Cold as Gasoline

I'm working on some pie charts around this...sorry for the delay.

 

He wore a denim jacket the first two nights. I wasn't around for the middle two shows, so I can't say when he made the wardrobe change. 

He wore that tan jacket each of the last four shows (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday).  The other thing I noticed was that that was the same jacket he wore when he was on Parks and Rec.  Wardrobe steal?  

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jeff-tweedy-yo-la-tengo-the-decemberists-jam-on-parks-and-rec-20140425

Lovely, joyous, sentimental show tonight with kind of a weird setlist.  Jeff essentially said they just picked things they wanted to play again.  Favorite moment for me was when John got a big ovation for "It's Just That Simple" and seemed to get a bit misty, and Jeff gave him a big hug.  Very sweet and genuine moment.  How nice that each member of the band got a chance to shine tonight, especially John, Glenn (with the big drum solo) and Nels (IG, of course).  

Glad to hear "The Good Part" live -- great pop song.  Who was it that was hoping for ELT tonight?  You got it!

During the first song, I saw Jeff blow a kiss to someone in the front row and my first thought was, "Who the hell was that?  Jeff is not flirty like that."  And then he said it was Susie facetiming into the show    So sweet.  Thought it was also very generous and touching to hear Jeff call out all the former band members (Jay, Leroy, Ken et al) and acknowledge their contribution to the band's story.

I know there was some good banter, but am drawing a blank!  Maybe some sleep will jog my memory.  It was a real pleasure sharing these last few nights with all you lovely peeps!

That string of songs from Poor Places through Hotel Arizona last night was transcendent.  Gorgeous versions of each one.  You can put me down for Tuesday as my favorite night so far.

I was up in the balcony last night, where there was some obnoxiousness that will drive me back to the floor tonight.  Dude screaming "everybody SIT DOWN" as people stood up for the second encore sparked my concern that he'd be able to make it down 3 flights of steps from the balcony if he was so put out about standing for 10 minutes after sitting for 3 hours. Also some yelling (same guy?) when people sang along to "A Shot In the Arm".  Ugh.

Holy cows in the corn that was a phenomenal show.  I've seen a lot of Wilco shows, but that one ranks right up there with the best.  The setlist is pretty nigh flawless and packed with many of my personal favorites.  You Are My Face!  Bob Dylan's Beard!  Muzzle of Bees!  The Lonely 1!  I'm a Wheel!  And the gorgeous rendition of Thirteen...  Also, if you are looking for rarities, look no further -- see setlist above. What a crowd, too!  It was quite the frenzy by the end of the main set.  I'm going to need to sleep on this before I can even process everything that happened.  

Really fun show, and so nice to meet a bunch of you there, up front.  Special thanks to the extra-gentlemanly gents who let a height-challenged lady stand in front of them so she could see the show  

Observations:

 - Having just been at the show in Milwaukee on Wednesday, there was more than a little overlap with that setlist, which is understandable.  

 - It was definitely "intense Jeff" up front, though he did lighten up after Sunken Treasure, which seemed even more moody than usual.

 - Glad to see the Total Pros there!  Loved their spangly jackets and the extra depth they added

 - Heard comments about one of the prior nights that Jeff did a few songs without guitar.  There were none of those tonight and there were an unusual number where Jeff either took the lead guitar or his guitar played a prominent part in the mix.  I really dig his playing, so I'm a fan of this.

 - Standout tunes for me: Pot Kettle Black, the aforementioned Sunken Treasure, and Can't Stand It ("screamy Jeff")

Let's do 3 more!   

Wishing all health and happiness for you and your family, Susan.

Nick Lowe tonight at Old Town School of Folk!  It will be a busy upcoming week and here's the schedule: 

tonight - Nick Lowe at OTSoFM (I also really like the opener, the Cactus Blossoms, who are the replacement for Ian McLagan)

tomorrow - Nick Lowe interview with Jim DeRogatis at OTSoFM (see you there, Diane and Be-ah)

Monday - Wilco - the Riv

Tuesday - Wilco - the Riv

Wednesday - Justin Townes Earle at Evanston Space with Nora O'Connor

Thursday - Wilco - the Riv

Friday - Wilco - the Riv

This week promises to be about the best concert week of my life!

Great setlist for the first night!  I would also love to hear that hootenanny version of Art of Almost.  Any impressions and observations or banter notes from those in attendance?  

Got mine, too.  My sister and brother-in-law are in as well.  Agree, the process was super smooth, comparing positively to some other experiences we have all had.

Steelism.

Good man / woman.

I am woman, hear me roar.

Well, that was a Rock and Roll Show!  Not having seen them play together in over a year, I had musical amnesia about how incredibly in synch they sound together.  The crowd was really into it, the first floor (what I could see of it from first row balcony) stood throughout.  A highlight for me was hearing John take the frontman position for "It's Just That Simple."  Haven't heard that one live before, and it sounded great.  Usually I am way up front for Wilco and I can't really see Glenn.  Man, it is just amazing to watch him work - incredible energy and precision.

Banter notes: about 3/4 through, Jeff declared that we were in the "upper echelon" of audiences, but not to get cocky because there was still some show left.  Jeff flubbed the "greatest singer in rock and roll" verse on "The Late Greats" (totally forgot to come in and then filled with random lyrics from other parts of the song).  He said that was the first mistake he's made in the band's 20 year history, but sadly he got "gonged" by Glenn.

What a fantastic appetizer for the feast of next week's Winterlude!

Wilco!  Driving up to Milwaukee this evening

It might look good when it gets edited together, but it was kind of plodding to actually be there because of all the moving parts. I thought Jeff and Spencer got the worst slot of the night. I mean, how do you have them come out and do You Are Not Alone right after the disco-boogie of Slippery People and right before the climactic I'll Take You There? I know they're hometown heroes and all that, but unfortunately they kind of got lost in the shuffle IMHO. That said, it was cool to see Jeff, Patty Griffin and Emmylou Harris gathered around one mike for The Weight.

When the Arcade Fire thing was going on I recalled having heard Jeff say the worst gig Wilco ever played was when they had to follow Arcade Fire.  And it happened again!

Greg Kot did a similar review:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-mavis-staples-birthday-concert-20141119-column.html

The set changes really did kill the pace, and the roster was so insanely deep, that it really could have used some pruning (who called the 80s and asked Michael McDonald and Joan Osborne to show up?)  I could have used about 10 more Bonnie Raitt songs and zero Eric Church.  

On the plus side, I adored the funky Talking Heads cover Mavis did with Win and Regine from Arcade Fire -- Mavis and Regine dancing together was a hoot.  Taj Mahal's got a great sound and big stage presence too.  Jeff and Mavis did a sweet version of "You Are Not Alone" with Spencer on drums, but also would have loved a little "Only the Lord Knows" rocking.  As a guy sitting near me up in the nosebleed setion said, "Well, it will make a great DVD!"

Mavis birthday party tonight!

I'm going to this too!  Should be awesome, though I am waaaaay up in the nosebleed seats.  Mavis, the Tweedys, Patty Griffin, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, and a host of other notables.

Noam Pikelny and Aiofe O'Donovan.

I love those guys and will miss that guffaw.

This article makes me sad (and made me laugh out loud too). Wilco are fashion trend-setters because they wear the same thing they wore 20 years ago because they clearly couldn't care less about fashion?  Jesus wept indeed. Who is buying this BS?

Absolutely loving this version.  Makes the song new after hearing it in a million different iterations.

Drove up to Milwaukee yesterday to hear the Milk Carton Kids and Sarah Jarosz on Halloween....annnnndddd this happened.

They sounded absolutely fantastic together if anyone has a chance to hear the last few shows on the collaborative tour.  Highly recommended.

2 beautiful, rare tunes.  So happy with these selections.  What's the third, do we think?

What was the beer can incident?  Any other interesting banter notes?

Cool Pic !

I was intrigued by the "Wilco Towers "

Not to by hijack thread but this also relates to subject in above Jayhawks tweet

http://www.avclub.com/video/chicago-the-wilco-towers-57336

Really enjoyed that look at how this became the YHF album cover!  It's an iconic image to a lot of us, and probably because of the geometric, graphical nature of the image they describe in the video.  Thanks for sharing.

Yes, keep trying. I just finished with two for each night. I can't remember. the Riv. has balcony seating only right?

Yes, the floor is all standing room, though it does have at least 2 tiers at different levels for standing, and the balcony is all seated.  It has seen better days, but it's pretty big.  Not sure how many peeps can fit in there.