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FYI, Rob, that setlist isn

I dunno. The instruments did work after a bit (and that was hardly the only technical problem all night). It just seems to me like a parody or whatever wouldn't really be in keeping with the respectful spirit of the show, but I could be wrong.

No, it was definitely a bit weird. They kind of had that freak folk, hippieish vibe. I remember that Heath Ledger introduced them as "my friends," but who knows if that's really true?

Yeah, that makes more sense. Once it was announced, I wrote it down that way and admittedly sort of stopped worrying about what song it was. Should have known better. I edited my setlist above--thanks for the heads up.

Nice description by MattZ. The Roots killed -- how did that guy do a flying leap off the stage with his tuba on? -- and there were some other solid performances--MMJ (with Jim James sporting a nice pair of mutton chops.), Yo La Tengo, etc. But definitely a bit of a trainwreck, which almost all tribute shows turn out to be in one way or another. Fun for sure, though. Here was the setlist, as best I could piece it together: -When The Ship Comes In -- Marcus Carl Franklin (w/Joe Henry on acoustic guitar) -? (instrumental) -- Calexico -Goin' To Acapulco -- Jim James (lead vox) and Calexico -S

i was coaxed, yes.

(I am mending, thanks for asking...)

Barring that, I said to Sam that what they really should do is play all their epic-length songs really, really fast on the "short of it" night and then draw all their shorter songs way out for the "long of it" show. Seriously, though, the bottom line is I enjoyed last night's show. Of course I wish some of the song choices had been a little different, but it was the first time they've done this. The thing about this tour is I think the "long" show is going to inevitably become fairly standard because how many of those 8- to 10-minute songs do they really have? Whereas I think the "short" ni

Here was the setlist for last night's "Short Of It" show at the Vic: Oceanside Shiny My Mother Was A Chinese Trapeze Artist Angel, Won't You Call Me? I Don't Mind O Valencia! Billy Liar The Soldiering Life (w/Steve Moore on trombone) Lesley Ann Levine Eli, The Barrow Boy The Engine Driver Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) (w/Laura Veirs on vocals) The Culling of the Fold The Perfect Crime No. 2 The Chimbley Sweep -------------------------- A Cautionary Song After the Bombs>Ask (Smiths) It was a treat to hear the 5 Songs record in its entirety (well, except for Apology Song). The band

FYI, before anyone else gets too excited, the venue in Wellington is now listed as the dreaded "TBA" on Wilcoworld. Did someone realize that maybe that was too small a place? Looks like they also took down one of the Melbourne dates.

Just wanted to add my wishes for a quick recovery, Lou. Hope you're back to yer old self soon!

I'm pretty sure Sam means the guitar. Nowadays I would think that Nels probably doesn't have to rely on it nearly as much as he did in the less lucrative "old days," but I hope it will still show up from time to time and not go completely into retirement.

Looks like mid-to-late March will be busy for those of you Down Under: New dates

Will you be a grumpy Brit, though? Sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously, though, I feel badly for all you regional folk who got hit with bad luck this time. Here's hoping that there's some rescheduled gigs soon. I still want to do the "Songs From Northern Britain" tour!

Yeah, seriously. Here's hoping everyone and their loved ones make it through this safe and sound.

Would you feel better if you knew that one of the band members was sick or something? 'Cause that'd be the same situation as this in terms of the lost fees and stuff. I'm sure they'll reschedule the cancelled dates as soon as possible. Remember, Winnipeg also got some bad luck when Nels was sick earlier this year so you guys aren't the only ones. I know that the band takes cancelling any dates very seriously and that they wouldn't do it if there wasn't a good reason for it.

uh, hate to burst your bubble but you might want to check out this thread in the "Just A Fan" forum about all of the UK dates being cancelled.

Maybe they got offered Saturday Night Live, like Spoon did.

I always love reading interviews with Nels because he's a really thoughtful guy, but there were some horrible misspellings in that piece. I mean, in this day and age, how hard is it to Google things? I'm sorry, but it just bugs me that they can't spell Paul Motian right and they apparently didn't know that Minutemen is one word. Or that the British band that Nels referred to was spelled Padow. (It's, of course, Patto). Sorry for the rant. Just the editor in me rearing his ugly head.

I [heart] Sound of Lies. My favorite Jayhawks record. Obviously Wilco has proven that good music doesn't always require tough times and struggles. But those sorts of emotions can produce some wonderful music as well, as in the case of SoL. I'd also nominate their subsequent album, Smile, as underrated as well. It's not the classic Jayhawks twangy sound, but I always love listening to it. (I'm sure that's heresy to some people.) Re: Flowers of Romance, I remember reading that Glenn said he was listening to that record a lot when he recorded YHF and specifically, I Am Trying To Break Your Hear

Yeah, I figured there would be. I just kind of scrolled through quickly to see if there was any thread titled "New Yorker" or anything and there wasn't, so I went ahead and posted it. Mods: feel free to merge this into that other one or whatever you guys want to do.

Just got through reading an interesting piece by New Yorker pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones in this week's issue about why indie rock has become so "white." He makes some interesting points, including a brief mention of Wilco toward the end. He likes Being There, apparently, but not YHF so much. Too much so-called "noise" for him. He also seems to make the, to me, absurd point that mainstream country is more "soulful" than Wilco (in the accompanying audio interview on the New Yorker's Web site). Anyway, I agree with him on some points he makes in the piece--though far from all of them. Th

Happy brithday, Wendy. Try not to go to too many shows, will you?... You're making me look bad!

I think Nels was involved with this film as well. Probably as a session player on the score, if I had to guess. (Wonder if he'll get credited by name?) Anyway, I'm pretty sure I remember him saying before a New York show earlier this year that he had spent the day recording stuff with Lee Ranaldo and others for the Dylan movie.

I wasn't at the show, but this review came up on a Google News alert and I had to post this snippet. It's a favorable review, but I gotta say that this is the worst butchering of Glenn's name that I think I've ever read: There was the lighthearted alliteration of "I am Trying to Break Your Heart," the country flavor of "Forget the Flowers," Geoff Koch's jarring drum outbursts in "Via Chicago," the sloppy solos that make "I'm the Man Who Loves You," except on electric guitar - which didn't really appeal to me - and the overwhelming positive energy of "The Late Greats." But there was also the