Pomona 6/20/2009

[magcat]

Just got back from the Pomona show at the Fox Theatre. Awesome.

 

Great venue, the band played for, if I read the SMPTE counter on the sound board correctly, 2 hours and 23 minutes, almost without taking their foot off the gas the whole time. It was far better than when I saw them a couple of years ago in Santa Barbara on the Sky Blue Sky tour. (Not that that was a bad show, at all). I really thought the venue was perfect for Wilco (a compact, beautiful old theatre), just big enough to pack in a big crowd but quite intimate. Pomona is a really strange, cool town. It's on the eastern edge of the metropolitan Los Angeles area, but it feels more like something that you'd find growing by the railway tracks in New Mexico or someplace. (In fact it did grow by the railway tracks, they just happened to be the ones that ran into LA). It's a college town with seemingly more tattoo parlors than bookstores. I thought the town itself added something extra to the show, just being there on a perfect, cool summer desert night.

 

Some of my favorite songs of the night: One Wing, Hate it Here, Passenger Side, Can't Stand It. Lots of other great stuff too... They closed with "Monday" followed by "Hoodoo Voodoo". Or, I might be confused. (I'm not a setlist person at all). I loved it when Tweedy took off the guitar and gave his best Elvis-in-Vegas rendition on "Hummingbird." "Theologians" was really good... not usually one of my favorite songs but they nailed it.

 

Jeff said, "This is the first time we've played this one" before "Deeper Down" from the new record, so I guess that means they'd never played it in front of an audience before, which was a cool footnote.

 

The band felt very rock n' roll, had quite a swagger to them. At first Tweedy seemed kind of aggressive or something on stage (when he sang "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" he pointed at the audience with a fire in his eye that made you think, 'what've I done to deserve that?'), but as the show went on he started having a good time and was really hamming it up. (See "Hummingbird.") His hair looks like Jerry Harrison's 'do at the Talking Heads' pinnacle right now -- a tangled bird's nest sticking out in every direction. Maybe the best part of the show for me was Glenn's drumming, which was just fantastic. He beat the kit into submission and then some. At times I'd almost get hypnotized watching him churning out the beats back there.

 

Got a little worried early in the show when Jeff said mysteriously, "We're approaching the end of an era. More on that later." 2/3 of the way through the show he explained: It was Pat's 40th birthday. (Probably at midnight, since they played well after midnight). They brought him out a chocolate cake with a candle on it, then the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

 

The opening band was bizarre -- picture a mid-70's bar band who are into Supertramp, the Allman Brothers and Pink Floyd, dressed like Jesus Freaks (complete with a bongo player in a muumuu), teleported to the stage of a Wilco show, much to everyone's surprise. All that was pretty cool, except they bored the hell out of me because they took themselves so seriously. (Are you kidding me? I thought). Numerous people were yelling at them to "Go Home!" "Get off the stage!" etc. throughout the set. Not exactly a good way to warm the crowd up. Maybe they'll go over better at the Wiltern in LA next week, heh heh.

[bböp]

Some of my favorite songs of the night: One Wing, Hate it Here, Passenger Side, Can't Stand It. Lots of other great stuff too... They closed with "Monday" followed by "Hoodoo Voodoo". Or, I might be confused. (I'm not a setlist person at all).

 

Here's the complete setlist for you :

 

["The Price Is Right" theme music intro]

Wilco (the song)

IATTBYH

Bull Black Nova

You Are My Face

One Wing

A Shot in the Arm

Radio Cure

Impossible Germany

Deeper Down [live full-band debut]

Pick Up The Change

Can't Stand It

Jesus, etc.

Hate It Here

You Never Know

Theologians

Walken

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Hummingbird

----------------------

Passenger Side

California Stars

Misunderstood>happy birthday to Patrick Sansone outro

Spiders (Kidsmoke)

----------------------

[crowd sings happy birthday to Patrick Sansone]

Kingpin

Monday>

Hoodoo Voodoo [w/cowbell cameo by monitor tech Steve]

[Preferred B]

Deeper Down, then Pick Up the Change, then Can't Stand It? Are you kidding me?

[billydee]

Sweet looking show....they're starting to mix it up nice.

Thanks for the update folks!

[lost highway]

How'd they pull off Deeper Down? Rusty first try, or did it live up to the recording?

[Atticus]

Deeper Down, then Pick Up the Change, then Can't Stand It? Are you kidding me?

 

just what I was thinking

[ryann7739]

How'd they pull off Deeper Down? Rusty first try, or did it live up to the recording?

 

my friend said "dope". That's all I've heard so far.

[LouisvilleGreg]

According to my setlist scorekeeping section in the new Wilco tourbook, there were 7 tour debuts at this show. Some really nice variation too. I wonder if anyone in the band is filling out the setlist stat page nightly? It could explain some of the deep cuts popping up just over a week into the tour.

[silsurf]

A couple of high points on the show last night.

 

Heading into the solo break of Impossible Germany, Jeff SG fails, Matrix the roadie comes out and there is five minute scramble of wires while they try to figure out the issue. Meanwhile Nels is building his lead into a ferocious extended play version that will make this night's IG memorable. They completely miss the rejoin where Jeff comes back in with Nells for many measures. Ultimately Matrix comes out with a BACKUP SG!, I laughed when I saw that. The crowed roared and they ended the song in fantastic manner.

 

As a side I was almost overwhelmed with the number of guitar changes. I believe Jeff changed his for every song until the second encore when must have just figured *&^K it. Even John changed basses quite a bit and Nells had some whack merchandise to display such as a electric mandolin and a double neck guitar.

 

They other wonderful audience moment was when Jeff went over to the front of the stage, dropped into the photo pit and let these two little girls (kids) strum his guitar for the first built up of Kidsmoke. A few songs earlier he had pointed directly at them and said "You guys are awesome!", On Kidsmoke he just sat there and held the chords while the girls strummed, he then climbed back onstage barely making it for the first downstroke of the crescendo. It was fantastic.

 

All in all it was a great show, not for th emusic in my mind. I have seen much better rendtion so f almost every song (except they have perfected Misundertood), but th evibe, the venue, the feel was there, the band was enjoying themselves and that REALLY makes a difference.

 

So glad I went, next up for me is Berkeley

[gogo]

The guy who collapsed in the pit (twice!) was cheerfully enjoying the continental breakfast at the Comfort Inn this morning.

[bböp]

All in all it was a great show, not for th emusic in my mind. I have seen much better rendtion so f almost every song (except they have perfected Misundertood), but th evibe, the venue, the feel was there, the band was enjoying themselves and that REALLY makes a difference.

 

I would agree with a lot of that, for sure. It was far from their best show technically, but sometimes that makes for a better (or at least from the audience perspective, more lively) show. Jeff had a few very minor lyric flubs and the sound seemed kind of hit-or-miss at times and Jeff didn't seem entirely comfortable with his equipment for at least the first part of the show. Impossible Germany was looking dire when his SG went out, but Matrix definitely saved the day and Nels' improvisatory genius really paid off and made for a memorable version of that song.

 

It's hard to say re: Deeper Down after just hearing it live once. It sounded pretty good to these ears, though I'm sure it will get better with more practice. They've been working on it since Spain, I know, so it was great to finally hear it. I know this much: Nels is in serious multi-task mode, playing both his lap steel and a I think a Jerry Jones Neptune "Shorty" Octave 12 string. (It looks like one, anyway. A mandolin size instrument but with a wider body.) I'm sure someone got a good picture of him sitting on his stool with the lap steel and the Jerry Jones around his neck. I think Pat also doubled on guitar and keyboard, as he does on One Wing, but I'm less sure of that. And Glenn gets to use his drum tube, which I'm sure he enjoys.

[silsurf]

I would agree with a lot of that, for sure. It was far from their best show technically, but sometimes that makes for a better (or at least from the audience perspective, more lively) show. Jeff had a few very minor lyric flubs and the sound seemed kind of hit-or-miss at times and Jeff didn't seem entirely comfortable with his equipment for at least the first part of the show. Impossible Germany was looking dire when his SG went out, but Matrix definitely saved the day and Nels' improvisatory genius really paid off and made for a memorable version of that song.

 

It's hard to say re: Deeper Down after just hearing it live once. It sounded pretty good to these ears, though I'm sure it will get better with more practice. They've been working on it since Spain, I know, so it was great to finally hear it. I know this much: Nels is in serious multi-task mode, playing both his lap steel and a I think a Jerry Jones Neptune "Shorty" Octave 12 string. (It looks like one, anyway. A mandolin size instrument but with a wider body.) I'm sure someone got a good picture of him sitting on his stool with the lap steel and the Jerry Jones around his neck. I think Pat also doubled on guitar and keyboard, as he does on One Wing, but I'm less sure of that. And Glenn gets to use his drum tube, which I'm sure he enjoys.

 

All in all there was a LOT much "production" than the last time I saw them (Tanglewood), which is fine, but every member had moments where there was a roadie adjusting and changing things for them. I have never seen anyone help Glenn before, but he had all kinds of support throughout the show.

 

Those guys are getting very polished.

 

Henry

[Captain Juice]

I also was mystified and slightly worried by the "end of an era" comment, but it turned out great in the end. Definitely a couple lyrical flubs, but Jeff handled them well, including one instant (forget which song) in which he motioned to the crowd that he had just skipped ahead a verse. The crowd did much better at keeping the clapping beat during Spiders than I saw on the Sky Blue Sky tour (San Diego/Santa Barbara). There's just this weird tendency to start quickening the pace once Glenn stops keeping the beat. Anyway, it was a fantastic show all in all, one of the best I've seen. Hopefully I can find a way to make it to a Wiltern show.

[r1vers]

I would agree with a lot of that, for sure. It was far from their best show technically, but sometimes that makes for a better (or at least from the audience perspective, more lively) show. Jeff had a few very minor lyric flubs and the sound seemed kind of hit-or-miss at times and Jeff didn't seem entirely comfortable with his equipment for at least the first part of the show. Impossible Germany was looking dire when his SG went out, but Matrix definitely saved the day and Nels' improvisatory genius really paid off and made for a memorable version of that song.

 

It's hard to say re: Deeper Down after just hearing it live once. It sounded pretty good to these ears, though I'm sure it will get better with more practice. They've been working on it since Spain, I know, so it was great to finally hear it. I know this much: Nels is in serious multi-task mode, playing both his lap steel and a I think a Jerry Jones Neptune "Shorty" Octave 12 string. (It looks like one, anyway. A mandolin size instrument but with a wider body.) I'm sure someone got a good picture of him sitting on his stool with the lap steel and the Jerry Jones around his neck. I think Pat also doubled on guitar and keyboard, as he does on One Wing, but I'm less sure of that. And Glenn gets to use his drum tube, which I'm sure he enjoys.

 

 

I've got a picture. Looked that way to me, I was at the bar right in front of him. I'll post it here mid-week. Any tapers out there? Great, great show tonight. Lots of crowd interaction and just very relaxed feel. Nels was amazing on Impossible Germany covering for Jeff. Loved that version. He just came right back into it without any trouble at all..it was all so seamless and though I saw/heard Jeff say f*** during that moment, as soon as he got the new SG swapped in he was all smiles again. Great night. Great venue.

[anthony]

Wow. What a great show. Great setlist with a good mix from AM to W(TA). Neat to hear some of the new stuff live – especially BBN. Deeper Down sounded good - just like the record. Radio Cure was an unexpected pleasure as was Hummingbird.

 

Like others, I thought it was a great venue. I was a couple of rows back in front of Nels (very near where the kids got to strum Spiders – what a cool moment). Very cool to see Nels work his back of tricks. He can get amazing sounds out of the guitar. Not just feedback/noise, but other odd effects, like in Radio Cure and IATTBYH. Great watching so close.

 

I think The Highlight was IG. The guitar troubles of Jeff forced Nels (and band) to improvise much longer and made it a one-of-a-kind. When JT finally comes back in, you feel the triumph. Brilliant “happy accident” that one likes to see from live shows.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to hear how good the SBS songs were when played live. Especially Hate It Here and YAMF. Crowd seemed to really love the beefy refrain of HiH and the Middle Section of YAMF. Who doesn’t, I guess, but live they sound awesome.

 

BTW, my favorite song: Spiders. Damn thing just rocks live.

 

The band seemed in great spirits. Pat’s B-day being celebrate only added to the loose/fun atmosphere. Good crowd who seemed to know all the lyrics (at least where I was standing near front). The seemingly tongue-in-cheek dueling guitar solos between Nels and Pat during Hoodoo Voodoo was real cute, too.

 

BTW, my favorite song: Spiders. Damn thing rocks.

 

This was my first Wilco show, but not my last.

[anthony]

Any tapers out there?

Yeah, I am curious, as well. Kinda want an audio souvenir of the night.

[anthony]

 

They other wonderful audience moment was when Jeff went over to the front of the stage, dropped into the photo pit and let these two little girls (kids) strum his guitar for the first built up of Kidsmoke. A few songs earlier he had pointed directly at them and said "You guys are awesome!", On Kidsmoke he just sat there and held the chords while the girls strummed, he then climbed back onstage barely making it for the first downstroke of the crescendo. It was fantastic.

 

My (admittedly poor BB) picture of this moment:

 

[Al.Ducts]

Oh man, I would love to hear Deeper Down live. Definitely one of my favorites off of the new album. I'll echo the call for any tapers out there.

[kidsmoke]

A couple of high points on the show last night.

 

They other wonderful audience moment was when Jeff went over to the front of the stage, dropped into the photo pit and let these two little girls (kids) strum his guitar for the first built up of Kidsmoke. A few songs earlier he had pointed directly at them and said "You guys are awesome!", On Kidsmoke he just sat there and held the chords while the girls strummed, he then climbed back onstage barely making it for the first downstroke of the crescendo. It was fantastic.

 

What an incredibly fun moment it was when Jeff came over to the stage edge...at first it appeared that he was going to sit down on the monitor there, and maybe play for the kids, but then I realized he was judging the distance between the stage and the rail we were standing at. A second later he crouched and jumped down onto the low bench attached to the front rail, so that he was smack in front of me, Alissa, and the adorable brother and sister who were right next to us with their dad and auntie. In the jump, Jeff leaped right onto the half-a-Sierra-Nevada-Pale-Ale I had set there, saving it for after encore calling, when I knew my throat would need soothing. Sorry about your shoes, Jeff! (You owe me a beer) Ah well, all for the good of the show!

 

We had earlier met and chatted with the family of the two children. The daughter, Madeline, was tiny and I'd judged her to be younger than she was, but she was 10. Her taller brother was 9. They were both absolutely glowing with excitement from the beginning. Madeline was cracking me up; she was so impatient for Wilco to come on! During Jonathan Wilson's set, I heard her sigh behind me to her dad, "How many more songs is he gonna do?" Once Wilco came on, she was just in ecstasy. She was such a bitty thing that her eyes just cleared the rail, so I had her stand on top of my feet to gain a couple of inches. For most of the show, her dad held her on his hip, which put her just to my left, right at ear level. Normally, I'm not wild about having an audience member singing into my ear at a concert, but DAMN, this girl was pitch-perfect and seemed to know every Wilco lyric ever written. Her piping child's voice was so pretty, and so happy, that it only added to the wonderful, fun vibe of the night. Here are the kids glowing...and this is even before Wilco came out! Maudie will be sharing the "after" picture of the kids with their trophies....setlist, autographed vinyl SBS, and a slightly fractured drumstick from Glenn. Bet they won't ever forget this night!

 

Did I mention they were adorable?

 

When Jeff jumped down onto the low bench in the photographer's pit space, he leaned over to the three kids and opened his hand, which was full of guitar picks. He passed them out and encouraged the kids to strum the guitar, and was just so sweet with them..."Go ahead, you can do it..yeah, like that, great!" Alissa was all shy but had a smile ear-to-ear, and the two younger kids were just beside themselves with excitement and happiness. You could tell how much Jeff was loving that the kids "got it" and were so thrilled to be part of the moment. A moment like that just transcends time....I was so enthralled watching them that I think I was holding my breath until Jeff turned and hopped back onstage, Matrix the roadie trailing him quickly with his guitar cable to make sure it didn't hang up as the band crashed back into the song. The kids were already back to pogoing to the song before Jeff was even all the way back onstage. I could hear Madeline breathing to herself, "Omigawd. Omigawd!"

 

What a glorious and happy night. For the guitarists reading, Alissa's souvenir guitar pick (used to help play Spiders!) is a Planet Waves, .043"

 

 

It's hard to say re: Deeper Down after just hearing it live once. It sounded pretty good to these ears, though I'm sure it will get better with more practice. They've been working on it since Spain, I know, so it was great to finally hear it. I know this much: Nels is in serious multi-task mode, playing both his lap steel and a I think a Jerry Jones Neptune "Shorty" Octave 12 string. (It looks like one, anyway. A mandolin size instrument but with a wider body.) I'm sure someone got a good picture of him sitting on his stool with the lap steel and the Jerry Jones around his neck. I think Pat also doubled on guitar and keyboard, as he does on One Wing, but I'm less sure of that. And Glenn gets to use his drum tube, which I'm sure he enjoys.

 

I also thought Deeper Down sounded really good!

 

Here's Nels with the Jerry Jones (if that's what it is) & his lap steel in his lap. He was amazing last night, and as hard as he was working, he was clearly having a blast too. They all were...lots of smiles and laughs during the night.

 

 

There were definitely tapers last night.

[Al.Ducts]

Wow that is absolutely fantastic Kidsmoke. One of the best concert stories I've read on this board. I can't wait to see these guys live! PLEASE come through Minneapolis or at least somewhere in the Mid-West this fall/winter!

[monkmoose]

How'd they pull off Deeper Down? Rusty first try, or did it live up to the recording?

Cautious but very solid. The new songs are steadliy improving since the Spanish shows. Those of you seeing them later in the summer are in for a treat when they get rolling on these. People love to bitch about audiences on this board. We traveled from Colorado for this show and it was one of the best audiences I have ever been a part of. Pomona, you, the Fox Theatre and In-N-Out Burger rock!!!! From my perspective it appeared that Jeff was having a blast up there.

[magcat]

Here's a couple of photos from further back.

 

 

 

 

 

[yarbles]

And here's a couple from closer up:

 

 

 

(In the words of Otto from The Simpsons... "You know those guitars that are, like... double guitars?")

 

 

Such a great show. This was my 6th time seeing Wilco, and it was hands down the best yet. It was so great to hear the unexpected songs like Pick Up The Change, Passenger Side, Hoodoo Voodoo, and especially Can't Stand It! After seeing the band play setlists containing songs primarily from YHF on through SBS, it was so great to hear these older tracks. Amazing.

 

One of my favorite points in the show was during Jesus, Etc. That was one of the first times I really noticed the interaction between Jeff and the awesome kids in the front. Jeff was looking at them, grinning ear to ear while singing. And when I followed his gaze over to the front side of the crowd, I saw some of the happiest, most darling kids, singing along to EVERY WORD. It was such an amazing, cool moment that was followed up by the entire crowd singing along with the "Our love is all of God's money" lines. It was such a beautiful musical moment, one that I won't ever forget.

 

Amazing, amazing, incredible night. I'm sooo excited for the 3 Wiltern shows. I can't wait to hear what other surprises the band will throw into their setlists!

[Basil II]

Deeper Down, then Pick Up the Change, then Can't Stand It? Are you kidding me?

 

 

damn....

 

-Robert

[ih8music]

Just want to echo what everyone else has said about how tremendous of a show this was. I was blown away by the song selection - they hit stuff from every album, every phase of their past. Even Hate It Here (which I don't really care for) kicked ass... and You Never Know (which I REALLY don't like) sounded like a completely different tune to me - was great.

 

To put it into perspective, I think the "weakest" part of the show was Deeper Down - and that's only because they played it very cautiously and straight to the album. I think in 3 or 4 more shows, it'll rock like all the rest.

 

These guys are really incredible musicians - can't wait for the Wiltern show (i'm now pissed at myself for only getting tix to tomorrow's show).

 

 

 

 

and yeah, the opening act was atrocious. I was worried that they killed the vibe for a while there... but maybe all of us who suffered thru that loved wilco's performance so much more because of them?