MountainGerbil

How do I figure that out?

I preordered the album at The Electric Fetus in Minneapolis. The one they initially gave me was moderately warped and dished. They had extra pink vinyl stock and the second one they opened is 99% fine. There’s a rough spot on the run-in but it doesn’t extend to the songs. So by all means, open the vinyl and check it out before you get home.

Yeah, it's very handy to be able to not only stream via WiFi in higher quality formats than Bluetooth, but also to use my phone as a remote. I don't think I've ever touched my volume knob. And being able to hook my TV sound up wirelessly to the stereo is nice.

I can't speak to Sonos, so I'll leave that to others. You basically need three things: 1) A receiver/integrated amp; 2) Speakers; and 3) A phono pre-amp. Some of the receivers/amps in your price range may have an included phono stage, but you may be better off spending $100 on a decent independent pre-amp, IMO. For many of the current models, the phono input isn't that great. That being said, if you run up against the budget wall, you can wait until later. A quick note: quality is all relative, some audiophiles (real and imagined) may come in here and say you can't get anything wor

I went through this process about a year ago. Like you, I had a half-decent (not fantastic) turntable and not much else worth a damn, and wanted to put something together for about $700-$1000. I researched the bejeezus out of it, so hopefully I can be of some (limited) assistance. It's gonna be alright. A couple of questions to get you started: 1) do you plan on using the stereo system for anything other than the turntable? Streaming? Connect to TV? 2) how much room do you have for speaker placement? Will they need to be right up against the wall, or can the speakers be placed even

Do you need speakers and a preamp, too?

There are plenty of food places nearby the Palace, ranging from a bar next door (Wild Tymes), to the Great Waters Brewing across the street (decent brewpub), to upscale fare like Meritage (french/oysters) and Kincaids (Steaks). If you're wiling to walk a few blocks, there's a good coal-fired pizza joint called Black Sheep and another brewery around the corner from there called Tin Whiskers. There's also a decent Thai place called Sawatdee there too; all about 5 blocks from the show. As for when to show up for the line, I can't help much, but I'd say try to get in before 7:30 if you don't

Anyone know why the second St. Paul show is sold out? And was sold out yesterday for the artist presale? Oops, nevermind. It's up.

Do you recycle?

I dunno. I thought their first go-round of reunion shows (Summer 2009, and Summer 2010, in Minneapolis) were very good. The problem is that they turned that into a full-blown tour, and the setlists stagnated aside from the stuff from the newest album. You could tell it went from being a one-off "This is fun, I remember this" to being a full-time endeavor, being "The Reunited Jayhawks" again. If Olson allowed Louris to play more latter-day Jayhawks stuff in the sets, it might be different. But you have to feel for Louris: he (and Marc Perlman) kept the Jayhawks up and running without Ols

Good show. Bob referenced being from Minneapolis for the first time in a long time, apparently.

So can someone clarify the times that bands came on, and the approximate length that they played for? From the looks of it, Bob Weir played for about 40 minutes, MMJ played for about 70 minutes, Wilco played for about 75 minutes, and Dylan played for about 80 minutes.

Well, there always seems to be the New Song That You Just Don't Want to Hear (i.e. the Pissbreak Tune). In the YHF/AGIB tour days, I felt that way about "Jesus, Etc." Good song, but it was always the one where I found myself looking around at the crowd more than the stage. Nowadays, I wouldn't mind hearing it.

Dylan's set looks pretty good, to me. You get (only) three songs from his most recent album, two "big hits" in Tangled Up in Blue and All along the Watchtower, a few well-known songs that even moderate fans should recognize in Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat, Ballad of a Thin Man, Simple Twist of Fate, and She Belongs to Me. Then you get a couple centerpieces of his latest career incarnation (i.e. the road-warrior troubadour) that he's been playing a lot of over the past 10-15 years in Things Have Changed, High Water, and Love Sick (and I guess Thunder on the Mountain). Seems pretty well balance

I sat in the 3rd row on Tuesday, right behind the pit. There were plenty of older people on stage left, and at least one of them was a man. Therefore, you had a chance. It sounds like you're just mad it wasn't you. He "lead you to believe". I see. But he didn't actually say that, now did he? Again, it sounds like you're just mad that you weren't picked and happened to see some young girls that did get picked. i.e. "I deserve it more than anyone who hasn't been to 20 shows! This is despite the fact that I've already had great seats while most other people haven't! I MUST ALWAY