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Yeah, I asked Nels when he and Julian are coming to play a Chicago date and he said it's "pretty much inevitable." I think Nels might be in town in February sometime doing some Wilco stuff, so maybe there will time for a gig then but I'm not sure...

As for the musical performances, I think they probably deserve a thread of their own so I'll start one later in After The Show...

Yeah, Nels and Julian really do play wonderfully together. After a recent show I caught in NYC, I thought to myself, "It seems like they've been playing together for years." But I think they just met earlier this year, through, appropriately enough, Jim Hall. I think this might be a (the?) collaboration that Nels brings to Solid Sound next year. Anyway, for lucky folks in the Northeast who have a chance to catch this little tour they're doing this week, it's definitely well worth the effort!

Sorry no one answered your question, Tim, but let me try now that I've had a decent night's sleep. I assume you mean Albini's interview with stats guru Nate Silver? This happened around 10 a.m. and it was another in the series of on-stage interviews he's done with in interesting folks over the years. I'm not that bright, so I couldn't report with a tremendous amount of accuracy what they talked about, but basically the first part of the interview dealt with Silver's initial success with baseball and developing the PECOTA model to predict player performance. PECOTA was named after Bill Pecota,

For the record, the bidding eventually got up to 30k, but the Tweedys generously offered to do four shows for 28k apiece if all of the groups bidding at the later stages of the auction contributed that amount. This wasn't the first time they've done four shows — it's happened twice before, I believe — but I think it was the highest per-show price yet. At any rate, the amount of money raised over the years as a result of Susan and Jeff's generosity has been truly staggering and made such a difference for so many people. So they deserve all the credit they get — and then some.

White light and white heat, right?

Thanks for the link (and the compliment), sir! Quite odd — to me, anyway — that a Minnesota paper would go to the expense of covering a random show in Colorado, so I have to assume that Mr. Riemenschneider is originally from the area or had some other reason for being there (e.g. was on a ski vacation or something). I didn't report the Morrissey comment because it's one that Jeff has often made when the aroma of nearby grilling meats wafts up to the stage. Riemenschneider seems to suggest that the joke that the show "would be over by now" had to do with the weather when it really was an allu

There were some kind of heating implements on stage, at least I think so. If you were fairly close to the stage, you could probably see these monitor-like things connected by big white tubing to what appeared to be gas tanks of some sort. So maybe those helped, as well as the stage lights? A lot of the acts were also using those portable hand warmers (à la the Residency) so perhaps some of the guys had those in their pockets as well? I guess the cold also affects different people differently. I was quite frozen the first night of the fest as well as in line last night. But by the time Wilco

Nope, she wasn't with them in Vail. A guy whose name I didn't totally catch but might have been Matt was playing lead guitar.

Good to meet you as well. I don't think I even caught your name, though. Sorry about that. It's still a bit awkward when people "recognize" you out of the blue, especially when you're freezing. Glad you survived the cold!

Wilco's final show of 2012 — as the closing act of the three-day Vail Snow Daze festival — was an abbreviated one because of a 10 p.m. curfew, but it proved to be pretty memorable nonetheless. That was due in no small part to the weather conditions, which were what you might expect they would be outdoors at night during winter in a town that's more than 8,000 feet above sea level. It snowed lightly throughout most of the show and was probably 10 degrees (or less) by the time it was over. So needless to say, there were a lot of bundled-up people — both on stage and in the crowd. Jeff played t

It was a nice event to honor 18 years of service by Emanuel Congregation's Cantor Michelle "Shelly" Drucker Friedman. Dexter Walker and Zion Movement, the gospel choir in the peach-colored robes some of whom can be seen in the picture, was pretty awesome. I counted nearly 50 of them, which made for a diverse range of voices that nonetheless blended together beautifully. They played about six songs themselves and then added handclaps, etc., while Jeff and others performed. Jeff himself played four songs, which he said were some of Shelly's favorites among his compositions: Airline To Heaven

Hadn't seen anything about this, so figured I'd post a link (just noticed it's a mobile link so hopefully it works on regular computers, but if not, I'm sure you can find the story on The Hollywood Reporter site)... http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/news/wilco-this-40-judd-apatow-383991

I meant that it's interesting that they're paying tribute to Levon by recreating or re-enacting something that he was never a fan of. And a portion of the proceeds are going to benefit the fund to save his barn and home and keep the Midnight Ramble sessions going. I'm not criticizing it, just trying to point out that it's a little weird that they're choosing to honor Levon by rehashing an event he never really liked. But what else could they do, I guess?

Er, apparently I've been to 600 of those so I guess it's more or less accurate... Sounds like a great way to close out the latest European excursion! Glad you guys got to hang out, and sorry I couldn't be there with you (especially to see some drunken Norwegian Gaslight Anthem fans). I definitely think the European Solid Sound express should happen, though. There are at least a few beering spots in town, O Queenie — and I hope you've arrived back home safely, by the way. All best to Mrs. Queenie.

The irony, of course, being that Levon hated the whole Last Waltz thing...at least according to his memoir.

Yeah, it was interesting when I saw that on the setlist "Wilco" posted on Facebook. I believe Elena is one of the promoters they work with in Spain; the band has sometimes referred to "Olga and Elena" helping them out in Spain in interviews and such. How did she do?

Damn, that's a pricey ticket. I'd hate to see what the going rate is for a "big" foreign act...

They've should've gotten Daan... I saw Sky Blue Sky got played as well, if Wilco's Facebook setlist is to be believed (which sometimes it's not). If so, a couple of pretty good nuggets for Stuttgart. Thanks for the report, O Queenie!

Oh, really? That kind of takes some of the "bite" out of that encore. Too bad...

Scott Amendola just posted on Facebook that the Nels Cline Singers will be doing a four-night residency at Duende in Oakland in January! (It's Jan. 23-26, to be exact.) Crossposting from the event page... "Each night of this residency will feature two sets of music: The first by the trio exploring music new and old; the second collaborating with a different special guest! Special guests to be announced closer to the shows." Ticket info (already on sale) and more details on the gigs here.

My new fave expression...Bloody Dundonians!

Man, he *always* steals my wallet and the will to live...

Ah. I defer to your expertise in all matters Eurosport, sir!

Good find, Major General! Enjoyed reading that. Too bad our resident Scot (aka Señor Queenie) isn't seeing any of these Italian/Spanish gigs, I don't think, so he can report back on his countrymen. I often wonder how the support slots for some of these European shows are doled out. Doesn't seem to be any discernible connection between the HJs and Wilco, so perhaps it's up to the promoters? I see that a different act, Ozark Henry, is slotted to open the upcoming German gigs.