bböp
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Posts posted by bböp
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15 hours ago, knotgreen said:
Anyway, great review, as always, Paul.
12 hours ago, u2roolz said:Yep, another great review, Paul.
Thanks, guys. I know my readership has dwindled to probably tens of people but they’re quality people! -
11 hours ago, u2roolz said:
I noticed that the FB page for Jeff had Let’s Go Rain for the first Hunter Center show. I’m guessing that most artists have someone that grabs the setlist to post it to FB/social media without keeping track of any additions or subtractions. This seems to happen with lots of bands.
Yeah, exactly! People who don’t keep track at the show as well can’t be (entirely) trusted!I guess this isn’t a problem for most acts that stick exclusively to their setlists, but we know that’s not true with Jeff/Wilco.
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1 hour ago, tinnitus photography said:
Paul, good to catch up briefly after the show!
Tim, ditto! Thanks for saying hi. Good to see you. -
13 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:
Just you and Chuck Berry. Still looking for this one for your collection?
Is that the Golden Voyager record that went into orbit? If so, yes.*
*only seeking a test pressing only, though.
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7 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:
In space, no one can hear your setlist ream.
Bwahahahaha … into the void! -
1 minute ago, Albert Tatlock said:
Altogether now, "Let's Go Rain ..."
We really are just two people talking to each other in a vacuum, aren’t we? 🤣 -
2 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:
Go easy on the new recruit Staff Sergeant Setlist.
Sir, yes, sir! (But accuracy is important! Requesting that Wilcoworld not use setlist.fm as resource because often there can be inaccuracies...)
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9 hours ago, u2roolz said:
-- Susie says that they're not giving the clients any backstage shenanigans which was promised.
"Next Time Around" (Liam Kazar original sung & performed on guitar by Liam.)
-- Liam explains how he met the Tweedy family.
-- Susie tells a story about Liam's father's band, Animal Farm, in Chicago.
Jesus Wept (Mavis Staples cover. Lyrics by Jeff. Spencer on thigh slaps & backing vocals. Liam on bass.)
-- Susie explains that she isn't going to film tonight's show, but she'll follow them to the stage to show what it looks like. She also says that this show might end a bit earlier.
Reincarnation (Roger Miller cover)
-- Susie & Jeff wonder where Paul is.
-- Jeff sings some of Yes' Owner Of A Lonely Heart.
-- Liam looks for some beer for him and Spencer. He brings back some IPAs. Spencer & Liam discuss the taste of their beers.
-- Jeff isn't sure about how much live music they have at Treehouse Brewery.
-- Eric, the owner, comes backstage to let them know that it's ten minutes until showtime.
-- Susie follows Jeff, Spencer & Liam to the craft services area. We can see the extremely nice outdoor venue which looks packed.
-- Susie shows Paul who is sitting in the front row.
-- Jeff, Spencer and Liam say goodbye to the clients.A couple of minor corrections for you, just because I know how much you care about these things...
-Eric is Jeff/Wilco's road manager, not the owner of the brewery (though maybe he'd like to be!)
-I, the #ShowPony , was actually sitting in the second row.
-I think the Liam song is called Next Time Around. He has played it on his own IG live stream shows a few times, but I guess it's either newer and/or didn't make the cut for his forthcoming record (unless it has an obscure title that isn't immediately obvious).
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The third and final show of Jeff's (Long) Weekend In New England tour — apologies to Barry Manilow — was billed as "An Intimate Evening With..." at the lovely flagship location of the cultish Tree House Brewing Company, and it was nothing if not that. Not only was the setting itself intimate, with only a few hundred chairs set up in a makeshift amphitheater just off the side of the brewery's main building, but if you were so inclined, you could have tuned into The Tweedy Show live stream that started at basically the same time as doors opened and (virtually) hung out with Jeff and his bandmates backstage until almost litchurally when they emerged on stage for the show.
It must have been a slightly odd sight, since I know there were more than a few Tweedy Show "clients" in attendance, to see a bunch of people sitting there waiting for a concert all watching their phones and pseudo-interacting with the artists who were about to perform. I mean, really, what else could you want? (I suppose, for a lot of the attendees, the answer is beer. But that's another story.)
The setting, of course, would feature prominently in Jeff's banter over the course of the show. Almost right away Jeff suggested that this might be the first brewery that he and his band had played. He quickly reconsidered that statement, however, before concluding that "no one's been as nice to us at those other stupid breweries." After a couple of songs, he suggested that the audience just keep drinking and joked that his setlist consisted mostly of "cry-in-your-beer songs." And during the solo portion of his set, Jeff related that he was having a nostalgic moment because of the scent of an "onslaught of hops" in the air. He wondered whether it was because his late father — who was well known for enjoying a brewed adult beverage — smelled like hops, but related that it was probably because growing up in Belleville, Ill., across the Mississippi River from the Anheuser-Busch factory in St. Louis (not to mention the smaller Stag brewery in Belleville itself) meant that the smell was always in the air. Near the end of the set, Jeff joked that he planned to resume drinking when he turned 70 — "I think I can handle it by then," he said — so he hoped that Tree House would have him back to play in about 17 years.
Perhaps by then they'll have an actual amphitheater on the premises and be able to accommodate more than the relatively small group of fortunate souls who managed to purchase tickets before they rapidly sold out. Those of us who did get to attend this performance were treated to a similar set of songs, for the most part drawn from his recent solo albums, that Jeff has played in his few live outings over the course of the pandemic. With this three-piece lineup, featuring Spencer Tweedy on drums and backing vocals and Liam Kazar on bass and backing vocals, there are definitely moments when you miss what James Elkington's electric guitar adds to the arrangement of some of these songs but I suppose most of the attendees probably didn't notice since this was probably the first time they were getting to see them played live.
Not that Jeff kept the setlist entirely static by any means, however. For this show, he decided to play Remember The Mountain Bed with Spencer and Liam even though their performance of it on the pre-show backstage stream was apparently the first time they had run through it all together. And for the de facto encore — Jeff decided the band wasn't going to do the charade of going off stage and waiting to be called back — they did a personal favorite cover of mine that wasn't on the setlist, Bob Dylan's "John Wesley Harding," with Jeff adding harmonica for the first and only time during the show, then finished up with another pair of songs that didn't get played at either of the shows at Mass MoCA over the weekend, Let's Go Rain and Neil Young's "The Losing End (When You're On). Personally I thought it was kind of weird to end with the latter, but that was apparently always the plan.
Another highlight was a completely impromptu performance of Pops Staples' "Friendship," prompted by a shouted request from the audience, with both Liam and Spencer taking over vocal duties because Jeff didn't really remember the verses. Together they cobbled it together and got through most of the song (they might have missed a verse, but who's counting), which drew an extra-appreciative cheer from the crowd. Afterward, Jeff told a brief anecdote about how they had played that song once and he heard someone confuse it with the Chris Stapleton song of the same name.
As with both shows at Mass MoCA, Jeff finished up his solo portion of the set and Spencer and Liam re-emerged for a singalong tribute to Biz Markie on the classic "Just A Friend," which wound up serving as a pivot point of sorts for the show since right after that, most of the lights except those illuminating the stage were turned off and that caused sort of a jarring transition where Jeff could see pretty much all of the people in the audience one minute and then just darkness the next. He joked that it was all right because he had already identified the "problem" spots in the crowd. "I know where the chin scratchers are," Jeff quipped.
Anyway, for a show at a brewery where at least part of the appeal for attending the performance for many people was likely the opportunity to purchase and drink the exclusive beer produced therein, there were surprisingly few of those aforementioned problems. Chalk it up to it being a Monday night or to classic New England reserve, but from what I could tell there was very little rowdiness. The overall vibe was quite mellow, which was mostly nice.
Maybe that's why Jeff didn't feel the need to play Passenger Side, though if we're being honest, that was a missed opportunity. Like, you're gonna play a brewery and not play Passenger Side...really? Oh well, I don't think anyone would complain, but in the spirit of The Tweedy Show, I can't let Jeff off the hook completely. #NoOffense
Here was the complete setlist, as played (Doug Sahm's "Give Back The Key To My Heart" was listed as the first song of the encore on the printed setlist, but got cut in favor of John Wesley Harding):
Evergreen
Don't Forget
Having Been Is No Way To Be
Opaline
Half-Asleep
Bombs Above>
Some Birds
Guaranteed
Remember The Mountain Bed
I Know What It's Like
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart*
new song- Hints*
New Madrid
new song-Story To Tell*
Jesus, etc.*
Just A Friend [Biz Markie] (fragment)
A Robin Or A Wren
You Are Not Alone
Friendship [Pops Staples]
Guess Again
Love Like A Wire [Diane Izzo]
Family Ghost
Gwendolyn
John Wesley Harding [Bob Dylan]
Let's Go Rain
The Losing End (When You're On) [Neil Young]
*—denotes Jeff solo
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Given that I've been traversing winding, darkened two-lane roads in rainstorms for the past two nights and the fact that originally these two shows were supposed to just be one, I figured I would just combine both shows into one hopefully not-too-long-winded recap. I don't often put multiple shows into the same recap, but then again, I don't recall a situation quite like this one before, either. Anyway, I assume that the handful of people who read these won't care too much...
Because of the threat of lightning and heavy rain, the powers-that-be at Mass MoCA made the very late call — an e-mail to ticketholders went out Friday night, just over 24 hours before the show was to begin — to move Jeff's benefit concert on Saturday from the familiar outdoor expanse of Joe's Field where Wilco plays its sets at the Solid Sound Festival to the much-smaller indoor space of the Hunter Center inside the museum's main building. In order to accommodate all of those who had purchased a ticket for the show, the museum asked people if at all possible to switch their ticket to a newly added 4 p.m. matinee show on Sunday.
I have no idea the exact number of people who were able to switch to the matinee show, but obviously given the extremely short notice, the Saturday show figured to have more people because there were plenty of folks who either couldn't or didn't want to change their plans. Sunday's show, for which I'm pretty sure you could have walked up and bought tickets at the box office (though that wasn't really publicized), still featured a more-than-respectable turnout but wasn't as packed as Saturday from what I could tell.
At any rate, Jeff and friends — both shows featured a three-piece lineup of Jeff with the usual rhythm section of son Spencer on drums and Liam Kazar on bass, with Nels Cline, who opened both with a mesmerizing solo improv set on both regular electric and acoustic 12-string guitar and effects joining for a couple of songs at the end — made it plenty worthwhile for those folks who were able to catch both sets. And if you couldn't get to Mass MoCA at all, you could just dial up the bulk of both shows on your mobile device of choice via Jeff's wife Susie's Instagram feed. (Tweedy Show Episodes No. 195 and 196, if you're counting! Maybe I'll send Susie out to film shows in the future and just watch and recap them from my couch...just kidding.)
One highlight of both shows was when Spencer and Liam returned to the stage after a short solo set by Jeff and the trio launched into an abbreviated (sans rap) version of Biz Markie's classic "Just A Friend" in honor of the late rapper who passed away Friday at age 57. Jeff spoke on Night 1 about how Biz Markie was "one of my favorites. Such a beautiful, beautiful spirit. I just wish he could be around for a lot longer. Not many people make records where their spirit comes through in every single thing, every single moment of their entire recorded output. Not many people do that. Not many people are themselves the whole fucking time. I’m not. This is a persona I’ve been working on for 30 years.” And on Night 2, he encouraged the audience to sing along and talked about how he loved hearing the collective voice of an audience all singing something together, which had been lacking at the drive-in shows they played during the height of the pandemic due to the nature of the shows and the social distancing therein.
Other highlights, of course, were Nels' contributions to Love Is The King and The Lonely 1 on electric guitar and lap steel, respectively. On Night 1's LITK, Jeff changed a lyric to be "Nels is the king" and Nels obliged by turning in a measured yet spastic solo that really punctuated the song. On The Lonely 1, which featured just Jeff and Nels, the latter beautifully accented the ballad with his lap steel picking. (The full band capped off Night 2 with additional encore song of Airline To Heaven, which was another fun singalong.)
Jeff also chose to perform a couple of new songs during his abbreviated solo sets in both shows, all songs with which regular Tweedy Show viewers were probably at least somewhat familiar. On Saturday, Jeff again played the song Hints (with its chorus of, in part, "there is no middle when the other side/would rather kill than compromise") as well as Please Be Wrong; then on Sunday, he went with the Daniel Johnston-esque Story To Tell with its opening line of "I've been through hell/on my way to hell)," and Say It Plain. Of course, he really could have chosen any number of promising new tunes he has debuted via live stream.
And about that aforementioned live stream, well, it definitely played a role in both shows with Susie filming from various positions in the audience as well as side stage. In addition to giving access to the shows to many more people, it gave Jeff plenty of banter opportunities. During Sunday's matinee show, for instance, he even spoke directly to Susie while she stood at side stage with her selfie stick and asked her if her arm was OK and suggesting that he could go over and hold the stick for a song or two while she came out on stage and sing because she's not only the best singer in the family but also the best drummer and even trumpet player. Later, he joked that he didn't especially like the side-stage angle from which she filmed most of the matinee show because it showed an unflattering view of his "haunches." Jeff carried on a bit in this vein with his "protests," which in turn caused Susie to give him the finger, leave that position, march to a spot directly in front of him and film the rest of the show right in his face as a playful act of revenge.
I'm sure there's plenty I'm leaving out, but I think I hit a lot of the musical high points. I will say that, IMHO, this stripped-down Tweedy band lineup did miss its regular guitarist James Elkington and sometime-backing vocalists Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, who really add another dimension or two to the band's sound. Songs such as Low Key (which was played on Night 1) and Natural Disaster (which didn't make the cut either night) were among those that I think work much better with the full lineup. Jeff even said during Saturday's show something to the effect of figuring out which songs work well with a three-piece band and which don't.
If you asked most people either night, however, they would probably tell you they were just glad to be there, to be seeing live music being played again the way we used to see it, and that in and of itself was something to be grateful for.
Here were the complete setlists, as played, for the two shows at Mass MoCA's Hunter Center:
July 17 (Saturday)
Having Been Is No Way To Be
Opaline
New Moon
A Robin Or A Wren
Bombs Above>
Some Birds
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart*
Please Tell My Brother*
new song-Hints*
new song-Please Be Wrong*
Reservations*
Just A Friend [Biz Markie] (fragment)
Evergreen
I Know What It's Like
Half-Asleep
Don't Forget
Gwendolyn
Desert Bell
Guess Again
Low Key
Love Like A Wire [Diane Izzo]
You Are Not Alone
Family Ghost
Love Is The King&
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The Lonely 1**
July 18 (Sunday)
A Robin Or A Wren
Don't Forget
Having Been Is No Way To Be
Opaline
Ten Sentences
Bombs Above>
Some Birds
Guaranteed
I Know What It's Like
Jesus, etc.*
new song-Story To Tell*
New Madrid*
new song-Say It Plain* [edit/note to self: this seems to have been listed on the setlist as “Universe”]
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart*
Just A Friend [Biz Markie] (fragment)
You Are Not Alone
Evergreen
Guess Again
Family Ghost
Love Like A Wire [Diane Izzo]
Gwendolyn
Half-Asleep&
Love Is The King&
-------------------------------------
The Lonely 1**
Airline To Heaven&
*—denotes Jeff solo
**—denotes Jeff and Nels only (Nels on lap steel)
&—denotes full band and Nels (on lap steel and/or electric guitar)
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3 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:
Bataclan 2007 I believe. I think the Elysee Montmartre has been rebuilt after the fire, though of course the Bataclan had its own darker day if that's what you mean.
Right, that's what I meant...Bataclan. Still can't believe that we were there and what would eventually happen there.
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2 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:
I seem to remember gifting you a Paris ticket stub once after you had mislaid yours - possibly when that mad French guy was trying to start moshing around you (or maybe he was just trying to get a lock of your hair). It's some consolation now to think that there's a part of me always with you.
Ah yes, the pogoing Frenchman! Oy. Had forgotten about the courtesy of your donated stub, however. That was from the sadly ill-fated Elysee Montmartre, no? What times we had...
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8 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:
I've just captured the Bbop segments of the stream and formed them into a loop along with the Everyone Hides cameos to play as a new video installation in an updated section of his shrine situated in my garage. On special festival days I light a jostick rolled from recycled Wilco ticket stubs in his honour, while chanting his meditative invocation "Om Mani Padme Cubs".
P.S. My sect tends to shy away from anything tantric, but once in the garage visitors can feel free if the spirit moves you (as long as you clean up after yourself).
I hope to pay a visit to see this exhibition in person some day…perhaps I can even make a donation? -
3 hours ago, M Christine said:
I don’t know how bbop can be expected to carry out his job responsibilities with that much harassment.
😄
This is what I’ve been saying!
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First off, this is going to be kind of a difficult recap for me to write because of some, ahem, shenanigans that were going on throughout most of the show. I fully admit to being a bit distracted — in the best possible way — so thankfully there wasn't much banter at all to chronicle. Anyway, I'm not going to elaborate, but if you know, you know...
This was going to probably be a slightly weird show no matter how you cut it. First off, the band was booked as part of a three-day festival in a minor-league stadium near the outpost of Rockford, IL, between the feel-good 90s vibes of the Gin Blossoms (Friday night) and Rock and Roll Hall Of Famers and hometown legends Cheap Trick (Sunday). I mean, between those three, I can imagine which show a local person would skip to enjoy a little Fourth of July revelry if you weren't going to attend every day of the inaugural Long Play Music Festival. And then let's (maybe not) get into the band that "opened" for Jeff and Co., the Too Hype Crew — a self-described "World Famous Old Skool Hip Hop Party Band" — from Chicago who I'm pretty sure played a longer set than Jeff and his band did. Though to their credit, they did give Jeff a shout out at one point.
As it was, Jeff seemed to want to cram as many songs as he could into the time allotted. The band took the stage about 10 minutes earlier than scheduled, at 9:21 p.m., right after the promised fireworks show — that, ahem, those of us gathered toward the front of the stage couldn't really see — and played till just after 11. This was a significantly longer set than, for example, the Gin Blossoms played the night before.
Perhaps it was because of the aforementioned inability to see the fireworks at the front of the stage that there was seemingly a very sparse crowd right up until the band took the stage. Some of us who had gone up early sort of nervously looked around at each other and were like, 'Is this it?' Fortunately, the crowd definitely filled in as the show went on, though I can't really say with any accuracy how full it actually got (probably not very, I'm guessing, given the relatively vast space) in the outfield of Rivets Stadium.
As for the show itself, Jeff just seemed very happy to be playing music with all his friends and bandmates — maybe for the last time for a long time. Who knows when this group will have a chance to be on stage together again with Wilco and Ohmme both getting set to go back on tour and Liam Kazar putting out his new record in August? So it was really a treat to get to see them perform collectively, and in a non-drive-in setting (no offense) that felt almost like a real show again. Even though the setlist didn't feature any real surprises, especially if you attended one of the aforementioned drive-in gigs or otherwise have seen this band perform material from Love Is The King, it's still a joy to see these songs played live with a full band and a bonafide PA system.
For me, it's really fun to see this configuration of the band, too, because of the counterbalance that Sima and Macie bring to the relatively serious rhythm section of Spencer and Liam. I think some of you who couldn't attend but nonetheless got to watch via the strength of one woman's right arm would probably agree with me that both through their backing vocals and instrumental talents — especially Macie on violin — and just their smiles and stage presence, the Ohmme-mates bring a certain je ne sais quoi that completes the full "Jeff Tweedy" experience.
At Rivets, the band seemed to really hit its stride in the back half of the set. There was a possible audible to Love Like A Wire, the Diane Izzo cover that is often a part of its set, and Jeff even opened up a bit banter-wise, albeit to talk about guitarist James Elkington's gold Telecaster. I didn't really get the full gist, but I think it might have been the most Jeff said all night, outside of introducing the group. Then the three-song encore, capped by California Stars with the ladies of Ohmme taking a verse and Liam also chipping in on vocals, was just pure crowd-pleasing singalong delight for a lovely summer evening.
I guess that's really about all I can report from my end. It was nice to see some familiar mask-less faces again, of course, and as Jeff said early on, just nice to be out of the house. Though I know it won't be too long before Jeff takes the stage again, something about this one — despite a kind-of weird setting and vibe — felt at least like something resembling normalcy again. And if nothing else, I think that definitely made the evening a success.
For the record, here was the complete setlist as played (by the core Tweedy band with James Elkington on electric guitar, Liam Kazar on bass and Spencer Tweedy on drums, as well as Sima Cunningham on electric guitar and tambourine and backing vocals and Macie Stewart on violin and backing vocals):
I Know What It's Like
World Away
Love Is The King
A Robin Or A Wren
Opaline
Half-Asleep
Don't Forget
You Are Not Alone
Bombs Above>
Some Birds
Having Been Is No Way To Be
Gwendolyn
Evergreen
Low Key
New Moon
Guess Again
Love Like A Wire [Diane Izzo]
Family Ghost
Natural Disaster
Let's Go Rain
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Don't Let Me Down [The Beatles]
Give Back The Key To My Heart [Doug Sahm]
California Stars
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1 hour ago, lucca said:
Jeff Tweedy
Rivets Stadium
Loves Park, IL
July 3, 2021intro
I Know What It's Like
Love Is The King
A Robin Or A Wren
Opaline
Half-Asleep
Don't Forget
You Are Not Alone (Mavis Staples)
Bombs Above
Some Birds
Having Been Is No Way To Be
Gwendolyn
Evergreen
Low Key
New Moon
Guess Again
Love Like A Wire (Danny Izzo)
Family Ghost
Natural Disaster
Let's Go Rain
Don't Bring Me Down (The Beatles)
Give Me Back The Key To My Heart (Doug Sahm)
California StarsThe band sounded great. Night was perfect. (Lots of space so crowd chatter was at a minimum) Great show
Thanks for the report. Just few tiny corrections for you...
First off, Love Like A Wire [Diane Izzo]. Also, you forgot World Away as the second song. And the band fully left the stage after Let's Go Rain, so the last three songs (including Don't Let Me Down and Give Back The Key To My Heart — no 'Me'
) were a true encore.
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1 hour ago, u2roolz said:
Wow! Susie, thank you for the surprise stream tonight from the show! The sound was amazing! Very unexpected! Glad I caught the notification in time.
I don’t want to “cross the streams” with Paul, so I’ll wait for him to report. The Paul cameos were gold. Lol
More like bronze...
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1 hour ago, Albert Tatlock said:
Did I just get rickrolled?
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6 hours ago, u2roolz said:
-- Jeff jokes that he wants to stretch out the show because Paul's cell phone is running out of battery and he has no power in his house.
I was getting nervous, and not because of the "threat" of an Uncle Tupelo deep cut!
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3 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:
The UK band apparently contained the original writers of the song who had a more clean cut Peter and Gordon/no guitar solo style hit with it in the 60s, and they wrote the theme for the famous coke ad "I'd like to teach the world to sing" amongst other things - one of which I knew below. Also one of them was in Blue Mink. So that's one piece of useful knowledge that's come out of today.
Now this isn’t the sort of discussion I expected when I started this thread! -
6 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:
Different group, same song (I think). The Congregation were from the UK, predictably called "The English Congregation" in the US to avoid confusion with the lot you mentioned. I stress that I did not know that off the top of my head. Also, "The English Beat" brings me out in a rash. They are THE BEAT.
Funny, if true — and I know you knew that straight off! Can't fathom why two separate groups called (nearly) the same thing would record the same song...too many hallucinogens, perhaps.
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6 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:
Funnily enough I heard that on the radio when driving back from Scotland yesterday. (Johnny Walker's Sound of the 70s show - which is a bizarre mixture spanning prog to punk)
Maybe we can agree on a compromise with Wilco supported with a 'clients' choir.
Oh, Mike Curb. I see those records all the time! Eh, let's not and say we did?
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18 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:
Thanks for making me feel so special.
Meanwhile, this is the sort of thing I want from Wilco when I see them next. I want to get sweaty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5O1aLO87k
I think maybe those days are over, if they ever were, but maybe not these?
The Tweedy show
in Just A Fan
Posted
Of interest to no one but us two, the “Say It Plain” song seems to have been listed on the printed setlist as “Universe,” so I guess you were right!