jbray

It was an incredible show, I had a friend who left after Outtasite because he felt that the night was too perfect and didn't want to risk it. It's a shame because I thought the encore was more enjoyable tonight. I have been waiting to hear Kidsmoke electric since Solid Sound 2 so that put the fans around me and myself right into the post-Star Wars set with a fervor. 

I was in the middle of that balcony yelling, befuddled, just a row behind the standers, who were far from disrespectful. I couldn't believe how calm they were considering the vitriol hurled at them. They were smiling, trying to shake hands, inviting people to stand up.

 

The constant yelling was far worse than a couple people standing up at a rock show.

 

Mind-bogglingly, people to the side of them were yelling too. That's right, people who were only slightly blocked by them were yelling fuck you and asshole.

 

A couple ushers came and went, and talked with them. Then security, who brought them to much better seats in the orchestra. They were not ejected for being dicks, but rather upgraded due to the lameness of people who'd rather berate fellow concertgoers than roll with a situation.

 

A few songs later everyone was on their feet for heavy metal drummer.

I would agree with you that the people shouting were tenfold more irritating and concert-ruining (there is one guy in particular I'm thinking of) than the two guys, but gauge the room, the majority didn't want to stand and the guys didn't give a shit. That's rude even if it's fun. Also, some people stood for "Heavy Metal Drummer", more stood for "I Am the Man Who loves You" and then those that had stood in the center balcony sat back down until the last couple songs before the encore. Standing commitment in that area was lackluster at best and the night suffered for it. Frankly it was kinda embarrassing to be at a rock show where so many people upstairs wanted to sit the whole show. 

Did anybody even stand in the mezzanine? 

My friends who were in ROw J of the balcony said the sound was excellent.  And they were happy to be sitting, and had no one standing in front of them.

That is good news for me because I am in row J tonight! (I'll be too nerdy in my cherry ghost t-shirt). I was in Row E 213/214 last night and the sound itself was great. The two guys in question were in D about at say 209-210. Everywhere else didn't have much standing from when I looked back except maybe the upper orchestra and eventually most of the area to the right of the entry (even side) from about halfway up to the upper orchestra which I don't remember happening until after Star Wars.

I was really pleased by the AGIB tracks last night and I thought "Late Greats" killed it. Kinda bummed about the lack of "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" but I've my fingers crossed. What did people think of the IG solo? I really liked it, and I'm usually mixed because I prefer when Nels uses more melodic flourish and he can (sometimes) go pretty a-tonal on the improv portion. 

I'm curious what others in the balcony thought of the Star Wars reception. It was polite, but it didn't seem like many knew it. There was no movement to stand (if random name generator isn't a song to stand for, I don't know what is), and you satellite seemed to lose the attention of some.

In center balcony it seemed to be lukewarm, but I was closer to the front so did not have the best vantage point. Most of Star Wars was clouded by two guys who were standing in the dead center of the front row of the balcony and nobody behind them wanted to stand. This resulted in a lot of (let's say) angry remarks shouted at them for most of the album including during the first half of songs. The two guys were pretty disrespectful about it to the people behind them and eventually were removed by staff during "Company In My Back" to great cheers (I'm interested to see if you can hear it in the tape).

It's a double-edged sword because those people blocked payed for their tickets as well and should have a good time, but one of the people shouting during the songs had a similar vantage point as I and could see the stage. It is a concert which people came to see, but mostly (at least in my opinion) to hear. So I was pretty pissed by both parties, but at least I could understand the people behind them (even if I advocate for standing during concerts). Either way, our section of the balcony was easily more preoccupied with that drama unfolding than the concert and the mood instantly flipped when the guys were escorted out of the balcony. 

I'll be more interested in Star Wars tonight, provided something else doesn't provoke an angry, shout-filled listening experience.

Looks like I'm in the minority here.  Despite all the other music I own (physical media and a 160gb iPod, I usually listen to lots of Wilco, especially when in the car or commuting on the train.  Several hours of Wilco per week.  Although my Wilco vinyl collection gets lots of turntable time at home.  It's really the inverse for me, I go through periods where Wilco falls off my radar, but those periods are few.  Most of the time I'm listening to live Wilco.  I'll do things like listen to an entire run.  Right now I'm listening to last year's Winterlude run in order, I'm on night 4.  This is the 3rd time (at least) I've done that.  I do that with the Cap run, Solid Sound, etc.  And I'll mix up the live shows by going back to Being There or Summerteeth.  I'd estimate right now 75% of my music listening is Wilco. Several hours per week.      

A companion in arms! I sacrifice listening to new music for close readings of albums I love so Wilco is frequently on my radar. I would say I average 5 Wilco albums a week with new albums and lead up to live shows raising that significantly higher. I listened to Star Wars three or four times a day for the first week after it came out (A thirty-three minute run-time makes that easier). When you've found a favorite band, why not listen to them? 

Let's see if this makes sense to someone outside my head: There's an asymmetry and dischord that Wilco has played around with since YHF, but I feel like Star Wars is the first time they ever let it dominate more than just a song here and there on an album. This album seems to be built on the concept. And it's always been one of my favorite things about the bands albums since YHF. I was actually surprised Jim O'Rourke wasn't involved with this one because of it. I've been mentally drafting an essay on this topic but I haven't had time to take it further.

 

As an aside, Summerteeth was the first Wilco album I heard, back when it came out in '99. I actually heard one of the songs on the radio, which would still be surprising for this area if it ever happened again. I hated the album at first when I bought it, but I was strangely compelled to listen to it over and over and by the fifth time through I was enamored.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "asymmetry and discord". Would you mind defining it? I mean, "Misunderstood" or "Via Chicago" could easily be fall under the discord label and songs like "Pieholden Suite" and "Shot in the Arm" could be seen as asymmetrical but maybe I'm being to literal?

The Red Vinyl is for sale on the Kung-Fu store for any of you who wanted it but didn't subscribe. Don't know if it says anything about being the 20th anniversary edition. 

Listened to the album for the first time in about a month and was surprised at how ingrained the songs already feel to me among the overall Wilco catalog. For a moment I thought I'd put on one of their other albums. Maybe it's because I listened to it nonstop for so long when they released it, but it was an interesting moment that I pondered the rest of my commute this morning. 

It's been holding up for me as well. I still probably spin it 3-4 times a week because of how fun, quick, and different it is. I liked TWL and even W(tA), but I don't think I've given a Wilco record this much attention since Summerteeth (which I listened to lastish of their catalog in '10. Some of us had to catch up you know...).

I'll be in the balcony for both nights in Boston so hopefully there are less stick-in-the-mud types than at the Wang when nobody stood at a rock show.

"Magnetized", "The Joke Explained", and "Where Do I Begin" will become the deep cuts.

"You Satellite",  "More...", "Taste the Ceiling", and "Random Name Generator" are the regulars.

"Pickled Ginger" and "Cold Slope/King of You" enter the encore rotation.

Mikael Jorgensen for me.

That is because AGIB is one of the greatest albums of the last decade. It's a grower for sure and it's pretty magical.

The List is as follows:

10. You Satellite

9.   Misunderstood

8.   California Stars

7.   Hummingbird (Soma/Alternate Version)

6.   Magazine Called Sunset

5.   Radio Cure

4.   Spiders (Kidsmoke)

3.   Venus Stop the Train

2.   I am Trying to Break Your Heart

1.   Impossible Germany

Only 4 and 5 would translate to my top ten so, to each their own.

Maybe they wanted to roll it out in Chicago.

 

The best possible explanation is that it wasn't ready.

 

LouieB

From a record company perspective - having the Pitchfork show streamed across the world is a good thing. Obviously, Solid Sound didn't have that exposure.

They unleashed The Whole Love at SS2 so I am inclined to say that this was a combination of releasing on the "hometown crowd" instead (even if Pitchfork was more casual listeners) and a brilliant exposure marketing ploy. I think they should have released it that Monday which could have forced Pitchfork to give it a higher rating to boost their own festival, but that might not have worked. 

Just read that. If I had read it without seeing the rating of 7.7 at the top I would think this guy would have rated it at a minimum of 8.3 (and yes, these "to the decimal point" ratings are absurd). The guy clearly knows his Wilco, and it's a thoughtful and fairly detailed review. He just hasn't played Star Wars enough to realise that in Pitchfork terms this album is at least a 9.3. 

Pitchfork is a staff aggregate so we're seeing a negotiated score with a designated writer who might have a differing opinion. If I remember correctly, it was similar for The Whole Love in terms of score vs written review.

I'm not sure this is accurate: "Wilco’s ninth studio LP Star Wars is their most accessible". I'm rather sure instead this is true: " if Wilco have another truly great one in them, history strongly suggests it’ll be devoted to sounding nothing like Star Wars."

Agreed.

I would guess that W(TA) and/or Sky Blue Sky are their most accessible albums, based upon the number of fans who joined this site after them who seem not to have the rabid affection for the earlier work that most of us old curmudgeons do.

I wouldn't call SBS the most accessible, instead I would point out that if you fell in love with a certain aspect of Wilco early and then had to transition through 5 or less albums of differing approaches and styles, SBS could just be the breaking point. I started on SBS with no preconception on what Wilco was or should sound like and I wore that record down and then picked up YHF once and never listened to it again for a month because of how shocked I was at the difference. Those two records and their contrast actually started my regimen of listening to a new record as often as possible for about two to three weeks before making an opinion. 

You're not a curmudgeon, you just have a lot of Wilco-related baggage that makes you compare it to what comes before subconsciously or not.

I think Wilco (The Album) has more highlights…Wilco (The Song), One Wing, Bull Black Nova, You And I, and Country Disappeared are all very solid tunes in my opinion. And I think Solitaire is one of Tweedy’s best-written songs. EVER.

Wilco (the Album) could be argued to have more weaknesses though: Sonny Feeling, I'll Fight, Deeper Down. And, as a matter of taste I'd say the middling songs that I could give or take were Wilco (the Song), You and I, You Never Know, and Everlasting Everything (my mood varies on this one). I would argue it is an album that has a few of the greatest songs in the catalog (One Wing) buried by underwhelming songs that I haven't truly been sad to see leave the live roster. It was a fine record.

The Whole Love has a match for match or two with those songs that might not necessarily sound the same but satisfy a similar itch:

Bull Black Nova - Art of Almost

One Wing - (This does not exist in the catalog)

Solitaire - Rising Red Lung, One Sunday Morning

Country Disappeared - Black Moon

The weaknesses were Open Mind and Standing O (I've never understood why there are people who think this is great) and the middling songs were Sunloathe and Capitol City (written for Being There, belongs on Being There Disc 2 with its companions (Was I) In Your Dreams, Why Would You Wanna Live). The other four were great in their own right and brought an energy that W(tA) lacked especially with the way they mixed John's bass in.

Just a counter point, I like them both.

1. A Ghost is Born

2. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot/Sky Blue Sky

3. Summerteeth/Being There

4. The Whole Love/Star Wars

5. A.M./Wilco (The Album)

Edit: If forced to play my hand and actually choose, they are in order.

Maybe that was part of the deal with "What's Your Twenty?" and "Alpha Mike Foxtrot" and if so, that aids the theory that AMF might be a big middle finger at Nonesuch

"You Satellite" and "Magnetized" stuck out to me and this record is about to get worn out by my throughout the weekend!

Oh HOT DAMN

The reason it sounds fuller in drop D is because the rhythm guitar on the recording is played on a baritone and as such doesn't translate to a regular guitar with the same feel and tone.

Take a look at those credits: http://wilcoworld.net/#!/song/im-always-in-love/

Yeah, I'm not feeling the negativity, personally. Everyone is entitled to their own feelings. I was more getting pumped as the briefest mention of a new album trickled in.

 

I seriously think it's going to be different from what anyone hopes or fears.

I'm sorry if I helped contribute to that. I'm actually really excited for whatever they have in store. I also still hope there are some unexpected and weirdly specific focus points to great effect. -> I.e. Ghost and the hammer dulcimer

It would be cool to hear what Nels could add if you took the jaguar/jazzmaster out of his hands. My biggest complaint (and I think Nels has been a wonderful addition to the band), is how frequently the material written for albums he was with the band on has sounded similar in tone. 

To be more precise, it is really only a problem on W(tA) following SBS as the TWL was a different creative step for this line-up. I'm afraid that we'll another same-y album like W(tA) that takes away from how special the album before it was (in that case SBS).

Did anybody else notice that Nels' guitar was out of tune on Kingpin? During the pre-solo downward vamp, it was really noticeable. It took me out of the song until he fixed it before the new breakdown.  

Feeling really old when someone mentioned they have never listened to The Byrds. I kind of figured that was everyone's favorite group.

 

LouieB

I'm sorry! I should have clarified that I have of course heard of the Byrds and have listened to their music. I have not given them much attention and have not listened to anything outside of a "greatest hits" capacity. There is a lot of music from 1960 till today, it can be quite daunting to try and cover it all, but I will get on it now.