jff

43 minutes ago, Lukestar said:

The nerve! It's a Grammy winner!! 

 

 

Sucked might be an unfair description, but thanks you for the hard evidence supporting my opinion. 😂

Digging the baritone and B-Bender guitars.  

Hopefully this sound, great as it is, is only one facet of a wide ranging album.

Agree about the artwork.  Very nice, and refreshing to see.  I thought the Ode to Joy artwork sucked, Schmilco art was ok, Star Wars art was tossed off. 

Hopefully the double length means it will be a stylistically wide ranging record.  I feel their last two (and first two) were narrowly focused on the style they were working within.  That’s not a bad thing, but at this stage of their career, and especially with a double album,  I’d like to see them flex every muscle they’ve developed. 

On 4/16/2022 at 4:05 PM, Mac said:

 

As I thought this over today and reading the insightful review and comments here, I was thinking - perhaps they should have come out & FIRST played a 25 -30 min or so fun set.   Then turn on the lights. take a decent break- then get folks, who are now warmed up, back in their seats, turn off the lights  and then play YHF- and then have everyone leave after that awesome Reservations Outro.   I for one would have preferred that and it would really give YHF the focus it deserved & left at least this fan feeling awesome.  

 

 

This is what I would have liked to see.  A first set with three or four songs from each of the pre-YHF albums (plus maybe some rarities) that creates a chronology of the band’s progression towards YHF.  Then a break before performing the full album.  This keeps the focus unambiguously on YHF while delivering something closer to a Wilco concert length show.

I understand why people were disappointed with the 70 minute length.  Wilco has a devoted concert following because they earned it through quality AND quantity for a relatively low price. All of those things matter a lot, so if you’re going to cut the quantity in half and charge more than usual then it’s reasonable for concertgoers to feel they got a little short changed, even if the performance was stellar.

Poor PR messaging on Wilco’s part.

On 1/19/2022 at 12:02 AM, u2roolz said:

Thanks! It was more about not really being able to see who was behind Jeff in Mikael’s place. 

The fill-ins for Michael were Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart from Ohmme, and Liam Kazar, all of whom serve in Jeff’s band.

Oh man, I’m so sorry about this accident.  I’ve been in some bad highway accidents, but none that ever ended a life.  I can only imagine how painful this will be for everyone involved to process.

After all the fighting over whether this event should be canceled due to omicron, imagine if it got snowed out because the bands couldn’t get there.  
 

I’ll admit that I’d laugh if that happened.

10 hours ago, kidsmoke said:

So if anybody wants to start a gofundme to help recover my $2300 I'd be cool with that.

 

Heavy sigh.

As an 80% joke/20% legit proposal, I suggested to my wife that the Wilco universe should have worked out a deal where Wilco agreed to cancel, forcing a refund, if ticket holders agreed to bail them out financially by handing over 50% of the refunded price to cover a portion of Wilco’s cancellation penalty via gofundme.

People set up gofundme’s every day for way less worthy causes.

24 minutes ago, tinnitus photography said:

i guess it wasn't in that email (or my searching skills are on the wane, or both), maybe it was a snippet that someone else had posted to the SBS group. but, it was to the point that they already comply with the % capacity rules set by Quintana Roo so any future cancellations or non-cancellations shouldn't affect that particular possible constraint.

Interesting.  I wonder if their count of attendees is based on reservations that have already been cancelled, or they undersold the event from the start in anticipation of a potential government imposed capacity limitation (this isn’t consistent with what they’ve said in the past).  Or perhaps the resort is so large that the number of people, even at full capacity, per square foot of resort space is allowable.

12 hours ago, tinnitus photography said:

seeing as though the cancelation deadline is (i think) 2 days before the festival starts, the email sent today by Cloud 9 would refute your conjecture.

I don’t follow.  I didn’t get an email from them, but that might be because I cancelled earlier today.  
 

Edit:
 

What I said wasn’t conjecture.  It’s a fact that some ticket holders will 1. Not cancel and 2. Not attend.  Therefore, Hard Rock’s booking log (or whatever the hotel industry term is) will not be accurate since they are expecting people in that category to show up.  The cancellation deadline is a non-factor in the scenario I am describing.

But I am interested  in what Cloud 9 has to say that refutes any of those facts, if anyone would care to share it here.

1 hour ago, BigDitchStan said:

So, any word on whether or not Mavis is appearing? I'd think she's got to have underlying health issues that would preclude her from appearing...

 

 

 

N

Mavis is still in, but I agree.  I hope she isn’t going out of a sense of obligation.  Maybe the Hard rock corporate jet is flying her and the Tweedy’s to and from the event so they don’t have to go through an airport.

The lineup has changed.  
 

Out:  Waxahatchee, Mountain Man, Julian Lage

In: Soccer Mommy, Ohmme

Maybe other changes I’m missing.

It wouldn’t surprise me if this event is able to slide through any potential capacity restrictions just due to the number of guest cancellations.  This depends, though, on the number of people who officially cancel (those with “cancel for any reason“ insurance, or other insurable claims) and the number who simply do not show up and remain on the hotel’s booking log (people who don’t have insurable claims and therefore have no reason to notify the event that they aren’t coming).  If the event thinks more guests are coming than actually are, they might end up being forced to cancel even though the actual number of guests who do show up is within the allowable capacity.

25 minutes ago, tinnitus photography said:

no one on this board has any clue as to how the contracts are structured, so conjecture about what could/should be done is just that - conjecture.

99% of posts on any forum are just opinions, so who cares.  Let’s conject.

10 minutes ago, sonnyfeeling said:

How would that work, exactly? Not challenging, I am just genuinely curious what options you think are available in a situation that seems to have very few good outcomes. I imagine there are some fairly testy conversations going on behind the scenes between promoter and band, but those are obviously not public.

i won’t pretend to be a publicist or a PR person, and I’m 100% certain I could not put the words together in an effective way,  but surely you would agree that words can be use in influential ways without burning bridges.  It’s what professionals in these fields do every day.

5 minutes ago, Chez said:

To add to the frustration, I can't get anyone from Cloud 9 to respond to my emails (they aren't taking telephone calls) about transferring my reservation.  Unless they do a 180 and offer a refund option, I've decided to give my reservation to my brother and his girlfriend.  It would be nice to be able to start the process and finalize the transfer.  

That sucks.  I emailed them today to find out how to get my cancellation and insurance claim rolling.  Pretty sure I have to cancel through Cloud 9 before contacting insurance, but someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

15 minutes ago, sonnyfeeling said:

My understanding is that the way these festivals work is the promoter does a buyout of the resort, agreeing to pay the resort owner a fairly large sum of money in exchange for the right to put on the show and sell packages directly to fans.

 

The band has a contract with the promoter to allow the use of their name and to play a certain number of shows.

 

I don't know what either contract says, but I presume that the promoter is on the hook for the buyout fee unless the resort somehow is unable to deliver the rooms. And the band probably has some major penalties to pay if they cancel. They probably also have non-disparagement clauses that could cost them dearly if they used that bully pulpit unwisely.

 

The trouble with the current situation is that someone (or many someones) will probably wind up losing a pile of money. During normal times, these things were hugely profitable, but obviously the rules have changed in the COVID era.

 

What a mess.  

Well yes, of course they’d use the bully pulpit wisely.  I’m not suggesting they shoot their mouths off.  It feels like Wilco doesn’t really have a publicist, or even an advocate in this  scenario.  Maybe this is a bit of myth-making thanks to the documentary, but it seemed like Tony Margherita fought for Jeff/Wilco in a way nobody seems to be doing anymore, and if he or someone like him were still their manager, I don’t think we wouldn’t have seen Jeff in near distress trying to be his own PR person on the Tweedy Show last week.

22 minutes ago, sinko25 said:

 

I didn't see this so maybe I'm missing some context. I respect the fact that they're not able to unilaterally issue refunds to folks, but presumably with their name on the festival they have some pull in that respect, right? I'm sure there's plenty going on behind the scenes, just curious about this point.

Wilco may not have pull from a legal standpoint,  but as long as it’s their name on all of the branding, they have a bully pulpit which could be very influential.  They have chosen not to use it, however, and that is frustrating.  

9 minutes ago, ZiggyBratwurst said:

I would guess not. That's the same photo they used for last night's episode. Also, except for the few times they've done the show from out on the road, it has been a very, very long time since they did shows on two nights in a row.

That’s my thought, too.  I assume Instagram was just not refreshing itself on my end, but it made me wonder since there is obviously a lot of developing news in the Wilco world these days.

Instagram stories is still showing “Tweedy Show tonight at 9”

Are they doing another one tonight?

2 hours ago, tinnitus photography said:

after dealing with endlessly shifting lineup changes/cancellations/additions etc of Psycho Las Vegas, nothing will faze me. 

 

Jeez, that’s crazy,  was that because of Delta?
 

Rumor now is the Dead is about to cancel their fest.  Announcement at 4:00.

Now that two core members of Dead & Company will be absent from their Mexico resort festival next week, it’ll be interesting to see how things move forward for them, how fans react, how SBS deals with a similar development if one arises, etc.  
 

24 minutes ago, dagwave said:

Oh boy, this is a terrible situation, and only getting worse. My best to all dealing with issues mentioned here. Simply awful.

 

I’ve not seen the amount of For Sale tix to a Wilco event in a long time, as seen here and on Reddit (not a Facebook guy). Not quite as easy as moving a couple tickets to a local show, though Cloud 9 makes it sound like a snap (gimme a break). 
 

Stuck Stuck Stuck whether to go - still not understanding why band and organizers aren’t considering welfare of fans. I’ve GOT to believe there are contingency/ insurance options for organizers, but not surprised that greed wins out. 
 

 Also willing to bet experience will be scaled down in comparison to first SBS (excursions, service, etc.), but clearly biggest concern remains testing positive and being quarantined in some version of hell. Ugh. 
 

Can Wait. 

An interesting comment on FB suggested that Cloud 9 may be letting this one go forward, and if it’s a disaster, they can then use it as leverage to get their insurance company to cover the cancellation of the festivals that follow immediately after SBS.

Seems entirely plausible to me.

I can only imagine Jeff and the band are feeling really conflicted about this.  I especially worry for Mavis, Sue and others who have health concerns that could make Covid especially dangerous.

3 hours ago, LizK said:

I have been trying unsuccessfully to reach out to the Sky Blue Sky preferred insurance company to get written confirmation of what the various travel insurance policies they are offering truly cover.  Their automated response points to the FAQ page of their website which reads:

I have purchased an ALC Travel Plan, but have not yet travelled – am I covered if I contract Coronavirus?

No, your policy has a general exclusion for any claims relating to an epidemic or pandemic. This is applicable regardless of when you purchased your insurance. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation declared Coronavirus to be a pandemic. Consequently, there will be no cover for any claims relating to Coronavirus including medical expenses, cancellation, curtailment and travel disruption under your ALC Travel plan.

 

So, if someone tests positive prior to departure and is unable to go, there is no insurance reimbursement. That is simply not fair when we are in the midst of a surge. When we booked back in May, the nation was experiencing approximately 20,000 cases a day and the trend was downward. Today we are at over 450,000 daily cases and the trend is upward. Cloud Nine needs to cancel, postpone or provide refunds. 

 

Makes you wonder how many fewer tickets they would have sold if this had been common knowledge when ticket went on sale.
 

The official insurer of the event can be reached at 866-368-3724.

I called them last week and their customer service rep was helpful.

13 hours ago, Sandoz said:

Oh shit, JFF. I hate insurance companies so much -- they are the evil behind so much badness in the world (I am both a bitter doctor, and a bitter mother when I think of my personal experiences with insurance companies). You never get what you pay for, coverage wise.  

 

JFF, I am so sorry to hear about your sick dog. It's so frustrating that you have to deal with insurance BS, on top of all the stress you already have. Savor this time with her. Hope to meet you at the next SBS (on second thought, I am unsure I will ever be able to support a Cloud 9 event after this one)...maybe it will be a SSF or a regular old Wilco show. Take care and stay healthy.

 

And @kidsmoke have you made a final decision yet? You in or out? I am still undecided ---- I actually think that Omicron still has a very healthy chance of showing Cloud 9 who's boss here. Two weeks is a long ways away...just think it was only FIVE WEEKS AGO that this variant was first identified in South Africa....

Thank you and Kidsmoke for your sympathy.  It’s part of the deal as an animal lover, and it’s worth going through the hard part after all they bring to our lives, but understanding that never makes it any easier.
 

We may not see you at a future SBS,  but we do travel sometimes for Wilco shows, And would be happy to run into you somewhere down the line.