Was your town blown off by Wilco? Vent here!

[Ghost of Electricity]

no one ever comes to Poland. sob.

[ritchie45rpm]

Yup Poland is a bad gig, mate.

 

I am still gutted that the closest the "European" tour gets to me in Scotland is one date in London (now sold out) and one festival appearance up the @rse end of nowhere in Wales. Two dates per 50 million people seems a low average. Having cancelled the Newcastle show I was going to two years ago on the Sky Blue Sky tour, I will need to hope they come back over next year and venture out across the north of the UK....

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

I have a feeling Toronto is going to be neglected for a while. No idea what we did to piss 'em off, but I guess Wilco is joining the ever-growing list of American acts who don't play here anymore. Hrm. I guess it makes sense to skip a small town of only several million people, though. The crowd would probably end up being really small.

 

Your drive to Lewiston is less than half of mine, and you're also only four hours to Royal Oak.

 

onan, I definitely feel sympathy for you. I hope at some point you can travel to see the band, or that they come to Poland sometime soon. For everyone who's complaining here, imagine what it would be like if Wilco rarely if ever played in ENTIRE COUNTRY. Complaining about having to make even a three or four hour trip seems pretty petty compared to that.

[SeattleC]

no one ever comes to Poland. sob.

 

PJ Harvey did recently

[jmacomber68w]

Was waiting for them to possibly add shows. In the meantime, the tickets to tiny little places like Pomona sold out. I don't know why any bands encourage driving long distances. I consider that to be anti-fan (and pro-carbon). Go ahead and play small places. Just don't let it be at the expense of missing population centers. Or make it for some little non-album tour.

 

I do not think the band is encouraging long driving distances. If you look at their tour, they are playing almost every night. They obviously should have just used their powers to add more days to the months of June, July, and August. Your right, Wilco sucks! Bunch of jerks

[merkattack]

I am still gutted that the closest the "European" tour gets to me in Scotland is one date in London (now sold out) and one festival appearance up the @rse end of nowhere in Wales. Two dates per 50 million people seems a low average. Having cancelled the Newcastle show I was going to two years ago on the Sky Blue Sky tour, I will need to hope they come back over next year and venture out across the north of the UK....

 

It would also be nice if they had a few more non-festival dates in the end-of-summer European tour. It's hard to justify two €100+ tickets to see only one band, even if it IS Wilco.

[PB808]

I do not think the band is encouraging long driving distances. If you look at their tour, they are playing almost every night. They obviously should have just used their powers to add more days to the months of June, July, and August. Your right, Wilco sucks! Bunch of jerks

 

Yeah, Tweedy is a jerk.

 

There's no need for extra days in the months. It's all about how he used them. Tweedy did three shows at the Wiltern in L.A. and zero in San Diego. It's probably the most pretentious tour schedule ever. we don't have the "important" people here. It's just a nice beach city. Not stark enough for Tweedy, apparently.

 

The drive from San Diego to an 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. show at the Wiltern is not a road trip. It is hell. Why not play a show at the Wiltern, a show at the Greek and a show in the 7th-largest city in the country? Because finicky Tweedy wants eclectic venues. In other words, the venue is more important than the 'fan.'

 

Perhaps it's because SD doesn't suffer humourless, self-important whiners, no matter how well they can write a song.

[cryptique]

Yeah, Tweedy is a jerk.

 

There's no need for extra days in the months. It's all about how he used them. Tweedy did three shows at the Wiltern in L.A. and zero in San Diego. It's probably the most pretentious tour schedule ever. we don't have the "important" people here. It's just a nice beach city. Not stark enough for Tweedy, apparently.

 

The drive from San Diego to an 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. show at the Wiltern is not a road trip. It is hell. Why not play a show at the Wiltern, a show at the Greek and a show in the 7th-largest city in the country? Because finicky Tweedy wants eclectic venues. In other words, the venue is more important than the 'fan.'

 

Perhaps it's because SD doesn't suffer humourless, self-important whiners, no matter how well they can write a song.

Hey Jay, glad to see you're playing a show in SD on 7/15.

[choo-choo-charlie]

C'mon people, are we really gonna start this up again? To call Wilco anti-fan is just ridiculous. Hope you all have enjoyed the countless free downloads, the roadcase, webcasts and access to other materials. Wilco doesn't have to give away so much stuff - but they know the advantages of doing so, in terms of building an audience.

 

You're not going to get much sympathy here about having to drive [long] distances to see shows. A large chunk of Wilco fans are rabid enough that they're going to make the trip, wherever they have to go, just to see them. This subject has been beaten to death here.

 

And - keep in this mind - Wilco, as in the band members, actually have little to do with plotting their tour. That's why most bands, including ones of this stature, have agencies that do this for them. It's not Wilco's job to figure out where they're gonna play, negotiate contracts, deal with promoters/venues, etc. Their job is to write songs, rehearse, show up and rock out.

 

If you wanna gripe about this, gripe to High Road Touring, but don't blame the band.

[bobbob1313]

Yeah, it's probably a 17 hour drive to Vienna, VA, the closest Wilco show this summer from me.

[JerseyMike]

1) The individual members of Wilco, including Tweedy, are not involved with building a tour. Tony Margherita talks to High Road, High Road talks to the promoters they work with in each town and field offers, they send the offers they get to TM and he confirms them.

 

2) The dates Wilco have played and booked so far this year have been mostly "routing" dates, which means they are basically playing cities in order to get to a certain destination. For instance, Wilco needed to play Bonaroo. Its a huge deal and festivals usually pay much more than a normal venue, but it wouldn't make a whole lot of financial sense just to go to Bonnaroo and back (especially when tour buses cost no less than $1,000 to rent and run per day), so they play dates to and from. Same goes for LA. Wilco NEEDED to play The Tonight Show to support the record, so they booked a bunch of shows around it. If you have noticed, almost all of the cities that they have and will play are secondary markets where they wouldn't be playing on an official album promo tour like, for instance, El Paso or Tuscon..

 

3) Summer venues...summer is the chance to play the larger outdoor places. Do you think Wilco will only play Keyspan Park in Brooklyn after realeasing a new record when they could easily play The Beacon for several nights and make a lot more money?

 

4) The band will be touring for probably a year and a half-two years behind this record. They will have plenty of time to hit big cities like San Diego (which, by the way, is notorius for its lack of good venues and promoters) and I'm sure they will, just wait patiently. I'm sure there will be Theater tours in the fall, winter and the spring followed by festivals and outdoor shows next summer.

[choo-choo-charlie]

1) The individual members of Wilco, including Tweedy, are not involved with building a tour. Tony Margherita talks to High Road, High Road talks to the promoters they work with in each town and field offers, they send the offers they get to TM and he confirms them.

 

2) The dates Wilco have played and booked so far this year have been mostly "routing" dates, which means they are basically playing cities in order to get to a certain destination. For instance, Wilco needed to play Bonaroo. Its a huge deal and festivals usually pay much more than a normal venue, but it wouldn't make a whole lot of financial sense just to go to Bonnaroo and back (especially when tour buses cost no less than $1,000 to rent and run per day), so they play dates to and from. Same goes for LA. Wilco NEEDED to play The Tonight Show to support the record, so they booked a bunch of shows around it. If you have noticed, almost all of the cities that they have and will play are secondary markets where they wouldn't be playing on an official album promo tour like, for instance, El Paso or Tuscon..

 

3) Summer venues...summer is the chance to play the larger outdoor places. Do you think Wilco will only play Keyspan Park in Brooklyn after realeasing a new record when they could easily play The Beacon for several nights and make a lot more money?

 

4) The band will be touring for probably a year and a half-two years behind this record. They will have plenty of time to hit big cities like San Diego (which, by the way, is notorius for its lack of good venues and promoters) and I'm sure they will, just wait patiently. I'm sure there will be Theater tours in the fall, winter and the spring followed by festivals and outdoor shows next summer.

 

 

THANK YOU!!!!! For expanding upon what I said. Seriously. Folks need to educate themselves a little bit more about how tours work before they start their belly-achin' and cryin' about not getting a show that's "close enough." Quit thinking about yourselves so much and try thinking about what Wilco has to do to put bread on the table and pay the bills. It's not the record sales, I'll tell y'all that much. This tour is NOT over either - it's gonna continue on and you'll all likely get a shot at Wilco playing your BBQ or neighborhood block party. JerseyMike, you da man.

[jlb1705]

Why don't you just move to a city that Wilco doesn't hate?

[Maggie]

I realize that I'm late to the party and have nothing of substance to contribute, but I'll post anyway.

 

I don't take it personally when a favorite band doesn't come near me, but yeah, I'm slightly disappointed that I'm not going to see Wilco this summer. Despite being an adult with a half-decent job I simply don't have the resources to travel for much of anything, let alone a concert. I'm paying off college loans at a rapid pace, forgoing the purchase of a car for as long as I possibly can, among other expenses that most people consider necessary to their everyday lives. I'm lucky to make it to one or two shows a year, Wilco or not. I choose carefully.

 

I think it's perfectly fine for us to feel bummed and maybe even complain a little bit. I realize Jeff doesn't sit down and make a list of his favorite cities, intentionally leaving me out. It's still rough that it's going on three years since the one and only time I saw the guys play "my" city. No one wants to be left out of the fun.

 

It's all good though. I'll being seeing Son Volt for free this summer. At least someone has my best interest in mind.

[zuma]

1) The individual members of Wilco, including Tweedy, are not involved with building a tour. Tony Margherita talks to High Road, High Road talks to the promoters they work with in each town and field offers, they send the offers they get to TM and he confirms them.

 

2) The dates Wilco have played and booked so far this year have been mostly "routing" dates, which means they are basically playing cities in order to get to a certain destination. For instance, Wilco needed to play Bonaroo. Its a huge deal and festivals usually pay much more than a normal venue, but it wouldn't make a whole lot of financial sense just to go to Bonnaroo and back (especially when tour buses cost no less than $1,000 to rent and run per day), so they play dates to and from. Same goes for LA. Wilco NEEDED to play The Tonight Show to support the record, so they booked a bunch of shows around it. If you have noticed, almost all of the cities that they have and will play are secondary markets where they wouldn't be playing on an official album promo tour like, for instance, El Paso or Tuscon..

 

3) Summer venues...summer is the chance to play the larger outdoor places. Do you think Wilco will only play Keyspan Park in Brooklyn after realeasing a new record when they could easily play The Beacon for several nights and make a lot more money?

 

4) The band will be touring for probably a year and a half-two years behind this record. They will have plenty of time to hit big cities like San Diego (which, by the way, is notorius for its lack of good venues and promoters) and I'm sure they will, just wait patiently. I'm sure there will be Theater tours in the fall, winter and the spring followed by festivals and outdoor shows next summer.

 

solid post. this pretty much covers it all!!!

[PB808]

1) The individual members of Wilco, including Tweedy, are not involved with building a tour. Tony Margherita talks to High Road, High Road talks to the promoters they work with in each town and field offers, they send the offers they get to TM and he confirms them.

 

2) The dates Wilco have played and booked so far this year have been mostly "routing" dates, which means they are basically playing cities in order to get to a certain destination. For instance, Wilco needed to play Bonaroo. Its a huge deal and festivals usually pay much more than a normal venue, but it wouldn't make a whole lot of financial sense just to go to Bonnaroo and back (especially when tour buses cost no less than $1,000 to rent and run per day), so they play dates to and from. Same goes for LA. Wilco NEEDED to play The Tonight Show to support the record, so they booked a bunch of shows around it. If you have noticed, almost all of the cities that they have and will play are secondary markets where they wouldn't be playing on an official album promo tour like, for instance, El Paso or Tuscon..

 

3) Summer venues...summer is the chance to play the larger outdoor places. Do you think Wilco will only play Keyspan Park in Brooklyn after realeasing a new record when they could easily play The Beacon for several nights and make a lot more money?

 

4) The band will be touring for probably a year and a half-two years behind this record. They will have plenty of time to hit big cities like San Diego (which, by the way, is notorius for its lack of good venues and promoters) and I'm sure they will, just wait patiently. I'm sure there will be Theater tours in the fall, winter and the spring followed by festivals and outdoor shows next summer.

 

That's the way it usually works, but there's not on this tour. This time around it's all about venues. Summer is a great time to play some great outdoor venues. That's why it sucks Tweedy blew off the San Diego State Open Air Theater, a great, non-notorious venue in San Diego.

 

But Tweedy, Tony and High Road took an ultra-pretentious approach to this tour. That's why Wilco played three dates at the Wiltern in LA and one at some obscure theater in Pomona (LA suburb) instead of one or two at the Greek and one in San Diego. It was more important to repeatedly hit the small places (the Wiltern and the Pomona Theater)four times than it was to play at SDSU, where they played last time.

 

You need a geography lesson (in addition to a San Diego venue lesson) if you think Wilco/High Road couldn't have placed a SD show

in the dates you say they booked around the Tonight Show. SD is an easy 2-hour bus drive during the afternoon (and a brutal 3- or 4-hour nightmare at show time) from L.A. They could've played here without a problem -- it made absolute sense to play here actually -- but they chose another 1,000-person date at the Wiltern instead of a show at SDSU where they would've sold more than the capacity of the Wiltern.

 

Perhaps they didn't get the right offer from a SD promoter (if you think they all suck, you're ignorant of the guy at The Casbah), but I actually asked High Road what was happening. They ignored me. Margherita sent an answer deferring to High Road, but High Road was too important to answer.

 

Anyway, I'm all for Wilco playing Bozeman, MT or Tuscon and doing a show at the Wiltern, which is an incredible place to see a great band. But why do three Wiltern dates at the expense of blowing off SD? The only logical answer is pretense.

[caliber66]

Actually, the only logical answer is:

 

 

 

[cryptique]

That's the way it usually works, but there's not on this tour. This time around it's all about venues. Summer is a great time to play some great outdoor venues. That's why it sucks Tweedy blew off the San Diego State Open Air Theater, a great, non-notorious venue in San Diego.

 

But Tweedy, Tony and High Road took an ultra-pretentious approach to this tour. That's why Wilco played three dates at the Wiltern in LA and one at some obscure theater in Pomona (LA suburb) instead of one or two at the Greek and one in San Diego. It was more important to repeatedly hit the small places (the Wiltern and the Pomona Theater)four times than it was to play at SDSU, where they played last time.

 

You need a geography lesson (in addition to a San Diego venue lesson) if you think Wilco/High Road couldn't have placed a SD show

in the dates you say they booked around the Tonight Show. SD is an easy 2-hour bus drive during the afternoon (and a brutal 3- or 4-hour nightmare at show time) from L.A. They could've played here without a problem -- it made absolute sense to play here actually -- but they chose another 1,000-person date at the Wiltern instead of a show at SDSU where they would've sold more than the capacity of the Wiltern.

 

Perhaps they didn't get the right offer from a SD promoter (if you think they all suck, you're ignorant of the guy at The Casbah), but I actually asked High Road what was happening. They ignored me. Margherita sent an answer deferring to High Road, but High Road was too important to answer.

 

Anyway, I'm all for Wilco playing Bozeman, MT or Tuscon and doing a show at the Wiltern, which is an incredible place to see a great band. But why do three Wiltern dates at the expense of blowing off SD? The only logical answer is pretense.

I just got off the phone with Glenn, and he said they're never playing San Diego again, all because of you.

[choo-choo-charlie]

That's the way it usually works, but there's not on this tour. This time around it's all about venues. Summer is a great time to play some great outdoor venues. That's why it sucks Tweedy blew off the San Diego State Open Air Theater, a great, non-notorious venue in San Diego.

 

But Tweedy, Tony and High Road took an ultra-pretentious approach to this tour. That's why Wilco played three dates at the Wiltern in LA and one at some obscure theater in Pomona (LA suburb) instead of one or two at the Greek and one in San Diego. It was more important to repeatedly hit the small places (the Wiltern and the Pomona Theater)four times than it was to play at SDSU, where they played last time.

 

You need a geography lesson (in addition to a San Diego venue lesson) if you think Wilco/High Road couldn't have placed a SD show

in the dates you say they booked around the Tonight Show. SD is an easy 2-hour bus drive during the afternoon (and a brutal 3- or 4-hour nightmare at show time) from L.A. They could've played here without a problem -- it made absolute sense to play here actually -- but they chose another 1,000-person date at the Wiltern instead of a show at SDSU where they would've sold more than the capacity of the Wiltern.

 

Perhaps they didn't get the right offer from a SD promoter (if you think they all suck, you're ignorant of the guy at The Casbah), but I actually asked High Road what was happening. They ignored me. Margherita sent an answer deferring to High Road, but High Road was too important to answer.

 

Anyway, I'm all for Wilco playing Bozeman, MT or Tuscon and doing a show at the Wiltern, which is an incredible place to see a great band. But why do three Wiltern dates at the expense of blowing off SD? The only logical answer is pretense.

 

 

You've missed something here - Tweedy doesn't make the decisions. "Tweedy" didn't blow off the San Diego State Open Air Theater, "a great, non-notorious venue in San Diego." No offense, but I'm sure that High Road have items much higher on their priority list than responding to angry, whiny fans about a show not getting close enough to them.

 

Actually, the only logical answer is:

 

 

 

 

hilarious! and the undisputed truth. waaaaaah. i'm done on this topic.

[jlb1705]

I just got off the phone with Glenn, and he said they're never playing San Diego again, all because of you.

[cryptique]

I've cracked up several times today at the idea that someone can be "pretentious" in planning tour stops.

[PB808]

I've cracked up several times today at the idea that someone can be "pretentious" in planning tour stops.

 

 

I figured it would come to copping out with name-calling and bullshit after showing the tour is more about venues than fans.

[PB808]

You've missed something here - Tweedy doesn't make the decisions. "Tweedy" didn't blow off the San Diego State Open Air Theater, "a great, non-notorious venue in San Diego." No offense, but I'm sure that High Road have items much higher on their priority list than responding to angry, whiny fans about a show not getting close enough to them.

 

 

 

hilarious! and the undisputed truth. waaaaaah. i'm done on this topic.

 

 

Yeah, Tweedy doesn't make decisions about where the band will play. High Road, without Tweedy's permission, booked them in Tuscon, Pomona and the Mountain Winery (the week after Heart played there).

 

Look, it'd be a cool non-album tour -- skipping Chicago and playing relatively obscure venues and all -- but Jesus, can you not understand why there's a degree of arrrogance and pretense to not bringing the show where people want to see it?

[caliber66]

Yeah, Tweedy doesn't make decisions about where the band will play. High Road, without Tweedy's permission, booked them in Tuscon, Pomona and the Mountain Winery (the week after Heart played there).

 

Look, it'd be a cool non-album tour -- skipping Chicago and playing relatively obscure venues and all -- but Jesus, can you not understand why there's a degree of arrrogance and pretense to not bringing the show where people want to see it?

Can you not understand that you're just pissed that Wilco is not coming to San Diego? There are thousands of cities Wilco will not be playing this tour, and it's not because they feel like being pretentious. You're just taking it personally, and that's understandable, but you'll probably just have to get over it.

 

And you haven't "shown" anything about the tour, other than that Wilco will be playing L.A. and not San Diego.

[cryptique]

I figured it would come to copping out with name-calling and bullshit after showing the tour is more about venues than fans.

You haven't shown anything in this thread except your own penchant for bellyaching.

 

 

I'd respectfully suggest that you not dig this hole any deeper, but I doubt you'd follow my advice. So by all means, tell us again how Wilco are "anti-fan."

 

Better yet, call Tweedy a "self-important whiner" again. The best laughs come from irony.