Jump to content

Jeff Tweedy February 7, 2009 - Letters To Santa Living Room Show


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 97
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Cool story here. The initial request was for Nothing Up My Sleeve (from the YHF demos). Jeff swore that he had no idea what this song was. Which resulted in some back and forth with us singing it to him, and him insisting that he has no idea what it is. So, as a consolation prize, Chris demanded a "new song" that has "never been played before" that will be on the new album. Tough crowd indeed. The debut of Deeper Down was the result.

 

Nice work, Chris. :)

 

To everyone involved, thank you for sharing your stories! :thumbup I'm so happy for you guys! However, I'm not going to lie, I'm a little jealous too- that is one awesome setlist... I just hope someday I can be involved in one of these shows. :blush

 

Anyway, for those who heard the new song (Deeper Down) Do you think you can share the lyrics, please, if you remember any? :D

Link to post
Share on other sites
My pictures

 

Unfortunately, a lot of them are blurry, and I haven't added any captions yet. I knew Morgan and Charles were taking pictures during the show (and I'm sure theirs will be beautiful) so I didn't bother taking many then. :)

 

Haha, awesome. Thanks Elizabeth. I brought my camera and didn't end up with one freaking picture. Kicking myself. Was great to see yours. :)

 

 

Anyway, for those who heard the new song (Deeper Down) Do you think you can share the lyrics, please, if you remember any? :D

 

The lyrics were pretty intense if I remember right. I dont remember any of the specifics, but it was a song about love and longing and searching (or something like that). Seemed more direct in an SBS-type way (as opposed to IATTBYH). I know I am not giving you much here. It was pretty overwhelming and I was stunned by the chords and changes. Really a beautiful song.

 

One other story about this song that I should have mentioned above. When he was done playing it, and someone asked the name of the song, he replied that it was called Diver Down. And he said that it was named after the Van Halen album. Then he told the story of how Queen named all their albums after Groucho Marx movies. And how once, they sent him a letter telling him what a big fan of his they were and that they wanted to name their current album after his current movie. To which he replied by letter, sure, the name of my current movie is The Rolling Stones Greatest Hits. Maybe you had to be there. Anyway, when we were done laughing, he admitted that he was kidding, and that the name of the song is Deeper Down, not Diver Down.

Link to post
Share on other sites

do any of the guitar geeks remember what Jeff said about tuning his guitar down so that the strings are loose and sound like "rubber bands"? I dont remember how far down he said he tuned. Did he say that he tuned down one full step? And then I guess he capos at 2? Or did he say he tunes down a full octave? That can't be, can it?? I guess we will get the audio soon enough.

 

Speaking of which, for the guitar geeks, three stories:

 

1. he had his signature kick-ass j-45 with him, and 3 songs in, broke the high E string while tuning. He had 3-4 other guitars there, so the j-45 was retired for the night and i was heartbroken.

 

2. he had a breedlove guitar with him that he apologized for because it was "new" and not "broken in" (of course it sounded great). But when Sue heard this comment, I guess she shot him a dirty look, and he said to her "don't worry I didn't BUY it, they SENT it to me." Could have been a playful husband/wife back and forth in any living room across the country with a husband that mysteriously ended up with another guitar, and the wife who rolls her eyes and gives him a hard time for it. It's happened to me plenty of times.

 

3. he also had a guitar which, I have to admit, I was too busy listening to and didn't observe (I was in the back), that he said is a guitar that he rarely tours with, but is the guitar that he used to record a lot of the songs that he played on Saturday. then he launched into california stars, and i'll be damned if it wasn't a perfect recreation. I mean, literally perfect. Wonderful.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Matt, that last post made me really happy. :) Your enthusiasm for the guitars is infectious. It makes me miss my grandpa's guitar (I never could really play anyway), which my sister kidnapped a year or two ago. I've thought about getting another one - maybe an acoustic would be easier to fool around with than an electric.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Matt, that last post made me really happy. :) Your enthusiasm for the guitars is infectious. It makes me miss my grandpa's guitar (I never could really play anyway), which my sister kidnapped a year or two ago. I've thought about getting another one - maybe an acoustic would be easier to fool around with than an electric.

 

Haha cool. I am happy just thinking about it, too. :) Go get yourself a guitar!

 

I swear, I wanted to tell him to just take five minutes and change the dang string on that J-45, but I figured that I was the only one who cared.

 

Also, one other story, while I am on it. When he played New Madrid, and he got to the "they all come from New York City" part, I silently pumped two celebratory fists above my head in the back row, and I think he saw me and smiled for a split second. Just sort of a cool silent/unspoken moment. I have heard that song IN new york city, but its always better when I literally have come from NYC. Maybe he didnt really see me, but I think he did. And maybe he was just happy that I didn't stand up and say wooooooooooooooo! Warner probably would have killed me if I did (and who could've blamed him).

 

Too many stories to type.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks Matt (and everyone else).

Regretting missing this night. Your stories are wonderful.

Great shot with the Fort Wayne tshirt, Wendy. Looks like he's caving!

Link to post
Share on other sites
do any of the guitar geeks remember what Jeff said about tuning his guitar down so that the strings are loose and sound like "rubber bands"? I dont remember how far down he said he tuned. Did he say that he tuned down one full step? And then I guess he capos at 2? Or did he say he tunes down a full octave? That can't be, can it?? I guess we will get the audio soon enough.

Matt, I'm not a guitar geek, but he definitely said one whole step. Other than that, I can't help much. And that "new" Breedlove was a beautiful guitar.

 

Also, one other story, while I am on it. When he played New Madrid, and he got to the "they all come from New York City" part, I silently pumped two celebratory fists above my head in the back row, and I think he saw me and smiled for a split second. Just sort of a cool silent/unspoken moment. I have heard that song IN new york city, but its always better when I literally have come from NYC. Maybe he didnt really see me, but I think he did. And maybe he was just happy that I didn't stand up and say wooooooooooooooo! Warner probably would have killed me if I did (and who could've blamed him).

 

Too many stories to type.

Since I was sitting right next to you, I can say he definitely noticed your fist pumps and smiled. :thumbup

Link to post
Share on other sites
he had his signature kick-ass j-45 with him, and 3 songs in, broke the high E string while tuning. He had 3-4 other guitars there, so the j-45 was retired for the night and i was heartbroken.

 

Here is the aforementioned busted string

 

chaslor shot? Awesome.

 

No expectations please ;) From a fixed position, my snaps will be only 2.5% better than your average ones. I actually used a little film camera (Leica) most of the time, have not even seen the results yet. I'll post a few once I get them back. The real keeper from this show (besides our lifetime memories) will be from Warner. Can Not Wait.

 

What a fine show! Thanks to those who made it happen, you know who you are. One of the highlights for me was Feed of Man, which Lori has been requesting on the tours for quite some time. Let's hope he hands it to Nels for a full blown version.

 

Special thanks to Morgan and her family, the hospitality was overwhelming. The food spread alone was incredible.

 

charles

Link to post
Share on other sites
Matt, I'm not a guitar geek, but he definitely said one whole step. Other than that, I can't help much. And that "new" Breedlove was a beautiful guitar.

 

Yeah, he said a whole step. I sort of can feel Jeff's pain on this, as I've tuned my guitars down a half / whole step or put them in strange tunings a lot, and the looser the strings are on the fretboard, the harder it is to lock them down to a tuning that will stick for any length of time.

 

Jeff always seems endearingly self-effacing at these things, apologizing on the guitar tunings and the occasional lyric misstep. Surely he realizes that he could sing the entire set in Swahili, playing a ukelele, and we'd all still be pretty happy. ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites
3. he also had a guitar which, I have to admit, I was too busy listening to and didn't observe (I was in the back), that he said is a guitar that he rarely tours with, but is the guitar that he used to record a lot of the songs that he played on Saturday. then he launched into california stars, and i'll be damned if it wasn't a perfect recreation. I mean, literally perfect. Wonderful.

 

I'ts a pre-war Martin. A 000-18, I think. I have a picture of Bob Goins (the instructor from the Wilco Ensemble) sniffing it.

Link to post
Share on other sites

well, i just got home. i had a great time at the pre-party at edie's and at the show. i'm still sick and am too tired to go back and think about the amazing night in detail. just thanks again to everyone involved in organizing and hosting all of the festivities. just like last year, the one thing that i tell all my friends and family about my trips are how extremely generous everyone involved is. matt, thanks for the ride after the show. i jumped outta the car before i could say that. i definitely appreciate not having to pay for a cab! i also didn't have a chance to say bye to you, Charles and Lori, before i hopped out. it was great meeting you!

 

i had asked jeff to play Another Man's Done Gone, but he said he never learned it properly on the guitar :rolleyes later when he signed my poster i said that i'll be requesting the band to play it when i get to see them next, so hopefully one day i'll hear that song. Getting to have him play Nothingevergonnastandinmyway(again) was a great consolation prize though! Feed of Man was possibly my favourite of the night. His vocals were AMAZING and super powerful!

 

i'm glad you guys liked my little ceramic charms. they were fun to make! the posters are amazing. i'll have to get them framed and add them to my collection. even though i was sick, it was so great to see so many of you again, and to meet all of you first timers. everyone is so damn nice and easy to talk to! can't wait until i bump into some of you again!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...