dmait

>also, went to the Catskills back in May. awesome way to begin the Summer

Where in the Catskills? We're planning a trip up there in October. We've been to Woodstock and Rhinebeck a few times.

The only reason to watch the Jovi Unplugged is that Richie Sambora was so drunk that he kept flubbing his parts and the band had to keep repeating songs. He checked into rehab the next day.

It's also comical they way Bon Jovi "reworks" songs. He takes all of his cues from Springsteen, but while Bruce will do an acoustic version of "Born in the USA," Jovi does a comically slowed-down version of "Living on a Prayer."

>What a night, what a show, what a band! I think I kind of took it for granted that we are all able to be a part of the Wilco journey. I mean: I'm 23, I wasn't around for The Band or The Who or Neil Young. To be able to witness the greatest rock band of this era, in such an intimate setting, for only $40, is just a great thing.

I absolutley agree. We are witnessing the most important band in the world at its creative peak. Nels adds a sonic texture that elevated the music to another level, and the band has now fully harnessed its sound and power.

Great songwriting, master instrumentalists, multi-part harmonies (like Danko, Levon, and Garth), jamming within the confines of the song structure, song parts that can turn on a dime, a mixture of noise and melody.

John Stirratt is the modern day Rick Danko. All over the bass and incredible harmonies.

The crowd at the Count Basie was incredible. Everyone was smiling throughout the show. It's rare to see so much emotion at a show. Everyone just seemed so elated to see particular songs or hear certain parts of songs, and even more astounding was how the people next to you would acknowledge your joy with complete understanding.

(music from Jaws)

I'm in. Second row center loge.

Who are the band members on this tour?

LC deserves more attention than he receives, which is just about none. He does and has accomplished as much musically in relative anonimity than anyone I can think of. His years with Charlie Sexton backing Dylan were Dylan's best on stage in last fifteen years. (I was going to say twenty years, but TP and the Heartbreakers were a pretty decent backing band.)

>Garth Hudson, Levon Helm, Larry Campbell, George Recile, Tony Garnier and Dr John are the musicians, with the The Dixie Hummingbirds providing the vocals

I didn't know that. That's sounds incredible.

>The important question is: do you wear the tshirt of the band you are going to see or not?

Absolutely not. Even worse is wearing the shirt you bought at that show. Invariably there are long sleeves sticking out beneath it. It's all bad news.

I'm surprised at the number of responses in favor of listening to the band's music before a show. It's been a long-standing "rule" among my group of friends that we don't listen to the band's music before the show - either pregaming at home or tailgating. It's overkill and there is so much other great music to hear beside the music your about to hear for the next two hours. An exception is when it's impossible to avoid because the other fans around you will be blasting it, like at a Springsteen or Dead show.

>The consensus in the car that day was that the people who sat out in the parking lot before a show blasting music by that night's headliner were the kind of people we didn't much care for and didn't want to be seen as emulating.

Great comment.

Upper Balconies are still available.

>I was thinking more along the lines of

If YHF = Highway 61 Revisited

And AGIB = Blonde On Blonde

Then SBS = John Wesley Harding

Interesting premise.

And, yes, I hear a Beatles' sound and vibe on SBS.

She was both unlistenable and unwatchable at the RnR Hall of Fame ceremony last night. Why play two cover songs at your own induction (even if Because the Night is one of her hits)?

How do those sites compare to Pando.com?

Dan Zanes' albums are both kid and adult friendly. Kids and parents are up dancing at his shows.

Love the avatar, Parisisstale.

"Well, Portland Oregon and sloe gin fizz

If that aint love then tell me what is"

Loretta Lynn & Jack White

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/music/...5286077,00.html

Tweedy, Kotche give it their best at GPAC

Jeff Tweedy opens his 2007 tour with a talkative performance at GPAC.

By Mark Jordan

Special to The Commercial Appeal

January 18, 2007

Fresh off a Mexican vacation with his family, Jeff Tweedy was in a chatty mood Tuesday, the opening night of his 2007 solo tour before a sold-out audience of 824 at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre.

"My wife always tells me I don't talk enough," the Wilco frontman explained before being drawn into one of the protracted exchanges with audience members that seemed to dominate the evening.

If there was more talking than playing, at least Tweedy, a famously prickly personality in his pre-rehab days, kept the audience in stitches like an alt-rock Jerry Clower with stories of his son's scatological obsessions and a rowdy gig at a Missouri Shriner's mosque.

Ostensibly a tour to promote a new live solo DVD, early on Tweedy seemed all business as he belted out the DVD's title track, "Sunken Treasure" from Wilco's 1996 album Being There.

But as the night wore on he changed things up with a loose set list that included Wilco favorites, two previews of material from the band's next album, and a pair each from Tweedy's earlier band Uncle Tupelo and his ongoing side project Loose Fur.

With Wilco best known in recent years for its sonic experimentation, it was refreshing to hear songs such as "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" stripped to the core, where you re-discover what a good (and dark) songwriter Tweedy is.

Likewise for "You Were Wrong" and "The Ruling Class," the back-to-back selection of songs Tweedy performed from Loose Fur, his side project with Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and producer Jim O'Rourke.

Tweedy recognized his Golden Smog bandmate (and Big Star drummer) Jody Stephens in the audience before launching into "Lost Love" from the alt-country supergroup's Memphis-recorded album Weird Tales.

After a set that lasted just nine songs (with a lot of laughs in between), Tweedy returned for an encore, playing "Theologians" from Wilco's last studio album A Ghost Is Born and bringing out opening act Kotche to bang along to a pair of fan favorites from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, "I'm the Man Who Loves You" and "Heavy Metal Drummer." He rounded out the encore with a Foxtrot outtake, "Not For the Season," and a new song, the plaintive "Sky Blue Sky."

Following a standing ovation, Tweedy returned once more. Weeding through songs yelled out by the audience, he played "California Stars" from 1998's Billy Bragg/Woody Guthrie collaboration Mermaid Avenue. For the finale he stepped out from behind the PA to test GPAC's vaunted acoustics with a truly unplugged rendition of Uncle Tupelo's "Acuff Rose."

Kotche opened the night as a one-man percussion ensemble. Playing compositions from his third solo release, Mobile, Kotche combined a modified trap kit with a dizzying array of bells, special cymbals and gongs, glockenspiel and even cricket boxes in a performance that was as much dance as it was drumming. It was a surprising virtuoso turn for anyone who only knows Kotche's economical drumming for Wilco the past six years.

The Downtown Music Gallery in NYC just hosted a festival of

>i don't agree about the venue or the crowd. it was great to see them play in a smaller place again. i have seen them everywhere over the last couple of years from msg to radio city to jazzfest to several outdoor pavillions. i thought this was really a great spot as it was a very bar like atmosphere and the crowd was really into it.

Agreed. I cannot believe that 90% of the posts about the show are negative and almost all about only the venue. Yes, the place was oversold, but Starland has great sightlines from any vantage point and the sound system is tremendously clear. Anyone who attended just saw the band from about 30 feet away in a bar-like setting. That's a rarity these days and should be appreciated.

That being said Nels is an absolute monster. He shredded and has an absolute mastery over the instrument. He could make the thing scream and harmonize in the same song. Then he could throw the sweetes country licks this side of Nashville on the next. Nels is a national treasure, and you get the sense Jeff knows and loves it.

The sounds was so clear that you could hear each instrument individually and perfectly. I hope it's as apparent on the tape circulating on dimeadozen.

Bottom line: An excellent show from the most important band around, one at the top of its game and still on the rise. Appreciate what you have here. You are witnessing a band in its prime...and only improving.