summerdai

I would vote this way:

1 Sky Blue Sky

2 Schmilco

3 AM

1 because it's an awesome underplayed album, 2 and 3 because they contain the least songs I have heard live.

Unfortunately I am in Canada and the shipping costs are scandalous. I added one item and was quoted $20 US, ok I sort of expected that and decided to add several more items to soften the blow. But the shipping costs just multiply, for 5 items the shipping is $100 !!!  Who can I complain  to?

It's about his hat. How they finally got together (and will never ever again be separated)

What difference does it make to you? Just curious. This isn't the first time Wilco has sold a batch of previously released tunes before...there are dozens of Roadcase recordings out there, many shows with nearly identical setlists. Dozens of songs that sound the exact same way (that is, awesome) performed live.

 

At least this is something a little more fresh. I'm excited to hear these songs in this setting with Jeff's voice the way it sounds now. Hear how he inhabits these tunes many years after they were written, in a relaxed, great sounding environment. If you're not, fine! Take the griping elsewhere, please?

Are we not allowed to make criticisms here? I just think that a release like this is preying on completists who feel the need to pick up things like a "box set" which actually contains the same amount of music as a normal release, but adds something that I guess 90% of people will just own for the sake of owning. In contrast the live downloads offer good value with zero clutter. I have purchased a few, especially when the setlists are a little different to normal or if it is a show I attended.

The actual CD/record will surely be worth hearing, but Jeff is singing many of these old songs most weeks of the year, if he had revisited a few more obscure selections then I would find that more interesting. No one is forcing me to buy it though. I own every other Jeff Tweedy related release in some format or another (except one Loose Fur album), may give this one a miss. 

It's just a personal opinion, if others will love this release then that's fine too.

For a big fan such as myself, who is somewhat of a completist and who has also been hoping for a long time we'd see an official release of fresh recordings of Jeff performing songs solo that he wrote 10 years ago -- or longer -- it gets me very excited. I own everything Wilco has released on vinyl. LPs, 7" singles, rare promo releases, etc., because it's a hobby of mine and I love the music deeply. The joy I'll experience putting the puzzle together with my 4-year-old, who happens to LOVE puzzles and is very good at them, is something on which you can't place value. We'll listen to music together while doing it and we'll be spending time together doing things we love. That's not pointless or bizarre.

 

Happy for you. If you have fun doing it then that is fine. It is still a pretty strange way to try and get fans to spend more though, 

Reads "New Jeff Tweedy solo record" and gets very excited. Then reads "reworkings of Wilco songs" and thinks, what a pointless release. And a box set with a jigsaw of Jeff? Bizarre what people will pay extra money for.

Further to that, I had a room reserved at Hampton Inn in Bennington through Priceline which I am cancelling, so anyone who needs a room please grab it. It was about $160 a night when I booked it.

802-440-9862

Apart from Television the lineup doesn't interest me in the slightest. Had a great time in 2015, but will pass this year and aim for 2019. Maybe once every 4 years is the right frequency for me.

So who is going to snag this terrific Meet-and-Greet, VIP-tix opportunity? Look here to put in a bid, and may the Wilco godz smile down on you!

 

https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/item.action?id=275188087

 

Do some good with your income! This is a benefit for Northside College Prep in Chicago. Make our children smarter, meet Jeff Tweedy, and sit in the front at The Vic! Win/win/win and then some! Jeff will be his usual talented, engaging self...these are always really special shows! I'm already jealous of the winner.   

Only if he promises to take his hat off ....

Love the Schmilco songs live! I can see, especially, Locator becoming a live favourite.

"pretty sure" = didn't do his homework

They also played "Camera" and "Kamera" in 2015 if that counts, and a couple of repeats in the Tweedy set I believe.

Great post

I covered all five 2014 Winterlude shows for Glide Magazine. I break it all down in the article, which is linked below. They played 100 different songs over five nights.

 

2014 Incredibly Shrinking Tour Song Recap

Wow, that's very interesting. Quite a change, half as many unique songs.  Were those shows billed as being different from normal (like 2008)? For these recent shows I believe they just announced (initially) a 3 night run without any statements about what to expect.

I doubt there will be any repeats, pretty sure they never have at a SS. But how much Schmilco will we get? Is there a/What's the theme for Friday?

Playing the surprise new album in full? 

There may well be an error here, but this is how I calculated the final scores:

A total of 107 songs were played over the 4 nights of which 49 were unique.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 10

Being There 8

A Ghost is Born 8

Schmilco 6

Star Wars 4

AM 3

Sky Blue Sky 3

Summerteeth 2

The Whole Love 2

Wilco (The Album) 1

Mermaid Avenue 1

More Like the Moon (EP) 1

If we compare that to the last Solid Sound, over 2 nights they played 56 songs of which either 55 or 56 were unique depending on your take on different versions of Camera/Kamera. No doubt someone else can compare with previous Winterludes.

As a lead singer, he's more like Dylan, mostly character with little prettiness, but the vocal blend they achieve (Pat and John are sweet and Jeff provides the eccentric character) can be gorgeous and similar to The Band, but there is no lead vocalist like Richard Manuel or Levon Helm in Wilco, I agree.

Yes, that sums it up.

I don't think whether you consider Wilco a jam band (I don't think anybody does, depending on one's definition of a jam band) or not has much relevance to whether they play lots of repeats or few repeats in a run.

 

What does have, I think, a lot of relevance to some fans' expectations for few repeats in a run or residency, particularly in the Winter time in Chicago, is that they have done it so many times.  Didn't the Kicking Television residency have zero repeats?  Very few repeats in the Incredible Shrinking tour and even in 2014 there were few fewer repeats than at this run.  Hell there were a lot less repeats on the West Coast runs last summer in LA and Seattle, etc.

 

I think the bottom line is that Wilco fans have favorite songs that they want to hear.  Wilco has a shit-ton of great songs and in the past they have kept a huge current live repertoire so people had a better chance of hearing their faves.  Wilco has done it many times before, they are fully capable, but its clear they just don't want to do that right now.

 

I will not pass a chance to see them live because they are incredible and incredibly rare in their talents and skills.  I do wish they'd keep a bigger repertoire like they used to so I'd have a better chance to hear my faves.

 

Far more interesting to me than criticizing people who want few repeats is thinking about why this Winterlude run had so many repeats and why that has been a slowly growing trend over the past few years.

 

I wonder if the setlists they played at Winterlude 2017 were specifically designed by Jeff to be the message he feels compelled to put out there in these crazy scary times in the US?  That would be my guess.  I think these songs that got played every night are the ones that he feels speak mostly eloquently to the times we find ourselves in.  Opening the run with Ashes of American Flags was a strong statement and that moment to me was the highlight of the three nights I saw.

 

Perhaps they also want to get really good at the newer songs or perfect the new arrangements of older songs?  It seems to me they have done that.  Locator, Someone To Lose, and Random Name Generator have gotten much better and they contain some hot jamming, too!  Wilco is not a jam band (jam bands to me are pale imitations of the pioneers of ensemble rock based on a wide range of American musical traditions, namely The Grateful Dead, The Allmans and the Band). What I heard at these show was a band that is STILL improving their craft, still writing new songs and adding to their already large repertoire.  I heard a band that I think are the torchbearers for the approach to music that the Dead Allmans and the Band took, with the guiding principle of a group of people playing cooperatively, can achieve more than a solo artist.  They listen to one another.  They know how to leave space in between the parts and they know how to not play on top of each other.  There is a fantastic separation between instruments.  If I Ever Was A Child sounded to me like Grateful Dead playing acoustic, just a beauty of an ensemble performance.  Plus they have a genius singer songwriter who is in the same conversation as Bob Dylan, in my mind.  Quite simply, Wilco are the best live band currently playing, in my book.  Nels is as good as Duane Allman and Garcia. His gorgeous lyrical melodic soloing on Impossible Germany is STILL getting better, even after all these years, it just blew me away night after night, it always seems like Nels tops himself every time.  The band is as tight as the Allmans, whether they are playing simple folk music or complicated free jazz art rock with the sometimes subtle but supportive and lovely beyond words keyboard playing of Michael and Pat.  They can sing like The Band with a killer vocal blend from Pat, John and Jeff.  They can play nearly any American style of music like the Dead did in addition to the Euro Kraut rock and 80s and 90s indie pop sounds that Wilco are into.

I agree with most of this, however when it comes down to it, Jeff is a relatively weak singer, especially when you are comparing with greats like The Band. He does well with the voice that God gave him, and I like it. but it is not really a thing of wonder.

Thought Tweedy was the happiest I can remember. Really seemed to be enjoying the experience as did the rest of the band. Bbop summary is excellent as usual, and the energy between the band was palpable.

Except Pat

So I think 5 not played at first 2 shows.My seat wasn't as good either as first 2 nights, sound on balcony a little deficient. Decent show, thought Crowd on Thurs did Spiders better too.Happy to hear Sunken Treasure and A Shot in the Arm

S/T pretty much makes my "favorite Wilco album" list regularly, though sometimes I give the nod to YHF. I see where Jeff audibled out of A Shot in the Arm, so you might get that one. Other than that, I'd be surprised to see much of anything else from S/T these days. Sadly, most of those songs no longer draw much crowd reaction, so that's probably why they have gone by the wayside. To me, it's a shame.

Really? The crowd goes crazy for Being There material, I would fullly expect most of Summerteeth to get the same reaction and of course Via Chicago gets the biggest reaction of all.

PS Thought the Wed crowd were better than the Thurs crowd who accurately represented their night So maybe the Wed crowd were kind of a Fri afternoon crowd? I guess Jeff will let us know tomorrow

I think Pat has always adopted a fairly "cool" persona on stage but this did seem different. I was also very close to him and saw no eye contact between him and John which surprised me. His smiles at the end seemed forced, I hope he's not depressed.

Great show, nice to be in the pit. However I think sound was a bit better on the right hand side night 1, also easier seats to stand for 2 hrs at than the portable chairs in the pit.

I love all the Schmilco songs (pronounced with utmost disdain). I wondered if they hadn't worked out an ending for Locator on the record when it faded so suddenly, Nels seems to be finding one now. Also loved the Being There encore.

Watched Glenn closely last night,just an absolutely sensational drummer! Wondered why Pat looks so miserable, nice beard though ...

Excellent show,loved some of the new arrangements. Felt like an anti Trump rally at one time. Setlist not too exciting, really hope for some curveballs tonight. Thought support act were a little twee and underwhelming.

Seemed to be an unbelievable line for the merchandising stand. Everyone after a poster or 2?

I am not going this year, so I suppose it does not matter, but in 2015 a chair was very helpful to me being able to keep my spot at the rail. Granted, I stayed there basically the entire time Friday and Saturday. I only ventured away for William Tyler and to do the drumming with Glenn. I always had somebody there though in the space. I also protected spaces for my friends. There were a few instances of people being kind of rude about it, but over all it worked out well. 

Without the chair though, I would not have been able to physically maintain that spot, so if I were going this year it would have been a bummer. 

 

People with fast legs, good luck. That line-up is super awesome. 

I'm glad I got to go to 1 SSF. It was a one time thing. 

I don't think anyone is banning chairs from the site, but when they come on stage and the first 15 rows or so are chairs then it's really not fair that others are kept so far from the stage. Also people who show up when gates open and just leave chairs there, while wandering around are not playing the game. At the folk festival in Ottawa (which Wilco played 2015) there is a space reserved for chairs that is behind what would be "the pit", this works much better than blocking the area immediately in front of the stage. If you are unable to physically maintain a spot at the front then you need to find an easier area to enjoy the show from.