Brian F.

From someone who was there, thanks for all of the reviews this week. I am still scrambling to catch up from having been out of town the week before the shows, and then from the long days in line at the shows, and then Holy Week for Pearl Jam fans, so I have not had a chance to add some thoughts about these shows. Hopefully, I will get around to that some time this week. In the meantime, I just want to say that Jeff was totally going to play "Sunlight Ends" when I requested it-- he actually said something like, "O.K., I'll try that one," and started to tune it up-- until he was spun around by the request for "Quarters," which he remarked was the first time anyone had ever requested that song. I tried to bring him back to "Sunlight Ends" but the moment was gone. I almost said, "I thought we agreed on this!"

 

Anyway, thanks again, and more later...

Thanks. For what it's worth, I thought I heard the new lyric as, "Is your heart higher than your mind?"

 

Since I was standing in line outside Largo all day yesterday and not privy to any news, I actually first learned of the death of O.J. Simpson from the crowd interaction described here. Speaking of death and Wilco, I came across an item the other day that I've been meaning to post on the board so I'll mention it here. From the July 1996 Music Issue of Details, in an article about the death of the great Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, who died on the band's tour bus: "The body stayed on the bus for a couple of hours, until the coroner took it away. (According to the driver, the bus just carried on. It wasn't fumigated, or refurnished, or taken out of commission. It simply transferred to the next band who needed it-- Wilco.)" I wonder if Jeff knows about this.

Like I said, "mostly" moved on. Having witnessed the ironclad "Mother"/"Country" early-set bloc about ten times in October, I'm keenly aware that this is primarily how they are choosing to represent that outstanding, sprawling double-album (with the occasional tailless bird and "Falling Apart" sprinkled in).

 

I'm just glad I got to see "The Empty Condor" at Solid Sound because that one may never appear again. (And, really, how could I die in peace without witnessing that syllable-stretching opus?) Of the four one-play wonders from Cruel Country, I feel like "Tonight's the Day" has a shot at a revival at some point and "Darkness Is Cheap" seems like it might pop up at Jeff's solo gigs at some point as "Sad Kind of Way" has a couple of times. I know at least one fellow member of the VC community who missed Solid Sound that year who is dying to hear that one. (That's two death references in this post; I keep forgetting that nobody dies anymore.)

On 3/1/2024 at 9:40 PM, TCP said:

The timing makes sense for a fall release. Hopefully this means we finally get the Wilco Book on vinyl.

 

I really find it works best on paper.

I know my opinion is an outlier among a fan base that is content to hear Yankee Hotel Foxtrot ad infinitum, but I would be disappointed in these sets if I were at these shows. Cousin isn't even six months old, and they're down to two songs from it at the March 7 and March 8 shows. Wilco seems to be moving on from it almost as fast as they mostly moved on from Cruel Country.

Thanks. The good thing about this is that the shows are spread out, and two of them are in my city, so it's much less of an undertaking than it would be if I were going from city to city. I don't really like to be away from home and this allows me to keep coming home. I'll be in Vancouver for three days at the beginning, in Vegas for three days in the middle and in Seattle for three days at the end, but the other shows will each be less than 24-hour commitments.

 

I've been to Seattle a couple of times and really enjoyed it. I actually saw Pearl Jam there in 2009 when Backspacer came out. After these shows, I will have seen them 80 times, and the only reason that makes sense is that they mix things up so much from night to night. I commented here last fall when Wilco was playing in and around L.A. that they played something like 43 different songs across ten shows, but Pearl Jam the month before did at least 100 different songs across eight shows. (I was not at those particular Pearl Jam shows.)

 

I hope I will hear all of Dark Matter multiple times at these shows, just as I got to hear all of Cousin (except "Ten Dead") at the October Wilco shows.

12 hours ago, chuckrh said:

I like QOTSA plenty. I just got spoiled seeing them in small places in the old days. With exceptions, I kind of stay away from the arena/stadium shows. That being said, I got tickets in May for the Stones & Pearl Jam. Boom! There goes the concert budget for the summer basically. I did get $20 tickets for Particle Kid in April before Micah Nelson hits the road with Crazy Horse. Tiny club, more my speed. I've seen Particle Kid open for Flaming Lips & they were great. Some real fine records, too.

 

Talk about blowing the concert budget: I put in for ten Pearl Jam shows in the fan-club lottery, and I won all ten of them. Ten shows, six cities, two countries, 27 days-- that's how I'll be spending the month of May.

38 minutes ago, lost highway said:

Pearl Jam is getting ready to release 2024's Dark Matter LP. Official date TBA.

 

As evidenced by the fact that I've been refreshing the Ten Club message board every ten minutes for the last six weeks...

I had no idea it was coming until Sunday night, but Taylor Swift is definitely on my list (and at least a few other million people's lists).

On 2/4/2024 at 7:58 AM, Chez said:

Watched Maestro last night.  Incredible performance by Bradley Cooper.

 

Pretty fantastic performance by Carey Mulligan, too.

10 minutes ago, Oil Can Boyd said:

Secret of the Sea in my local Trader Joe's yesterday 

 

Such a gem. I wish this were the Mermaid tune that was the staple of the live set rather than "California Stars."

I guess this is technically violative of the topic, but Monday night I sent out my annual ten best list prior to the Oscar nominations announcement the next morning. Here it is, if anyone is interested:

 

Oscar nominations will be announced tomorrow morning, which means it’s time me to share the list of my ten favorite films of 2023. Of course, only films released in theaters during the 2023 calendar year were eligible for inclusion on this list (and all were actually seen in theaters during 2023). For whatever reason, there is going to be more overlap between my list and the Oscar nominees for Best Picture than in any previous year. There is a very good chance that seven of my top ten will earn Best Picture nominations. [EDITOR'S NOTE: In fact, seven did earn Best Picture nominations, and my top Honorable Mention was an eighth Best Picture nominee.] Last year, only two of my top ten received Best Picture nominations. For 2021, four of my top ten ended up as Best Picture nominees.

 

There was an especially high number of single-word-titled eponymous biopics in 2023, including Rustin, Priscilla, Nyad, Golda, Ferrari and Barbie, but only two such films made my top ten: the one about Leonard Bernstein and the one about J. Robert Oppenheimer. (The title of the latter film escapes me.)

 

*******************************************

 

1. Past Lives

 

2. Oppenheimer

 

3. American Fiction

 

4. The Holdovers

 

5. Anatomy of a Fall

 

6. Poor Things

 

7. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

 

8. Maestro

 

9. All of Us Strangers

 

10. May December

 

Honorable Mentions: The Zone of Interest; The Color Purple.

 

Very Special Honorable Mention Because I Don’t Know How to Compare This to Anything Else: Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour (seen on a Thursday afternoon in a 500-seat theater in which I was the only patron; had I died and gone to heaven?)

 

Dishonorable Mention: Saltburn.

 

Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer; also considered: Celine Song, Past Lives; Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things; Alexander Payne, The Holdovers.

 

Best Actress: Greta Lee, Past Lives; also considered: Carey Mulligan, Maestro; Emma Stone, Poor Things; Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall.

 

Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers; also considered: Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction; Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer; Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers.

 

Best Supporting Actress: Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple; also considered: Rachel McAdams, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret; Erika Alexander, American Fiction’ Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers.

 

Best Supporting Actor: Charles Melton, May December; also considered: Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things; John Magaro, Past Lives; Ryan Gosling, Barbie.

 

Taylor Swift

Whitney Houston

Shirley Manson

Nina Persson

Bjork

Sade (the singer, although I also love the band; many people don't realize that Sade is a band named for its singer, not a solo act)

Annie Lennox

Annie Clark (St. Vincent)

 

I also love every single I've heard by Dua Lipa but don't own anything by her.

On 12/20/2023 at 9:24 PM, lost highway said:

Don't sleep on Horsegirl either folks. That was one of the more exciting 2022 discoveries for me. Like that hip Alvvays band if they were scrappier, kind of the punk tinged side of Sonic Youth mingling with the shoegaze elements.

 

 

Seconded. They really impressed me opening the Port Chester shows.

On 1/20/2024 at 8:48 AM, nalafej said:

IDK. Worth a single watch, but maybe no more. Bring back videos starring VC members.

 

I had the same reaction, at least with respect to the first part of your post. Regarding the second part, I'm sure bbop has little incentive to be in another video as long as the residual checks are still pouring in from "Everyone Hides."

I do not remember it being subpar.

Pearl Jam.

I can only speak for myself as an ardent fan who goes to as many Wilco shows as he can but has never made this trip-- it is outrageously expensive for single-occupancy.

"Evicted" drops from No. 10 to No. 15 in its fourteenth week on Billboard's Adult Album Alternative (Triple-A) chart, and it drops from No. 40 to No. 44 in its ninth week on the Rock and Alternative Airplay chart.

57 minutes ago, dagwave said:

Joe Russo's Almost Dead

 

I'm so sorry to hear that. I will pray for him.

It takes 50 Guided by Voices songs to fill 90 minutes.

What I find fascinating about the pared-down core set list is that it largely (not entirely, but largely) ignores the band's output from 2009 through 2022 (and, to a certain extent, much of 2007's Sky Blue Sky) even though the albums from that period are the ones that feature the current iteration of the band. In other words, when Wilco plays sets that are heavy on YHF and AGIB with the current lineup, they're a bit of a cover band.

 

Having seen the band do a three-night, no-repeat residency only eight months ago, they still seem pretty good at executing an expansive and diverse set list.

As spelled out earlier in the thread, Triple-A is short for Adult Album Alternative. For more, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_album_alternative.

7 hours ago, KevinG said:

 

It's not that I don't like it, I am very tired of it.  There are other songs that I would much rather hear live then California Stars for the millionth time. 

 

Pretty much this. I always have to remind myself that someone else is seeing "California Stars" or "Jesus, etc." for the first time and try to feel happy for that person while I silently complain to myself about having to hear it for the umpteenth time while fifteen years of their catalog remains largely missing in action. 

"Evicted" drops again from No. 7 to No. 10 in its thirteenth week on Billboard's Triple-A chart (now one spot behind hot new hitmakers The Beatles), and slips from No. 39 to No. 40 in its eighth week on the Rock and Alternative Airplay chart.