H.Stone

Awww, Sky Blue Sky. I bet that was beautiful in that setting.

I was at the Red Butte show a couple (few?) years ago, and when there was a note about Jeff and the security guard, I assumed it was Jeff's annoyance at the security guards maintaining an "invisible barrier" between the knee-high brick "wall" and the crowd. It's too bad the venue has moved the VIP section to front and center. When we attended a show there, the VIP section was about halfway up the grassy slope which worked well since the vast majority of the people in that section weren't necessarily fans of the band but simply major supporters of the Gardens.

One thing I remember well from the show are the canyon breezes the blew through all night. It was a beautiful venue!

Just seemed like the overall sound mix was much improved, the band's energy was a little better and the crowd in general had (slightly) fewer pot smokers.

That sounds spot-on to me. Friday night B and I joked that "I Might Be High" were more appropriate lyrics given the frequent, generous offers for hits off of joints and the potential for a contact high. Saturday night's crowd was really energetic from the moment Dr. Dog took the stage, and that energy combined with the great setlist made Saturday's show a rocker. "Dreamer In My Dreams" was unbelievable! (Humorous side note: a guy in front of us said, "I think they're just making this up as they go!")

The ingenious shade-providing setups, the sharing of chairs, coolers, drinks, food, tunes, special deliveries of ice cream bars ... the band, the music, and you guys are what make these experiences so much fun.

Here, here! Not to mention the sharing of prime real estate during the show. I wish there were more opportunities to spend time with all of you, but the ones we have are always great fun.

Ditty, special thanks to your pal Matt. He was so kind and generous and thoughtful--truly one of the nicest people I've ever met. He took such great care of us, and I hope you'll extend another "thank you" to him on my behalf.

Friday's show was my first at Red Rocks, so that makes it memorable all by itself. Plus there was the "reappearance" of the Rainbow SG and "I'm Always In Love"--weeee! There was a LOT of dope being smoked Friday night which probably contributed to the especially mellow audience. The overall vibe was a little flat, but the breezes felt fantastic and made for an extraordinary light and shadow show against the rocks behind the stage. Plus I was surrounded by friends, a lot of really friendly people, and the sounds of my favorite band. Friday night's show was NOT a shithead.

First off, special to H. Stone: The rainbow SG is back!

Woooooooooooo! I hope it stays in the line-up! A friendly weatherman just days ago sent me a photo of one, out of nostalgia. Turns out he was prophetic!

Well that post describes pretty much everything that happened. I don't have a setlist in memory, but that's about all that's left to know about that night. My poster was sitting on top of the light.

What light?

Sorry...

WTF? is the wherever available?

It's been four days. Settle down.

Another great show with a great audience (with the exception of the one balcony already mentioned--great stock tips, though). This year, in addition to taking requests from the first 30 people, Susan also took questions. Jeff didn't answer all of them, but they provided great fodder for banter. Also, after singing a highly unenthusiastic "Happy Birthday" to Beatrice as a group ("It could always be worse; that's my motto"), someone yelled out, "How old are you?" referring to Beatrice. Jeff responded, "Don't you know anything about women, you son-of-a-bitch? You never ask a woman her age. Get out of here." Oh! He also offered up a "remix" version of Hell is Chrome: "The air was crisp...the air was crisp...the air was crisp." Funny--and could've been a big hit.

Because these shows happen every year, it's easy to take them for granted, but how many artists of Jeff Tweedy's caliber and talent do things like this? Regularly? The Tweedys are incredibly generous, so thanks again to them for one of my favorite weekends of the year.

Pretty heavy on Wilco stuff

Imagine that...

It was a great show. A couple of the highlights for me were At My Window..., Thirteen, ELT, and Dreamer. As for banter, there is always a lot of talk about how the show won't be the best it could be because the first 30 people pick the setlist and they're not usually songs he likes/would pick himself, but he'll do his best, etc. I think Friday was the night he told the story of Ween opening for Uncle Tupelo and Dean Ween smashing his acoustic guitar during sound check--and then having to borrow Jeff's.

I actually thought there was a surprising amount of recent (TWL) stuff for one of these shows. It was great!

Hey there--sorry about the PM situation. I'll have to look into that!

I'll PM you...

I have an extra pair of tickets for Friday night--$50 face.

I realize you can still buy these online, but I'll sell them to you without the $8.66/ticket fee just so I don't have to sit on them.

PM me if you're interested. They're Print At Home tickets.

And thanks for the clarification on the "bird flipping" incident.

This may be entirely unrelated, but remember at one of the '08 St. Louis shows when someone in the crowd was flipping Jeff off? And he said from stage, "Does that mean something new now?" He went on to say, essentially, that as far as he knew it was an insult, so he wasn't sure why an audience member who seemed to be enjoying the show would flip him off, etc. Maybe it was somehow tied to that--someone who was at the Pageant show or heard a recording of that night or something. People love to re-live old "jokes." ("Play whatever you want!" "How's your foot?" etc.)

The biggest dilemma personally is what to call it when typing in setlists because I always think of it as Not For The Season, but the official title on the (Loose Fur) record is Laminated Cat so that's my usual protocol when in doubt.

I don't know why, but in my mind it's "Not for the Season" when it's acoustic and "Laminated Cat" when it's electric/full band. Clearly there is no good reason for that...or you would know it, P.

Sounds like a great night. I wish I could have joined your circle of chairs (under the classy silhouette!), but I'm enjoying following along via the interwebs. Judy, I hope you don a snazzy pair of Fluevogs for the occasion!

I can't answer any of your questions, but IAIL is one of my favorite Wilco songs. I, too, thought they killed it in Milwaukee. I was so happy to hear it multiple times last week, but the Riverside performance was my favorite.

WHAT ? no way !!!

Oh yeah, changing room 2.

So, who's all going to the Irving Park & Cicero Sears tonight?

I've been in line all day.

One other thing about the extremely close quarters was forgetting that the whole crew could easily hear pre-show conversations.

Heh. Yeah. Apologies for that, good sirs. That was a lot of underwear talk.

I'm running on 4 hours of sleep after the drive home last night and a full day of work, so I don't feel like I've even had time to digest all of the experiences of the last week. I'm so glad I was able to make every show because each one offered something a little bit different in terms of atmosphere and setlist. "At My Window" was a highlight last night as well as the incredible silence in the venue during the show. Damn. During many of the songs, I kept reminding myself to appreciate every note because when will I hear Laminated Cat by the full band again? Or On and On and On (a song I never appreciated on the album but love live)? Or Dash 7? Or At My Window, for that matter? I wanted each moment to last twice as long so I could cement everything to memory. Wilco on stage at Lincoln Hall.

Now how do you attend a Wilco show at The Overture Center? I mean, I'll do it... I'm just saying.

the entire night was bad-vibes city for us and ranks as one of the absolute worst concert going experiences of my life. Makes me sad.

That sucks--I'm sorry. I slipped out at the Riv between the opener and Wilco to use the bathroom, and I couldn't believe how jam-packed it was just a few rows back and throughout the rest of the venue. It was unbelievable. I don't know by how much they oversold the venues, but after that night I decided I wouldn't take that chance again. Maybe they will release some LH tix at the last minute and you can cleanse your palate?

Hmmm, that's weird. No setlist from bbop? What gives?

Oh my god. Prior to this, First Avenue was the smallest venue in which I'd seen Wilco, and seeing them on the Metro stage was just...outrageous.

The setlist highlight for me was Dreamer in my Dreams, complete with the raucous breakdown (sans the falling bottles), but there were so many gems! ELT will always bring me back to the opening moments of the first night of the Residency, so hearing that is doubly good. Kingpin! Too Far Apart! And the guitars in general sounded extra dirty last night. Lordy, lordy... (And as evidence of how far off of the pulse my thumb is, I had no idea "Capitol City" is joining the ranks of the most hated Wilco songs. What?!)

And the Rogue Dead Guy (per doctor's orders!) and gyros afterwards were the perfect way to finish the night...or early morning, as it were. I am so glad I have been able to be a part of these shows.

Man, the setlist just kept delivering last night! And Kicking Television! "I'm serious...Stop buying things!" I'm not sure how I feel about Dreamer being dropped for Hoodoo--even with the writhing Wranglers on stage. Hoodoo is fun, but Dreamer?! *faints* Fingers crossed for Fri or Sunday! And we should probably give Glenn a break, even if he doesn't like Hotel Arizona. He came into the picture when Jeff was writing things like "My mind is filled with silvery stars" and "All my lies are only wishes/I know I would die if I could come back new." And then he hears, "Hotel in Arizona, made us all want to feel like stars." I'm with Glenn on this one.

One other thing that stood out for me was Jeff's solo during ALTWYS. It's one of the most interesting solos that he's kept, and it's so expressive. I actually hear the guitar telling it's own story. I love that.

Also, kudos to the Vic for the incredibly organized entry process. It helped that it was all Etix vs. a presale/paper list, but that was the most organized and efficient entrance so far.

My wife had tried, during the pre-sale to purchase tickets and, not knowing where BBB was located, threw those back...

Wow, she really Triple B'ed that one.

A kind and generous band, indeed. The people sitting next to us had the same thing happen and were ecstatic to be in the third row. Our row was definitely feeling the "whole love" Monday night. Sometimes it would be nice to poll the people who are in the first couple rows to see if they're going to be sitting down, checking their watches and applying lip gloss for most of the night or engaged in the show. Because it's just as cool to check your watch/phone and apply lip gloss in row X, and there are probably some row Xers who would love to bring their own whole love down to the front.

The snow. THE SNOW! The snow with the non-bbop jingle-bellers and the second encore with Mavis and Nick Lowe (oh, and Candyfloss...and Pot Kettle) made the show for me. I love to hear Donny Gerrard on The Weight, but Nick Lowe filled in nicely. He is one cool cat.

So that was a nice bonus, and I know delighted at least one front-row denizen to no end.

You are so right, P! So great! Perhaps one day I'll tire of it, but that is by far my favorite closer for a Wilco show. (I'd be willing to hear Kicking TV close a show to truly decide, though. )

That plus I'm Always in Love (twice in four days!) and Just A Kid, Side With The Seeds, You Are My Face... Great. F*cking. Setlist! I loved the variety and the somewhat casual/comfortable approach, too. All around, it was a great night.

And I agree-the Riv felt so much smaller last night than back in '08. Much smaller! And the photographers taller.

I'M ALWAYS IN LOVE. I had just been saying that I often miss that song by just a show or two. Not this time! And the new stuff is just so good.

Great setlist, great dunkel at the beer hall beforehand, great start to the festivities of the next 10 days!

I'll give Slim Jim until the end of the day and then PM you, bcart12.

Slim Jim, I sent you a private message.

I have two GA tickets for Detroit (Dec. 10) for sale. Face + fees = $55 each.