Letters to Santa

[gogo]

I will say that the very first one was quite a bit more free-wheeling, due in part none of us having done it before and having no idea what to expect. It ended up with a ridiculous number of covers and huge singalongs.

True! Even Jeff didn't know what to expect!

 

 

"What's the best concert you've ever been to?" is pretty much an impossible question to answer, but the first Basement Show comes to mind more often than any other.

Yes, absolutely.

[cryptique]

My living room show experience back in March was one of the high points of my whole year, if not the whole decade so far.

 

We were sad not to be able to join in again this year, but I'm happy that our absence means that some other folks will be able to enjoy one of these shows.

[j4lackey]

My living room show experience back in March was one of the high points of my whole year, if not the whole decade so far.

 

We were sad not to be able to join in again this year, but I'm happy that our absence means that some other folks will be able to enjoy one of these shows.

Ditto, here.

[Preferred B]

The Hotel S'n'S show has been fantastic each and every year I've attended it (which has been three so far) but as others have pointed out, detailed discussion of each show for all the groups can be found in the VC archives.

 

The 24-hour benefit is another highlight of every December for me, and this one was no exception. It's been five years now and I can still never quite believe I'm allowed to pay $10 for the privilege of sitting a foot away from the likes of Robbie Fulks, Sally Timms, Janet Bean, Jeff Tweedy, the Deal sisters, Steve Albini, Kelly Hogan, and the amazing cast of actors over the course of twenty-four freaking hours. For a wonderful charity. But it keeps happening, so it must be real!

[aricandover]

did Will Oldham ever show up?

[Preferred B]

No, word was that he had a family emergency. He did offer an auction item of handwritten lyrics to the song of your choice.

[bobbob1313]

If anyone's interested in a (Potentially embaressing) write up of one of last year's shows, complete with pictures and set list, head on here

[what i once was]

I asked Heather when we were backstage after the auction to share with us winning bidders about what kind of families they have helped in the past. I like hearing about that.

 

She said this story was from last year. It was a family consisting of a mother with many little children, NOT PROPERLY CLOTHED considering the fact that they lived in a terrible run-down old and cheaply-built (i.e. probably very poorly insulated) home that had ... NO HEAT. In Chicago. In December. They had NO CURTAINS in their home but instead had newspaper in the windows to attempt to keep out the cold.

 

I don't know what she does to find their degree of need, but that qualifies for needy in my book. If you still have questions, you might get some answers by contacting the post office. Since ANYONE can pick a Letter from Santa from the post office and help someone in need, perhaps they have some helpful information about how to choose a family to help. And really you could have asked her on the spot last night, I'm sure she would have answered that question for you. She has done this for many years.

 

Thanks. The family you described was definitely a needy family. I've adopted families using social service and school suggestions- not in the amounts SC's benefit will. I've heard some disappointing stories people selecting on their own. $10,000. for a well chosen family would be an amazing gift of hope. You must feel great. Have fun!

[yankee]

Pretty much the same deal at the shows I have been to. The "OTS Wilco Ensemble with the real Jeff Tweedy" show I went to last year as a bonus was a ton of fun.

 

Yes, this one was a blast!!!

 

The recording did circulate at some point but we were slow to share since we wanted to make sure it was OK with Jeff. There's also a thread here with lots of photos and stories. The OTS Wilco Ensemble has done 2 living room shows with Jeff, so there's a thread in here from the 2006 show somewhere too.

[gogo]

Because this comes up a lot and people want to hear about the past shows (and then they're sorry when they actually see the threads and they're all just gushy ) and because I'm bored at work today and don't really feel like doing any actual work, here are the threads from the previous shows:

 

1/29/05

 

1/14/06

4/8/06

(there was one more in 2006, wasn't there? I can't find the thread...)

 

2/17/07

2/24/07

3/3/07

[ZenLunatic]

Because this comes up a lot and people want to hear about the past shows (and then they're sorry when they actually see the threads and they're all just gushy ) and because I'm bored at work today and don't really feel like doing any actual work, here are the threads from the previous shows:

 

Thanks for the time.

[what i once was]

Thanks Great! Sorry you're work is boring today. Hope it doesn't happen often...if it does, do yourself a favor and change jobs. Life's too short not to find your work interesting and challenging.

Anyway, you've just added a new dimension of pleasure to my work place. Thanks again.

[Dreamin']

This year's show(2007), was recorded, but the only person who has a copy, is the guy who recorded it.

Maybe he will release it after Neil Young releases the Archives.

[aricandover]

Maybe he will release it after Neil Young releases the Archives.

 

he claims the discs are ready.

[Dr. Steve Brule]

He did offer an auction item of handwritten lyrics to the song of your choice.

 

(which hasn't been chosen yet!)

 

Brianne is right about the event. I cannot believe more people don't make the effort to come and attend it. Tweedy always plays in the evening at a decent time, and everything else is just icing. I've gone every year (this is the sixth) but only recently started staying for the entire thing, mostly out of respect to the comedians. Here's my pictures from this year.

[passenger]

(there was one more in 2006, wasn't there? I can't find the thread...)

 

That was the first Wilco Ensemble show. 1/28/06. I know there's a thread, because Mel won the award for "best first-time poster" But I'm completely clueless about how to search the archives on this site since the format changed.

[gogo]

Unfortunately, that thread may be lost. The archives cut off in December 2005, and the stuff saved here seems to start up again in April 2006. So the 1/14 show from that year is still there, because somebody posted in that thread again in April, but I'm afraid that anything that existed just between 12/7/05 and 4/7/06 is gone.

 

Here's the link to the setlist on wilcobase, though, and if you all have any links to pictures, maybe post them here, and they'll be in the archives through this thread anyway.

[yankee]

Unfortunately, that thread may be lost. The archives cut off in December 2005, and the stuff saved here seems to start up again in April 2006. So the 1/14 show from that year is still there, because somebody posted in that thread again in April, but I'm afraid that anything that existed just between 12/7/05 and 4/7/06 is gone.

 

Here's the link to the setlist on wilcobase, though, and if you all have any links to pictures, maybe post them here, and they'll be in the archives through this thread anyway.

 

Here are some 2006 photos with the Old Town Schoo Wilco Ensemble.