't yet have your "guitar" on Sunday night or that clearly would have been the centerpiece of any photo.

Tamala, I like that I can just see the "ive" of your Bon Iver shirt.

HA. Yeah, no free marketing from me, Bon Iver!

Also Jeff seems to be taking more leads and interesting leads at that.

This is one of the things that stands out most for me about Monday. I was blown away by Jeff's soloing last night. (And while I was certain I'd never forget which one was especially blazing...I have). When Jeff plays the solos "straight" (vs. with entertaining posing such as for the first ITMWLY solo), they're incredibly powerful. The posing is fun, but I'm glad to be able to see the serious delivery as well.

Anyway back to reality.....which frankly sucks this morning...

Seconded. Four hours of sleep is not enough before facing a full day of work. Nope.

The two nights are already blurring together a bit in my head (and the sleep deprivation isn't helping), but I'm Always In Love, Just A Kid, and It's Just That Simple stand out as awesome setlist surprises from Sunday. Even though IAIL has been popping up more frequently lately, I was still surprised--and thrilled--to hear it on Sunday.

Maybe it's because, outside of Lolla, this was the first full band show in Chicago since the Residency that everyone expected something completely off the wall in terms of the setlist, but from what I understand, they made it fairly clear during a recent radio interview that there weren't going to be any big setlist surprises for the Chicago shows. Yeah, they are hometown shows, but they're hometown shows at the end of a leg of the W(ta) tour.

Sonny Feeling has quickly become one of my favorite live performances. It's so...fun. (Unfortunately it feels more than a little inappropriate to be having so much fun when singing, "...until they cut off her clothes.") This was only the third or fourth time I've heard several of the new songs live, and One Wing and Sonny Feeling really stood on for me on Sunday.

It was also my first time seeing the colorful new SG. I had heard talk about the "ugly" new guitar, but I love it. I'm not usually into gear, but the image of that guitar has been lingering since Sunday. It's not as cool as a 7-11 Guitar Gulp, but it's pretty cool nonetheless.

See, and I hope he challenges Chicago to sing the whole damn thing.

That's a great looking setlist. Theologians, Wishful Thinking, Country Disappeared, One By One, I'm Always In Love... and I'm A Wheel as the closer.

Thanks Jeff and Company for your kindness! My kids will always remember your music as they grow musically!

 

That is awesome. What a great picture.

Any chance Jody made use the gong?

In the Street

They covered In The Street with Jody Stephens on drums, and John and Pat doing their best combined Chris Bell on lead vocals.

Children by the millions sing for Alex Chilton... (I'm in love. What's that song?)

Also, Country Disappeared! Major highlight for me.

Ahhhh...it has finally arrived. Woot! As beautiful as imagined? Yes. I'm certain it is. I'm glad you were able to see it.

I love it when I'm Always In Love pops up.

Oh, and I'm a Wheel rocked.

I'm pretty sure I say this every time an appropriate setlist is posted, but I love I'm A Wheel as a closer. Fucking rocks. (Personal to Paul: will heffer find that interesting? )

I saw KISS in concert once--1993, perhaps? Trixter and Great White were the openers, so the general theme of the night was "Shitty Music." (Except, of course, Wasted Rock Ranger which is poetic genius, obviously.) The best part of the KISS show was when the shell of the statue of liberty which adorned their stage crumbled off to reveal a skeleton that was giving the crowd The Finger.

As for Wilco playing KISS covers? I think not, but Uncle Tupelo played "R'N'R All Nite," and I think you can find footage of that from '87 or so on youtube.

True statement.

I had no idea that Keillor doesn't read the Lake Wobegone tales - that's all done with no script. Thanks again to Rob for the seat swap.

Oh yeah! I had wanted to mention that as well. I pictured the LW stuff to be much more casual--or at least less dramatic. It was great. It felt like he was looking at us the whole time. Or did it?

Grapes of poop!

One By One

Deeper Down

You Never Know

Passenger Side

The first two were early in the show, the last two near the conclusion of the show. (Patti Loveless's four songs were divided evenly by the intermission.)

After listening to APHC for a long time, seeing the show live was a real treat. Keillor is more charismatic in person than I had imagined, and he's surrounded by a wide variety of talented people. I had a great view of the stage so was able to enjoy watching the "sound effects guy" work his magic.

Keillor spent a little time talking to Jeff before One By One and referenced the previous night's show at Wilkins a few times. He said he had received "reports" that there were a lot males, plaid, and work books at the show. (I wasn't able to make it into town in time for the Wilkins show, but it sounded like a pretty accurate description.) He had also heard that audience members know all the lyrics to all the songs--perhaps even better than Jeff himself--and then asked Jeff how that made him feel. Jeff: "It's very disconcerting."

The band sounded great, and the song choices were nice for the setting. I enjoyed hearing and seeing Deeper Down where Nels, Jeff, and Glenn were closer together so it was easier to see everything that's going on during the song. I was also really hoping they'd debut Country Disappeared, but Passenger Side was a nice surprise.

That's what the "Setlist Matcher" on Wilcobase is for! (Actually, that's the first time I've ever had occasion to use that function. )

I'm so ignorant--I had no idea there was such a thing. Damn. I'm going to have to play around with that.

There is literally nothing interesting about that.

Oh, look! It's a talking dick!

Thanks for the setlist--it's nice to see Deeper Down on it.

P, I feel like I'm watching an NFL broadcast with your stats: "The only other time a 49ers quarterback threw for over 400 yards with three Texas A&M grads on his line was..." That is pretty bizarre, though. I remember Cars from the last Val Air show. Jeff wanted to know who requested it since he claimed about 90% of the audience was thinking, "What the fuck was that?" There must be an Iowan who keeps bumping both Cars and Magazine to the top of the request list. But as you said, it's always great to hear B-sides.

Looking for one GA ticket for Oct. 2 in St. Paul.