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Meeting the band

Chinese Apple

By Chinese Apple,
in Just A Fan

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60 members have voted

  1. 1. Which current members of the band have you met in person?

  2. 2. Which former band members have you met in person (while they were still in WIlco)?

    • Leroy Bach
      12
    • Jay Bennett
      5
    • Ken Coomer
      4
    • Bob Egan
      1
    • Max Johnson
      0
    • None of the above
      46

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dtram

dtram

Posted
Posted

Kind of a cool story. Was lucky enough to have a friend that I used to work with in Philly radio in the late 90's. He had arranged with reprise to interview Jeff before the show at the TLA in late April/May '99 (Too lazy to check Wilcobase for the exact date but I think it was 4/28/99. Anyhow, we get to the TLA around 5- 5:30 and and get led into the room. House lights are up and there are Wilco sound checking She's Jar, just me, my buddy and the reprise rep. They were stopping and starting it and working through some stuff and it was pretty cool. They may have played another song and then stopped.

 

We waited a few minutes and got led upstairs to the dressing room where it was me, my buddy and Jeff. I told Jeff how much I loved Summerteeth and how I didn't think I would like that record as much as Being There but I did (I've since changed that opinion) and he seemed real appreciative about that. My buddy proceeded to do the interview, nothing earth shattering, you could tell Jeff was pretty tired. Cool part of the interview is when his wife called him in the middle and we just sat there while he was talking to her. I guess she asked him how he felt and he said something like being in "mid-tour malaise."

 

Anyway interview ended and we went back downstairs and the reprise rep invites us to dinner. We thought, cool way to kill time before the show. She takes out the back door into the alley beind the TLA and there's Jay sitting on the curb smoking, and John, Ken and Leroy milling around. She invites the 4 of them to dinner too and off the 7 of us go to the chinese restaurant on 2nd street.

 

I end up sitting directly across from Jay and we spend the most the dinner debating the influnces on Summerteeth. I told him I heard a lot Brian Wilson, he insisted the Beatles and Bee Gees were what were going through his mind and thought BW as a huge influence was being overated (I did and do now strongly disagree.) I told him Candyfloss really reminded me of the Beach Boys Heroes and Villians and that Pieholden Suite was structurally really similar to the Beach Boys Cabinessence. When I said that, John nodded in way that he hadn't thought about that but kind of agreed.

 

Anyway, other folks from radio showed up too and the General Manager of certain philly Adult Alternative college station shows up and introduces himself to the band and when the rep says, "this is Jay", he says "Farrar?" Honest to God, I am not making that up. My head just dropped in embarassment. I was taken in good humor by the guys though. Dinner ended, we said goodbye and went to see an awesome show.

 

My one regret is that I wish I had talked to the other guys more, especially after reading the Greg Kot book and now knowing what a power play Jay was making in the band at the time. They were all extremely nice.

 

Just thought I'd share. Kind of amazing that there's only 1 guy left in the band that was at that dinner.

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watch me fall

watch me fall

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Posted

Could you add the option of "none of the above" in the second poll? It wouldn't let me vote unless I voted in both polls and since I've not met any of the members listed in the second poll, I can't vote.

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Chinese Apple

Chinese Apple

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Could you add the option of "none of the above" in the second poll? It wouldn't let me vote unless I voted in both polls and since I've not met any of the members listed in the second poll, I can't vote.

 

Ok. Fixed it. Please cast your ballot!

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SarahC

SarahC

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Posted

I've talked to all the current members several times. Jeff has always been the nicest to me, with John and Glenn in close 2nd.

 

I got to talk to Jay Bennett when he and Ed Burch came to Chattanooga when I was a sophomore in high school. My dad took me to the bar to see the show, and we ended up talking with Jay for a long time! He even offered to help me with my algebra homework! :lol

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Mr. Kinsley

Mr. Kinsley

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I met Pat and Jeff a few years back after a show at the Wiltern in LA. There was a barrier set up on the driveway to the backstage area and Jeff came out to talk to a few of us that were over there. Everything was pretty well secured, so we were fairly surprised when someone in the little group gathered there said, "Hey! There's Pat."

 

Pat was just standing right there with all of us on the other side of the barrier, seemingly out of nowhere. I would say that he's part vampire, but he did show up on film when he took pictures with several of us who were there. Both were very gracious and stayed around until all pictures and requests and such were fulfilled. Jeff was even nice enough to sit through technical difficulties of someone trying to operate my camera and not being able to take the shot. He had put his arm around my shoulder for a "quick" pic, which turned into literally 3 minutes of waiting. Awkward.

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SarahC

SarahC

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I met Pat and Jeff a few years back after a show at the Wiltern in LA. There was a barrier set up on the driveway to the backstage area and Jeff came out to talk to a few of us that were over there. Everything was pretty well secured, so we were fairly surprised when someone in the little group gathered there said, "Hey! There's Pat."

 

Pat was just standing right there with all of us on the other side of the barrier, seemingly out of nowhere. I would say that he's part vampire, but he did show up on film when he took pictures with several of us who were there. Both were very gracious and stayed around until all pictures and requests and such were fulfilled. Jeff was even nice enough to sit through technical difficulties of someone trying to operate my camera and not being able to take the shot. He had put his arm around my shoulder for a "quick" pic, which turned into literally 3 minutes of waiting. Awkward.

that's so funny!

:lol i have a picture with Pat where he looks dazed as all get out!

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Sir Stewart

Sir Stewart

Posted
Posted

Kind of a cool story. Was lucky enough to have a friend that I used to work with in Philly radio in the late 90's. He had arranged with reprise to interview Jeff before the show at the TLA in late April/May '99 (Too lazy to check Wilcobase for the exact date but I think it was 4/28/99. Anyhow, we get to the TLA around 5- 5:30 and and get led into the room. House lights are up and there are Wilco sound checking She's Jar, just me, my buddy and the reprise rep. They were stopping and starting it and working through some stuff and it was pretty cool. They may have played another song and then stopped.

 

We waited a few minutes and got led upstairs to the dressing room where it was me, my buddy and Jeff. I told Jeff how much I loved Summerteeth and how I didn't think I would like that record as much as Being There but I did (I've since changed that opinion) and he seemed real appreciative about that. My buddy proceeded to do the interview, nothing earth shattering, you could tell Jeff was pretty tired. Cool part of the interview is when his wife called him in the middle and we just sat there while he was talking to her. I guess she asked him how he felt and he said something like being in "mid-tour malaise."

 

Anyway interview ended and we went back downstairs and the reprise rep invites us to dinner. We thought, cool way to kill time before the show. She takes out the back door into the alley beind the TLA and there's Jay sitting on the curb smoking, and John, Ken and Leroy milling around. She invites the 4 of them to dinner too and off the 7 of us go to the chinese restaurant on 2nd street.

 

I end up sitting directly across from Jay and we spend the most the dinner debating the influnces on Summerteeth. I told him I heard a lot Brian Wilson, he insisted the Beatles and Bee Gees were what were going through his mind and thought BW as a huge influence was being overated (I did and do now strongly disagree.) I told him Candyfloss really reminded me of the Beach Boys Heroes and Villians and that Pieholden Suite was structurally really similar to the Beach Boys Cabinessence. When I said that, John nodded in way that he hadn't thought about that but kind of agreed.

 

Anyway, other folks from radio showed up too and the General Manager of certain philly Adult Alternative college station shows up and introduces himself to the band and when the rep says, "this is Jay", he says "Farrar?" Honest to God, I am not making that up. My head just dropped in embarassment. I was taken in good humor by the guys though. Dinner ended, we said goodbye and went to see an awesome show.

 

My one regret is that I wish I had talked to the other guys more, especially after reading the Greg Kot book and now knowing what a power play Jay was making in the band at the time. They were all extremely nice.

That is a cool story, thanks for sharing!

One thing though:

Just thought I'd share. Kind of amazing that there's only 1 guy left in the band that was at that dinner.

2 is right answer. :)

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Wilco Worshipper

Wilco Worshipper

Posted
Posted

I've met Jeff 3x, John 2x, Nels 2x, Glenn and Pat once.

 

It's really hard to judge but I'd have to say Glenn is the most gregarious. The one time I met him he was going on and on about the tour, the baby-to-come, cutting his hair and had TONS of questions for the couple of us that were hanging around. Also, I spoke w/ both him and Jeff on the phone one night. Glenn talked for 10 mins EASY - great stories and a lot of questions, again! :D

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WILCO'72

WILCO'72

Posted
Posted

First post, a fan for a long time. I haven't met any of the band, but 5-6 years ago I was at a Jewel store in Rolling Meadows, IL. It was the night before Thanksgiving and a madhouse. I'm walking down the aisle and there's a kind of haggard-looking guy with big, horn-rimmed glasses accompanied by a very striking woman. I thought he looked familiar, but couldn't figure out why. He and his friend looked somewhat lost, like they were just looking for one last minute-thing but didn't know where to look.

 

Suddenly it hit me-it's Jay Bennett! I was going to say something, but I really hate to bother people in situations like that.

 

Can't say for sure it was him, but found out later that he grew up right around there. I always wondered if he found what he was looking for.

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peteboiler

peteboiler

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I always assume celebrities as being 'assholes', so it is nice to know that my favorite band is very down to Earth. I always told myself if I find out someone I respect/enjoy their work is indeed a prick, I wouldn't let that inhibit me from enjoying what they have to offer. Watching many youtube videos of Wilco, as well as the DVD's, Jeff does seem to be a bit moody. I understand he has migraines, and I cannot even imagine how hard it is to maintain privacy when everyone wants a piece of you. I would imagine I would have my bad days and good days. Quick story myself. I live in Melbourne, Florida, and the bass player from POISON, Bobby Dall, lives in this area. It was around Christmas time, and we were shopping for the kids at Toys R Us, and there is Bobby, all by his lonesome, pushing a cart. What I found funny was that he was wearing a POISON shirt. I knew it was him (I was and am a huge fan, so I recognized him right away), and he smiled at me because HE knew that I knew who he was. My girlfriend told me I should talk to him, for he seemed liked he was welcoming me, but I shied away. Not because I was shy or afraid to talk to him, but I just didn't want to bug the guy. In hindsight, I wish I would have at least said hey, I'm a big fan and enjoy your music, but I didn't. I did meet Joey and Johnny from the Ramones in Orlando, and they took pictures with me and shook my hand. They were cool as hell. Bob

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choo-choo-charlie

choo-choo-charlie

Posted
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I always assume celebrities as being 'assholes', so it is nice to know that my favorite band is very down to Earth. I always told myself if I find out someone I respect/enjoy their work is indeed a prick, I wouldn't let that inhibit me from enjoying what they have to offer. Watching many youtube videos of Wilco, as well as the DVD's, Jeff does seem to be a bit moody. I understand he has migraines, and I cannot even imagine how hard it is to maintain privacy when everyone wants a piece of you. I would imagine I would have my bad days and good days. Quick story myself. I live in Melbourne, Florida, and the bass player from POISON, Bobby Dall, lives in this area. It was around Christmas time, and we were shopping for the kids at Toys R Us, and there is Bobby, all by his lonesome, pushing a cart. What I found funny was that he was wearing a POISON shirt. I knew it was him (I was and am a huge fan, so I recognized him right away), and he smiled at me because HE knew that I knew who he was. My girlfriend told me I should talk to him, for he seemed liked he was welcoming me, but I shied away. Not because I was shy or afraid to talk to him, but I just didn't want to bug the guy. In hindsight, I wish I would have at least said hey, I'm a big fan and enjoy your music, but I didn't. I did meet Joey and Johnny from the Ramones in Orlando, and they took pictures with me and shook my hand. They were cool as hell. Bob

 

Wow, that's pretty sad that he was wearing a Poison shirt. You should have asked him why Bret Michaels is such a huge douchebag, how he keeps getting work, and why he has to have some sh*tty show where skanky girls compete for his "love." Didn't he get laid enough in the 80s?

 

Anyway, meeting some of the Ramones is way cooler.

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lamradio

lamradio

Posted
Posted

I know this is kind of going off topic, but the coolest celebrity I've ever met was Ed O'neal (Al Bundy himself). Found him drinking a Guiness at a bar in LA. Very cool, down to earth guy.

 

I've heard of some celebrities being totally cool when you meet them, and some that are total douche bags. I heard Adam Sandler is very cool in person. He's a guy that loves being famous and is always nice to his fans. Ben Stiller on the other hand, heard he's a total ass in person. A friend of mine saw him in Vegas and when he tried to approach him, Ben just shook his head and walked away.. Again, he probably caught him in a bad mood, or maybe he was on vacation with his family and didn't want to be bothered...

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tugmoose

tugmoose

Posted
Posted

I did meet Joey and Johnny from the Ramones in Orlando, and they took pictures with me and shook my hand. They were cool as hell. Bob

Funny they were so cool with you, when they hated each other (well, Joey hated Johnny, not sure if Johnny gave a crap).

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