bböp

Have a terifically awesome birthday, U!

Here's to more of everything Heidi mentioned earlier, and to canyon hiking and setlist-book compiling and all-night writing and on and on...

both shows are sold out, wonder if they'll add a third.

hmmmmmm.......

The only thing I can think of adding at this point is that it was really great to see the electric Sunken Treasure again. After seeing it done acoustically so much at Jeff's solo shows, I had almost forgotten the different arrangement the song gets when done with electric guitars.

And it's always nice to see Poor Places work its way back into the set. I noticed that Nels played exclusively lap steel for at least the first half of the song. If memory serves, I think he had played at least some of his part on the Jazzmaster in previous renditions.

First time hearing Let's Not Get Carried Away live and it definitely, properly rocked...

a situation like this needs a BBOP review for clarity (and setlist)

Wish I had been there to see the "mayhem" for myself. I have to say that whatever Jeff did, I'm sure it was for good reason. You can't have people jumping up onstage whenever they feel like it. You don't know what they're going to do, for one. It's unlikely that the guy meant Jeff any harm, but at the very least, somebody getting on stage and being a dope is completely distracting to the performer and the audience, IMHO.

[quote name='pn

[quote name='pn

Yo Jeff,

Can't add much that hasn't already been said, but thanks for all the work over the years. Enjoy retirement, play some golf, drink some pina coladas and all that jazz. And above all, don't be a stranger...

Paul.

Mine was just in the plastic.

Those pictures look twangy.

Is Wilco going to ever come to Boise? They came August 30th of 1997 to local single A baseball team's field to perform...

 

Come on! I went all the way to Duluth to see them play in July... Anybody know of any talk of coming to northwest... or why they have never come back to Boise?

I'm with you! If Wilco was to ever play in Idaho, I'd *so* find a way to be there.

So what happened last time they were in New York, and did anything ever come of that rumor they'll be playing Irving Plaza?

Well, the last time the band played New York City proper was the New Year's Eve 2004 show at Madison Square Garden. Nothing really happened, other than much alcohol consumption and revelry. The only time anything has really "happened" in NYC was back in 1996 at Irving Plaza when they wound up playing after Johnny Cash -- you can read about that episode in Greg Kot's book. But whoever mentioned something "happening" earlier in this thread was just being dumb.

As for the Irving Plaza rumor, seeing as how the club is already pretty booked for the rest of October, I kinda doubt it.

Hope you have an awesome birthday, Bridget!

Words have a way of being inadequate at times like these, but I just wanted to express how sorry I am for your loss. Jeff, your mom seemed like a great lady the couple of times I met her and it's a shame that she's gone far too soon. Since I can't be there in person, please accept a big cyber-hug and my deepest sympathies.

--Paul.

it's on high road touring's site.

I, too, love the Andrew Hill disc!

In other Nels news, I hadn't seen this posted yet, but forgive me if it was. Anyway, I think the same day that the Sunken Treasure DVD comes out--Oct. 24--is also the release date for the new Damsel record featuring Nels and Zach Hill from Hella. Also, it features Matt Zivich (who happens to be Wilco's guitar tech and a sound engineer).

Sounds like it'll be a pretty cool disc to pick up, so I figured I'd give it a little shout-out in case it hasn't been mentioned already. Amazon doesn't have it listed, but I pre-ordered a copy through CD Universe.

Here's a little blurb about Damsel I plucked from indieworkshop.com:

Nels Cline and Zach Hill form Damsel

08.23.2006 / 18:46

Nels Cline and Zach Hill. These are some busy guys we're talking about here.

Nels Cline: Wilco, Thurston Moore, The Geraldine Fibbers

i want a freaking texas solo show

i dunno why, but i think you might be in luck...

The funny thing is I totally know what shop he's talking about--it's called Minus Zero or something like that. I went there when I was last in London. Great little shop near the Portobello Road Market. It's only open on weekends, I think. I remember it because I wanted to buy this record from one of the men and he had gone home to tend to a broken pipe or something and the other guy couldn't sell it to me because it didn't have a price tag on it. So I had to come back a few hours later when the owner returned.

Anyway, it's a little weird that the Tapes 'n Tapes guy would find ST there for such a reasonable price 'cause it seemed like those guys had a pretty decent idea about how much stuff is worth. But I guess that's why you poke around...

It is indeed magnificent, particularly the vegetarian chili fries. Seriously.

Mmmmmmmmm half-smoke with chili, onions and mustard...

Brooklyn Vegan is reporting that Jeff will be playing with GS tonight.

 

Brooklyn Vegan

Methinks BV is right.

I have tickets tonight in Philly, but haven't listened to much of either of their solo stuff. Anyone go last night in NYC? Thoughts? Reviews? Setlist(s)?

I went to the show last night in New York--nice job with the promotion, Ronen, by the way--and it was, as always, an interesting night of music. Elliott Sharp opened the show on guitar and laptop (with Nels sitting in at times), followed by some classical pieces by pianist Jenny Lin. Then Glenn played his set of solo percussion pieces. And then Nels and Glenn did their version of Karen Coltrane by Sonic Youth and then all four players did a couple of longer improv pieces as a group.

Obviously Elliott and Jenny won't be in Philly tonight, so what I imagine you'll get is about a half-hour of solo improv by Nels, then 45 minutes of Glenn (he usually plays Mobile Pts. 1, 2 and 3, Monkey Chant, Projections of (What) Might and covers of Joao Gilberto's Undiu and Steve Reich's Music For Pieces of Wood and maybe Where The Wild Things Are). And then Nels will come out and he and Glenn will play a few pieces, probably including Karen Coltrane, maybe a Nels composition and a couple of improv numbers.

Those that have a chance to see this tour should take advantage. You won't see two better musicians on their respective instruments, IMHO.

From what I could see at tonight's NYC show (before I got kicked out of Webster Hall like literally two minutes after the show was over--that's one reason why I hate that place), they were selling a white one and a light blue one. They were $15 apiece. The one I got had a relatively simple design -- a vintage cowgirl image in which she was holding a lasso sort of over her head that spelled out "Golden Smog." Looked like they might be starting to run low on supplies, though.

We all know (or should) about the brilliance of the Magnolia Electric Co., but I wanted to put in a little plug for Catfish Haven.

I've seen them a few times, most recently at the Stereogum show here in NYC last week and they're really good. Hopefully they'll have their backup singers with them down south. As a band, they might have a little improvement to make in terms of stage presence but I think their songs are really good. Sorta soul, sorta rock with a dash of country--hard to categorize but good.

This is from an e-mail I get from a Philly promoter, who's promoting the Glenn/Nels show there next week. It's pretty well-written and it seems like they got pretty fresh quotes from Glenn and Nels, at least some that I hadn't seen before, so I figured I'd post it.

Here it is:

By now, one expects seasoned musicians like Nels Cline and Glenn Kotche to have it all mapped out. The dudes are winners, right? After all, Cline's discography stretches back to 1979 and drops some pretty heavy names along the decades, from Willie Nelson and Rickie Lee Jones to Thurston Moore and Mike Watt. Kotche has played with Maureen Tucker, Jim O'Rourke, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Bobby Conn, and his latest album, Mobile, released this year on Nonesuch, is a fascinating exploration of his rhythmic questions. Plus, both Cline and Kotche insist that they're in some band called Wilco.

But a little more than a month before their first solo/duo tour, sweetly dubbed Alone/Together, the guitarist and drummer aren't quite sure how they will be handling the six East Coast and Midwest dates. Cline will play a solo set, followed by Kotche. They will then pair as an improvisational duo. But it's so improvisational they're not sure what they'll be playing. "I think that is yet to be determined," said Kotche from his home in Chicago. "We did the exact same format at the Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee, and that was pretty much on the fly. I'm sure that, as the tour progresses, we'll get some more ideas." When Kotche and Cline played together in Milwaukee on July 29 (one night before they played the Pitchfork Music Festival separately), they combined a cover of Sonic Youth's "Karen Coltrane" with structured improvisation in several movements and a new piece intended for the Nels Cline Singers, "Caved in Heart Blues".

Cline seemed set on improving upon that set, saying he enjoys the possibilities it offers and that he hopes to turn touring on such material into a regular thing during Wilco downtime. He even said that a duo record, though not in the works yet, "could be really, really fun, especially if we used a lot of overdubs." He's expecting to have fun with these solo sets, too: He mentioned singing into his guitar, playing solo arrangements of Carla Bley tunes and recasting his own compositions as possibilities. "I never do the same thing. It's usually one stream of consciousness. Sometimes I break it in half, but I never know until I show up. I have no plans," said Cline.

September is an important month for Kotche: Before the trip, he will perform at the Modern Drummer Festival in Newark, New Jersey, presented by the magazine of the same name. He's never attended--let alone played--the festival, and he's aware that most drummers at such gatherings take a different approach to playing solo than he does.

"It's supposed to be educational, but a lot of players use it as a vehicle to show what they're technically capable of doing. It doesn't have to be that," said Kotche, who added that he and Death Cab for Cutie's Jason McGerr will be among the only indie rock drummers represented. "I'm looking forward to doing what I do. Some people will enjoy it, and some people will hate it."

He's expecting mostly love on one Alone/Together tour stop: On September 23, Kotche will return to the same University of Kentucky stage from which he delivered his senior recital. Still, he laughs nervously when he talks about that show. "Glenn gets very worked up about these kinds of things. He's very conscientious. I'm pretty sure if Glenn just shows up, it will be great," said Cline.

And Wilco? Cline said that the band's new record is going well. At least 25 songs are in assorted stages of completion, and the band plans to work on it in later this month and then in November.

"The songs are varied and pretty classic as far as the form, nothing too weird. People thinking I'm going to weird-ify Wilco are going to be sadly mistaken when they hear the new record. So far, it's very straightforward," says Cline, who joined Wilco in 2004 after playing live with Kotche in 2003. "But I haven't made a Wilco record, so I don't know what will happen between now and when we're supposed to have it finished in November." Expect something early next year.

Oh, I take it back then, thanks for reminding me. It wasn't one of the most bleh Wilco shows I've ever seen, it was THE most bleh Wilco show I've ever seen.

I dunno, Heids...I might have to cast a vote for William & Mary for most bleh show. (Of course, I wasn't at Constitution Hall. )

Jen, have an awesome birthday!