indy81

I wouldn't care quite as much about the ban on taping if they actually put new shows in the Roadcase or on Nugs. It's been over a year with no new shows. Pretty silly.

In the meantime, we're lucky there are some intrepid tapers who managed to capture some shows from this year. 

Annoying that the Scottsdale show is general admission, lawn only. Sounds like everyone is going to be sitting on low-rise lawn chairs and you can't stand.

I got the CD deluxe box - nice package and lengthy essay/oral history, but are there really no recording notes? i.e. no descriptions of when the alternate and in-progress versions were recorded? Is this info available elsewhere?

It's a very subtle, "headphones" album. I'm not sure how well the songs translate live (based purely on listening to audience recordings, not from attending a show).

Some of the best lyrics of Jeff's career, really extraordinary

Me last week: this whole "play the entire Star Wars album" is getting a little old

Me this week: they're not playing "You Satellite," "Taste the Ceiling," and "Magnetized"?!

I've found that I can enjoy the music-only version that was later released. The narration used to annoy me.

The music-only Psychoderelict is one of Townshend's best solo albums. There are some great songs on there. Releasing it with all the dialogue was a disastrous mistake - but he was deep in his Tony Awards phase back then, and was way too committed to melding rock and theater.

Is it heresy to say "Neil Young: almost everything after 1979"?

I've only listened once, but this strikes me as their best since Ghost Is Born. Then again, this is exactly the kind of Wilco I like. More stripped down, rockin' without being too dad-rocky, melodic but unconventional. Really, really strong stuff, and a nice surprise!

Never thought I would skip a Wilco show when they were so close to me, but the heat plus the exorbitant ticket prices were just too much to deal with. I also figured we'd get a festival set without many of the rarities they'd been playing.

I can't help feeling a little schadenfreude when I hear about the promoters handing out free GA tickets (which were $85 or so, right?) Much respect for the folks who went and stuck it out, though! Sounds like you saw a nice performance. Hopefully next time the band comes back to one of the many fine theaters in the Phoenix/Tucson area.

Saw both shows in Phoenix and they were outstanding. The spectacle is jaw-dropping, but doesn't swallow up the band, in my opinion. There are plenty of songs where it's just the four guys playing, with the screen dark. And when they use the screen, it makes sense thematically. The new songs have a lot more kick than on the album. They're clearly still working out the setlist; both shows ended somewhat anti-climactically, and the second half of the show is too "greatest hitsy" for me (although I'm sure I was in the minority there). I'd like to see a couple more rarities. First 75 minutes are brilliant, though.

It's never going to be 1987-1993 again, but I've been seeing U2 for quite a while now, and the quality and intensity of performance, as well as the amount of thought put into their live shows has never significantly waned. Tickets aren't cheap, but I'd recommend going if you're a fan. You never know when you'll get another chance, especially in a relatively small venue.

Jeff did make a joke about how Liam Cunningham was only in the band because he went to school with Spencer, and if we could hear him in the mix, something was terribly wrong. Liam, at the rear of the stage, responded by silently shredding on his guitar. Pretty funny.

Great to hear a recording is on the way!

Great show - I honestly enjoyed this more than the last few times I've seen Wilco. Very intimate performance in the small theater, and the Sukierae songs were excellent. I requested "Solitaire" a bunch of times on the website, so I was especially happy to hear that one.

It was a pretty chill crowd, and I don't believe the show was sold out. Tweedy scolded us for not applauding enough before the encore. "That was bullshit. We've been playing really hard for two hours. We came back because we want to play, not because you gave it up enough." That led to louder cheers, and we were told things were now OK. We did lose an encore song, though.

Pretty hard to pay $85 plus service charges to see Wilco in a baseball park in Scottsdale when I'm paying $36 to see Tweedy in a 1,200 seat theater in Tucson.

If you have Red Rocks tickets, I'd hold onto them. I think I'm going to pass on Scottsdale, as much as it pains me to miss a Wilco show. But I've seen them enough times in the front row that I don't need to pay $100 for the privilege. If I had a reserved seat in the first few rows, it would be one thing, but to get a GA seat and stand in the triple-digit temps for hours...

Debating whether or not to get a ticket for the Scottsdale show. Wilco rarely comes to AZ, so I feel like I should take advantage. But a daytime show (5:30 start) at a baseball field with $85 tickets...oof.

I think they've just got more slow songs in their catalog than they can fit, even across six nights. As far as "Whole Love" songs, I think "Black Moon" and "Rising Red Lung" are two of the best songs on the album. I hope they make a comeback at some point.

What a great run of shows. It's easier to post what they didn't play than what they played. All of YHF, A Ghost Is Born, and all the Tweedy/Bennett songs from Mermaid 2 were performed.

A.M.

I Thought I Held You, That's Not the Issue

BEING THERE

(Was I) In Your Dreams

MERMAID AVE.

Christ for President

SUMMERTEETH

We're Just Friends, My Darling

SKY BLUE SKY

Sky Blue Sky, Please Be Patient With Me, Leave Me (Like You Found Me)

WILCO (THE ALBUM)

Solitaire, Sonny Feeling

THE WHOLE LOVE

Sunloathe, Black Moon, Open Mind, Capitol City, Rising Red Lung

Dark Neon was a revelation -- wow. I didn't realize just how good that would sound live.

General admission tickets on the floor are $68, upper level are $30-$100. They're only gouging you if you absolutely must sit in the lower bowl. Those seats subsidize the others. Socialism!

Those Roadcase shows had better not exclude the Wilco (the Album) songs.

EDIT: cool, looks like they're included.

No MP3 option for the Buffalo show? I'd rather not pay extra for something I'm going to convert anyway.

Wilco played "Give Back the Key to My Heart" in Austin last year.

JD and the Straight Shot? Knicks owner James Dolan's vanity project? Pretty prestigious company!

"Why Why Why" sounds pretty good, though.

Plant's new album is outstanding, for what it's worth.

C'mon, the U2 album is no classic but it's certainly better than the last couple Coldplay albums. Let's not get crazy.

In terms of career trajectory, this album is the equivalent of the Stones' "Bridges to Babylon." Maybe that puts things in perspective in terms of what people should be expecting, creatively, from U2.