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Bourbon Gangster

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Posts posted by Bourbon Gangster

    Wilco — 14 March 2017, Kalamazoo, MI (Kalamazoo State Theatre)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    This was the third show I've been to and it was probably the best one I've seen so far.  The energy of the band and the crowd was awesome.  I'm on a Wilco facebook group that was recently discussing the standing vs. sitting during the concert debate, and I thought it was interesting that the lower level stood during the whole show, and the balcony sat for the whole show, except for Spiders.  I was in the second row of the balcony and I'm a short guy and I have a disability that keeps me from standing too long, so I thought that worked well.  For me at least.

     

    A couple obesrvations to add to bbop's comments:

     

    Nels played an electric lap steel on Misunderstood, and that was different than the dobro he has played for that song in the past.

     

    There seemed to be some confusion on stage before the solo on "Almost".  It looked like Jeff was having trouble with his guitar.  I feel like the last time they played the State Theatre, they had some trouble with monitors or getting their sound dialed in.  I wonder if there's something about the acoustics of the room there that doesn't work well for Wilco.

     

    Whenever Jeff said something about the new album, he called it, "Scccccchhhhmmmmmilco", like it was a bad thing (jokingly), and at one point had the crowd repeat the "correct pronunciation".

     

    I was expecting them to start with the first three songs of Schmilco, so it was an awesome surprise when they jumped right into "Ashes of American Flags" to start the show.

     

    I noticed that they changed up a couple things with the arrangement of "Pot Kettle Black".  I don't remember exactly what though.

     

    There were a couple new t-shirts.  One had the same graphic design as the poster for this concert, but in different colors.

     

    So much awesomeness in one show, I can't remember everything.  But there's a couple of things that I remember.

    Idea for a really great tour

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    I've got an idea for an excellent tour next summmer. It would be an all day/night affair with everyone doing nice, long sets. Working title "Excellent Songs With Guitar". Here's my proposed lineup.:

    1. Neil Young with Promise Of The Real

    2. Wilco

    3. Drive-By Truckers

    4. My Morning Jacket

     

    What do you think? :)

     

    I would like to add Spoon to this list.

    Wilco — 9/24/15, Ann Arbor, MI (Hill Auditorium)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    What I think was procured at the thrift store across the street from the Loft was the painting that is the cover art of SW.

     

    That's what I was thinking of.  Good call.  By the way, how is it that you are able to go to most of the shows?  Do you work for/with the band?  I've been meaning to ask since I started getting back on here a few weeks ago.

    Wilco — 9/24/15, Ann Arbor, MI (Hill Auditorium)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    Ah, it was so great to finally see Star Wars live! Hill Auditorium feels smaller than it is from up close, which is very cool for a large space (though I don't know how it feels from the upper balcony). I didn't realize how much I'd missed seeing "You Are My Face" in the regular rotation, but I did.

     

    Was it mentioned at some point how the large porcelain (?) cat on stage was procured? A worthy addition.

     

    I would love to hear Face live sometime.  I read somewhere that Nels got the cat at a second hand store across the street from The Loft.

    will I be yelled at for standing/dancing at a seated show?

    in After The Show

    Posted

    I have a disability so it's sometimes hard for me to stand for 2 hours.  I have been to one Wilco show before and was in the balcony.  I ended up having to stand the majority of the time, and I sat down for a couple songs that aren't really at the top of my favorites list.  When I saw Wilco last week in Kalamazoo I made sure I got front row of the balcony, as I was anticipating the crowd in the balcony to stand.  Ended up being awesome seats by the way.  Throughout the show, I looked back at the rest of the balcony a few times.  The only time that more than maybe 20 people total stood was at the end of each set.  That kinda surprised me.  But either way, I ended up being able to sit the whole time and still got an great view of the stage.

    Wilco, 9/17/15 Cleveland OH, Masonic Auditorium

    in After The Show

    Posted

    I requested Camera, but put some gibberish like "but the cool version with fuzzy guitars and trippy muffled vocals like in a rehearsal scene in S. Jonesy flick" or something like that.  I think i got it!  Have they been playing it that way lately?

     

    They played it a few times towards the end of the last tour.  I was a little disappointed they didn't play it in Kalamazoo.  I was hoping to see John's 12 string bass.

    Wilco — 9/16/15, Kalamazoo, MI (Kalamazoo State Theatre)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    Jeff said, at one point they weren't going to do a lot of talking between songs so they could fit as many tunes in as possible... and that "nobody wants to hear me talk". Fine with me - even though I enjoy his usual banter - there was so much music and it seemed like three concerts in one.

     

    Agreed.  I was shocked when I got to my car after the show and realized it was only 11:00.  I thought for sure that it would be a lot later than that.

    Wilco — 9/16/15, Kalamazoo, MI (Kalamazoo State Theatre)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    Cool.  Did the band seem happy?  I saw them in Cleveland on the Ghost is Born tour and Jeff seemed a little grumpy (I believe it was not the best time in his life).  But every time I've seen them since, it's such a happy celebratory vibe on stage, and it's totally infectious.  

     

    Seeing them Tonight in Cleveland (9th time).  Any idea about when they went on?  Trying to decide if we can grab a bit before the show.    

     

    Jeff may have seemed a little distracted by technical difficulties.  William Tyler started right at 7:30 (show time) and got exactly a half hour.  I think Wilco went on at 8:30 or very close to.

    Wilco — 9/16/15, Kalamazoo, MI (Kalamazoo State Theatre)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    This was my second show, and my first in four years, so I was excited to say the least.  My wife and I ate on the deck of a restaurant that happened to be across the street from the tour bus, so we saw John a couple times and caught a glimpse of Jeff.  Then we went for a walk around the area and bumped into Pat and chatted with him for a minute.

     

    A couple random highlights from the show:

    - The lighting was AMAZING.  Seriously.  Someone in the lighting department deserves a raise.

    - Misunderstood was probably the highlight of the set for me.  Everyone was singing the Nothings along with Jeff, and then he leaned into the mic and sang more quietly so the crowd got the cue and cut out just in time for him to sing "nothing at all"

    - I think Jeff had a problem with the input on his guitar on Where Do I Begin

    - Jeff made a comment about being in Kalamazoo where a lot of their guitars where built, then he looked around and realized that no one on stage had a Gibson in hand

    - The RNG vinyl single was for sale at the merch table

    - Cold Slope went right into King of You without more than a second of pause, which was cool and makes sense

    - William Tyler was absolutely mesmerizing.  Make sure to get there at show time if he is opening.

     

    Great show.  I'm looking forward to hearing some other people's comments about it.

    Wilco — 8/14/15, Missoula, MT (Big Sky Brewing Company)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    Not a stupid question. I just mean that a lot of times the better shows often happen in places or venues that might be outside the typical cities/venues where most bands tour, in other words in tertiary markets like Missoula (vis a vis, say, Seattle or Portland).

     

    It doesn't always hold true, but a lot of times the venues in tertiary markets are a little unusual or the crowds are less likely to be "too cool for school," etc. Hopefully Kalamazoo ends up being one of those places!

     

    Thanks for clarifying.  I never expected Wilco to play in West Michigan (usually the closest they would get is Chicago or Detroit), so I'm going to just say that Kalamazoo is "tertiary" then  :guitar

    Wilco — 8/14/15, Missoula, MT (Big Sky Brewing Company)

    in After The Show

    Posted

    If it's fair to call Missoula a tertiary market, then the "Rule of Tertiary Markets" that dictates that some of the best shows often happen in such places definitely applied to tonight's performance behind the Big Sky Brewing Company...

     

    Perhaps it goes without saying that the vibe for a concert at a brewery is usually pretty casual. Wilco's second performance at Big Sky Brewing (following a 2012 show there) was no exception, which had both positive and negative aspects. On the downside, the temporary nature of the stage setup meant that some of the production values that have been present at other stops on this tour weren't able to be executed — such as the lighted "curtains" that have been used to great effect at other shows. I also found it kind of funny that the guitar techs, at least for Jeff and Nels, had to literally work out of the back of a semi truck that was backed up to the stage.

     

    On the other hand, the relatively laid back scene allowed for the band to loosen up a bit — John was wearing a simple plain white T-shirt, for example, which doesn't happen too often — and it made for a fun show. Even Jeff could shrug off (and recover from) a fairly bad flub in Nothing'sever... when he jumped into the first chorus too soon, joking afterward, "I did it perfect in rehearsal. Don't bore us...get to the chorus."

     

    Other Banter Corner highlights included explaining that it was the band's 20th anniversary and it was trying to play a little something from every record so "I apologize in advance because we probably will forget to play the song you wanted to hear." And after Star Wars, Jeff said about the album title — perhaps in response to someone in the crowd — arose from the belief that "art is supposed to make you look at what you walk past everyday" and (I think he said) think about it in a different way. I'd have to listen to a recording or watch a video to get the quote exactly right, but suffice it to say he seemed to offer at least some of the thinking behind deciding on SW as a title. As for the cat, Jeff said it "is a painting we bought at a thrift store across the street (presumably from the Loft in Chicago). Don't tell anybody."

     

    At any rate, the electric Spiders as a first encore was a nice surprise — though perhaps not for the crew, which was already starting to set up for the hootenanny when apparently word came down that there had been a change of plans. So we knew we were in for something good when they pulled the acoustic set off stage and brought the electric guitars back, and the band didn't disappoint. Jeff even commented mid-Spiders that "you've already proven to be the best audience on this tour, by far."

     

    After that, the mini-hootenanny second encore — during which the wind picked up fairly significantly and had the band kind of amusingly trying to persevere through it — nevertheless had the crowd singing along and soaking in the last few minutes of what proved to be a lovely summer evening.

     

    Here was the complete setlist as played (the planned encore on the printed list was Passenger Side, Red-Eyed and Blue>I Got You (At The End of the Century)>Outtasite, but it got completely scrapped, presumably in favor of Spiders and the mini-hootenanny):

     

    More...

    Random Name Generator

    The Joke Explained

    You Satellite

    Taste The Ceiling

    Pickled Ginger

    Where Do I Begin

    Cold Slope>

    King Of You

    Magnetized

    Handshake Drugs

    Camera

    Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again)

    I Am Trying To Break Your Heart>

    One Wing

    Secret Of The Sea

    Heavy Metal Drummer>

    I'm The Man Who Loves You

    Dawned On Me

    Via Chicago

    Art Of Almost

    Jesus, etc.

    Born Alone

    Box Full Of Letters

    Impossible Germany

    The Late Greats

    ---------------------------

    Spiders (Kidsmoke) (electric arrangement)

    ---------------------------

    Misunderstood*

    War On War*

    A Shot in the Arm*

     

    *— performed hootenanny style with Jeff and John on acoustic guitars, Nels on dobro, Glenn on percussion, Mikael on melodica/acoustic guitar and Pat on banjo

     

    Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what do you mean by "rule of tertiary markets"?  Just wondering because I'm going to the show in K-zoo, MI, and I'm hoping for a good one.

     

    Also, I'm really excited that they played Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway.  Hopefully that's a good sign for when I see them in about a month.  It will be my wife's first show, and that song is her ring tone for when I call her.

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