smells like flowers

What about parking around town? We are staying in Williamstown and haven't decided whether to try the shuttles or attempt to find a spot in town. Thoughts?

The shuttles were great, too, with short wait-times. There were three, at staggered distances away from Mass MOCA. I loved not having to worry about finding parking or waiting forever to get out of some crazy-full festival parking lot.

And since you asked about food, here were some of the highlights: homemade ice cream, banh mi (Vietnamese hoagies!) and sweet potato fries. And beers were cheap ($4 for Bud/Bud Lite and $5 for Magic Hat, of which there were 2 or 3 flavors). The food and beer prices were very friendly to those of us who broke the bank on airline tickets, hotel, car rental, etc.!!

You would have to ask her exactly why she left, but it was not because she lost interest in Wilco. LouieB

Oh man, mystery and intrigue! I'm sorry I missed the good stuff five years ago.

This board is so dead I imagine on a dozen or so people from here actually looked at the link.

Just curious, since I only joined VC last year... when was the heyday of this board and what was it like?

I've always thought that "War on War" is about much more than a war or battle.

I agree. The line "You've got to learn how to die if you want to be alive" pretty much encapsulates a whole view of life and living and the need to let go to make it fully real. The song seems to be more about the internal war or psychic war that we wage on ourselves.

Yeah, I get the same vibe from this song but it think it could be about a modern war just as well. The majority of soldiers actually fighting on modern battlefields stem from underprivileged backgrounds as well after all. Or maybe I'm trying to read too much in it, I dunno.

It's certainly not the uber-patriotic war-endorsement song some people seem to think it is.

Yes, it makes much more sense now. I just couldn't square a gung-ho-go-out-and-fight-a-war song with the Wilco I (think) I know.

I'm the last living person without a Facebook account, so would you post here as well if there's a meeting spot and time? Much appreciated!

I get the Wilco Examiner email and last week the topic was "I'll Fight." The blurb mentioned that most people think "I'll Fight" is told from the perspective of a soldier going off to war. And then you have "War on War," which seems to be at its heart an anti-war song. Does anyone else see these songs as contradictory? I guess if you look at "I'll Fight" as a narrative told by a soldier, and not the values/feelings of Jeff/Wilco, it works. Seeing as the US was fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq when both YHF and WTA came out, does it seem weird to anyone else, these two different perspectives on war? When listening to "I'll Fight," I imagined it as JT's oath of loyalty to his sons and family. What do y'all think?

Sometimes "Thunder Road" totally hits me in a heart-breaking way. Especially the line that says "maybe we ain't that young anymore." And the way the wailing harmonica adds to the song's poignancy. I wouldn't describe the song as beautiful per se, but the effect is there just the same.

So I am not a raving lunatic, as my husband probably thinks, but the coincidence was too much to bear. As it turns out, the DJ played "One Hundred Years from Now" in honor of today not being the end of the world. But the blinks and bleeps of my small mind made it into a cosmic connection...if I can somehow tie everything back to Wilco, I surely will do that.

Okay, how crazy is this -- I'm listening to the radio and fucking Byrds playing One Hundred Years from Now is on. I cannot believe this. Analogman, are you JB?

Cool. Was it from the video they did for Sessions At West 54th that you first heard it?

No, it was the Gram Parsons tribute (Return of the Grievous Angel) in 1999. By then, I was a fan of Son Volt but unaware of the existence of Wilco. I'm pretty sure that tribute was also my introduction to Whiskeytown and Gillian Welch, so I'd have to say it was life-changing. Not to mention I'd never listened to Gram Parsons before, so it led me to him as well!

I know this is off-topic for this thread, but I was living New Orleans at the time, so there is a wierd, random connection. I just love little bits of synchronicity that pop up!

I know where the song came from, I've just never seen it on a setlist... also it's not on the list of songs that you can request for a show. Anyhow, it's a great one, and got me hooked on the Wilco!

The smell of magnolia blossoms.

Little kids with curly hair and freckles.

Icy fountain coke with crushed ice on a hot afternoon.

Cold beer from an icy cooler on same hot afternoon!

Hearing "Always in Love"

100 Years From Now, Casino Queen, etc. Wish they delved into this style more often.

100 Years From Now was the first Wilco song I ever heard, and I've never seen it on a setlist or heard mention of it being played live. Like you, I'm of huge fan of the "easy rockers" and I'm always hoping to hear lots of them at a show. Especially an outdoor show, like, say, Solid Sound??!!

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings opened for Bright Eyes at a show I saw in Atlanta at the Fox in 2007. They were just mesmerizing. They also joined Conor and the gang for a few songs at the end of the show--might've been encores. That whole concert was one for the memory book.

I had the great fortune to be at that same show! Beautiful venue, great sound, and hearing Gillian Welch live was unbelievable. There's something so amazing to me about her voice, its timbre or something. It resonates so perfectly. I've been listening to her on the recent Decemberists and thinking she's the best thing about it. And now a new record -- yippee!!

My older brother was a big music influence on me when we were in junior high in the early 80's. I was listening to Duran Duran and he was blowing out his stereo speakers with Ozzy and Sabbath. A few years earlier, he was obsessed with KISS. I, meanwhile, loved Fleetwood Mac. Funny, though--I hated his music at the time, but with hindsight I'm so glad someone in the house was playing Van Halen records!

Absolutely loved both Fuzzy and Mighty Joe Moon. Remember hearing "Jupiter and Teardrop" on college station at the time and was completely hooked! Never got a chance to see them/him live, though.

15. Someday Some Morning Sometime

Somehow this song never got on my radar so I went back to re-listen. What an idyllic three minutes -- so beautiful and serene. On this one,

JT+JB= magic.

After just a few listens, this record has such a familiar feel to me...almost like I'd heard it way more times than I actually have. I wonder if it's just the traditional instrumentation and rhythms of the songs. The last time I experienced this was with Beck's Sea Change. It was like I knew the songs immediately. I never had to go through the period of getting to know it. I can't decide if it's a good thing, or if I'll find the album boring soon b/c of finding such an immediate connection with it. Having said all that, I really like The King is Dead...

And... one with Nels.

 

http://blog.al.com/entertainment-press-register/2011/04/wilco_readying_fresh_surprises.html

I really like Nels' description of the "magic" created at a show, that time/space that really is both outside and inside yourself. For me, there's nothing quite like the way, at a Wilco show, the music just washes over me and I get to become one with the songs that live inside my head and my heart. Sigh.

This thread is exactly the stuff that keeps me coming back to this site... Wilco fans are, if nothing else, passionate about the band. I love it when things get heated -- it reveals how important Wilco's music is to us!

Heard "Hate it Here" blasting from a radio as I walked past a crew working on a house. Took that as a sign that I should buy my plane ticket to Solid Sound and did just that!

Whiskeytown's version of "A Song for You" on Gram Parsons tribute album.

I love that the new song is in 3/3 time. Nothing prettier than a waltz, in my book.

Reading this currently:

 

 

And not enjoying it as much as I want to. I feel like while heartfelt, a good portion of it is just seeing how much random and obscure music he can reference.

 

I don't know. I'm already halfway done with it and really just want to get through it. Not horribly written or anything, I guess I'm just really not connecting with the tragicness of it on an emotional level.

I tried reading his follow-up to that one, "Talking to Girls about Duran Duran." The title alone made me giddy, but the book seem uninspired. Didn't come close to finishing it.