Central Scrutinizer

Where is the brewery from the venue?

Guthrie recorded a version of At My Window Sad and Lonely.

"Twisting By the Pool," Dire Straits

Lammy, booked a queen suite at the country inn and suite -- 1 block from the civic center -- for $125. So much for tailgating! When's sound check? We may wander over.

I have done likewise and was rewarded in '08 in N.C. Awesome.

Are the kids directly involved in that tradition?

Maybe it's retro because that's the last time they changed the towels :-P. We are going with two daughters, one 18 who's very, very excited and one 13 who's planning to be very, very put out. Fun. We were toying with the idea of "tailgating" -- bringing guitars and djembe and picnic dinner and just messing around in the parking lot until showtime.

Thanks for the clarification ... and yes, that's what I thought it was from the image. I thought the initial show did a great job juxtaposing this U.S. mindset of going in and kicking ass, and the initial confusion and the mystical enemy, appearing from nowhere and circumstances changing dramatically from night to day.

Having never benefitted from seeing a Tweedy solo performance, I'm curious whether any who have frequented his shows (those between or during Wilco tours) have noticed any spillover between what he plays solo, and what the band plays. Certainly they're both culling from the same catalog, but I'm wondering if, with the "Evening with Wilco" shows whether some of the more obscure stuff will find its way into the shows.

My family and I are coming up from Jacksonville. Not sure where we're staying or what is close to the venue.

When you say "Dire Straits" I think about what might have been. Imagine if Mark Knopfler had been more enigmatic, more ruthless in lineup (Be like Jeff); more ego-driven; had been more prolific and meandering like Neil Young. If something had driven him closer to the edge. Making Movies was a phenomenal album (with the throwaway "Les Boys" tacked on the end. Love Over Gold was excellent though over-produced. There are moments -- the haunting opening then churning rhythm of "Down to the Waterline." Lots of tongue-in-cheek throwaways -- both lyrically and musically. Promise hinted but undelive

Maybe Ian Dury hit them with a litigation schtick.

I thought about this when I was listening to Being There on vinyl the other day. I'll preface to say I listened to Wilco first with ST but become immersed following YHF. With the stereo loud and the discordant opening of "Misunderstood" I wondered about the first listen by a long-time Uncle Tupelo fan that followed them through A.M., what they thought. I could imagine the mixed emotions of someone who clung to alt-country roots, to the NOISE. It could easily be taken as a f@%k-off by the end "thank you all for NOTHING." What to think, such an affront?!? Then comes Far, Far Away. I wanted to

There are few kinder than analogman. If I can't afford to buy something, I don't steal it. I wait until I can afford it, no matter how desperate I am.

That is 1,000% kinder than my response would have been.

I was up in front on the loge so I got to look down on it all (and stood for most of the show; no issues). That was the first of three shows in a row that I saw. The sound was the best of the three, it was an awesome setlist and Florida Theatre is a great venue, but I'm sorry to say Jax audiences in general suck. I saw Indigo Girls the other night and some arse 'ole actually complained about a guy who was setting up to tape at the front of the loge, because his microphones peeked out over the railing and "obscured their vision." I apologize on behalf of Jacksonville, even if I'm not original

I really don't think the HOF will be anything more than a footnote to musical heritage as long as the selection process remains an obscure process (like waiting for puffs of smoke) rather than a visible structured approach like most of the athletic HOF. Despite the frustrations with MLB, NFL and NBA HOF voters, at least there's a framed discussion of who and how should get in. From soup to nuts, the R&R HOF doesn't allow nominations, doesn't give any glimpses into the vetting process, they just unleash this year's selections -- and it's seldom hard to ignore the commercial implications of

Pete Townsend for a while was putting out vinyl called "Scoops" which were old demo tracks, failed audio experiments, and earlier versions of stuff that became something else. These would be the Wilco nuggets to mine some day. Tweedy soloing on cassette late one night, or the experiments the band has done recording, which he talked about in interviews -- like creating "real-time" albums, etc. A chance to hear the creative process behind it all. It's not daily, repeated listening, but it would provide a great landscape from which to appreciate the music all the more.

I was at the Jacksonville show, and it was a somewhat contentious situation at a few points. Even Tweedy said from the stage that he wasn't going to take sides.

A living room show should count as 5.

I think this should be posted at concert venues like the signs at hotel pools. But like the hotel pools, there's no lifeguard on duty.

You realize the 8-10 song rule would eliminate ALL the Beatles albums? That said, the 10-song 30-40-minute album is a structure of the limits of vinyl recording. If you couldn't fit it in 40, then you've got 70-80 minutes to fill. You can't release a 3-sided album (wait, Monty Python did). A conscientious band that's approaching their album from an artistic, concept standpoint, I'm willing to give the benefit of a doubt. Dealing with the structure of album sides, you're dealing with the complexities of an overall effort, simultaneously with the approach and pacing of album sides -- somethi

I read a Sunday Washington Post feature on the Onion's staff. It is a meager existence; certainly not the cush job of Mad or Weekly World News legend. A lot of their slacker bits appear self-parody -- which means they have a broad audience!

We have a winner! I got decent seats to see Ringo's All-Starr band this summer! Maybe he can work it into the playlist.