Jump to content

Jeff Tweedy, Bowery Ballroom NYC, 12/4/2010


Recommended Posts

Cobbling together from the tweets posted by nyctaper, the setlist for Jeff portion of the show tonight was as follows (corrections welcomed, since I wasn't there!):

 

Spiders

 

IATTBYH

 

Muzzle of Bees

 

One Wing

 

Via Chicago

 

Wait Up

 

Be Not So Fearful

 

Ruling Class

 

Country Disappeared

 

Chinese Apple

 

When the Roses Bloom Again

 

Magazine Called Sunset

 

Radio King

 

Hummingbird

 

Jesus Etc.

 

You Are Not Alone

 

(Encore, joined by Pat and John)

 

California Stars

 

I Got You

 

Shot in the Arm

 

(Second encore--solo?)

 

I’m the Man Who Loves You

 

 

Looks like the Jeff part of the show ran a little over an hour and a half.

 

Good news that nyctaper was there and got the show! He also thanked some generous soul on this board who got him in at the last minute. Looking forward to reading reviews from people who were there.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Details, anyone? Was there any memorable between song banter? Audience interaction? Anything cool/uncool/interesting about the venue or the people?

 

Setlists are great, and I'm thrilled that a tape of this show will emerge, but it's the little personal anecdotes that I really love to hear about!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Details, anyone? Was there any memorable between song banter? Audience interaction? Anything cool/uncool/interesting about the venue or the people?

 

Setlists are great, and I'm thrilled that a tape of this show will emerge, but it's the little personal anecdotes that I really love to hear about!

 

 

Just off the top of my head...

 

The sound in the Bowery Ballroom was really excellent - A perfect place to see Jeff Tweedy solo. The crowd had been drinking pretty steadily for about 1 1/2 hours by the time Autumn Defense started their excellent set, and there was a lot of loud talking and a general "night out at the bar while a band plays in the background" atmosphere. John even made some snarky remarks to the tune of (not exact quotes) "Thanks for listening, the two of you" and that the Autumn Defense was a rock band "sort of", just loud enough that you could still "talk over them". This made me a bit nervous, because by the time Jeff took the stage, around 10:40, after what seemed to be an equipment issue delay, I wasn't certain that the liquored-up crowd would be able to quiet down. When Jeff first appeared, picked up his guitar and started picking the intro to Spiders, which were practically inaudible due to clapping/talking, I was even more nervous, but the crowd quieted down, and the few remaining talkers were forcefully and repeatedly shushed. Talking was not much of an issue throughout the rest of the show. At one point, Jeff thanked the crowd for being conscientious and quiet, to which somebody shouted "Should we get loud?". Jeff replied "Do you want to get loud?" to enthusiastic cheering to which he responded "Well, you came to the wrong show". Classic.

 

Jeff picked up a big beautiful Gibson Jumbo at one point and played "Be Not So Fearful", which he made the first of what would be many humorous flubs throughout the night. He explained afterwords that he was "listening to his guitar" which he had never played live before, and had a much fuller sound that the "toy guitars" he usually plays. He also commented on how the large guitar made him look smaller, then struck some poses with the Jumbo.

 

There was a bit of humorous banter about Jeff not taking requests, then saying all the songs were requests. That he'd been doing this a long time, and we should trust his judgment, as he selected a nice set list. He exhorted the crowd to "let him steer the ship for a while." Later, during Hummingbird, Jeff messed up the line in the second verse about "deep chrome canyons..." and stopped playing, saying that we know that line, and he was going to sing that verse again. After a humorous restart and whistled guitar outro, Jeff commented that sometimes when you steer the ship, you hit an iceberg.

 

John and Pat came out for the first encore, and for some reason, John did not have a guitar to play (what happened to his beautiful Gibson?), so he kind of awkwardly moved around the stage looking for something to do until it was time to sing on the chorus of California Stars. Eventually, a roadie tossed him a tambourine. 'I Got You' was really great, and the guys were obviously having a great time, especially Jeff and Pat.

 

The Autumn Defense set, as I mentioned earlier, was excellent. Pat was sporting a full beard, which made him look quite a bit older, very Bob Weir-esque. If you're into the whole "Laurel Canyon" sound and easy rock of the seventies (in the best sense of those words), then this is your band. The playing is impeccable, with some really nice harmony singing between Pat and John. Boy, can Pat play that Tele, what a great sound. I know some people feel he overplays, and don't get his whole thing, but I love it.

 

The flubs and banter were charming throughout the night, and I constantly kept thinking that that must have been what it was like to see Dylan, when he was first working the NYC clubs in the early sixties. All charm, rasp, showmanship, self deprecating humor, and most importantly, great songs. Set was a little shorter than I thought it would be, but I think it would have been longer had Tweedy gotten on stage sooner. I'd seen Jeff solo twice before, but this was by far the most intimate experience for me, and it was great. I'm truly fortunate that the tickemaster computer gods bestowed me with two tickets.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Loved hearing Chinese Apple again. :wub Hope that remains a regular in the setlist, such a great song.

 

The Bowery was a lovely little venue. I have nothing to add, really, that dvigs24 didn't already cover.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks so much for posting this.

 

 

Just off the top of my head...

 

The sound in the Bowery Ballroom was really excellent - A perfect place to see Jeff Tweedy solo. The crowd had been drinking pretty steadily for about 1 1/2 hours by the time Autumn Defense started their excellent set, and there was a lot of loud talking and a general "night out at the bar while a band plays in the background" atmosphere. John even made some snarky remarks to the tune of (not exact quotes) "Thanks for listening, the two of you" and that the Autumn Defense was a rock band "sort of", just loud enough that you could still "talk over them". This made me a bit nervous, because by the time Jeff took the stage, around 10:40, after what seemed to be an equipment issue delay, I wasn't certain that the liquored-up crowd would be able to quiet down. When Jeff first appeared, picked up his guitar and started picking the intro to Spiders, which were practically inaudible due to clapping/talking, I was even more nervous, but the crowd quieted down, and the few remaining talkers were forcefully and repeatedly shushed. Talking was not much of an issue throughout the rest of the show. At one point, Jeff thanked the crowd for being conscientious and quiet, to which somebody shouted "Should we get loud?". Jeff replied "Do you want to get loud?" to enthusiastic cheering to which he responded "Well, you came to the wrong show". Classic.

 

Jeff picked up a big beautiful Gibson Jumbo at one point and played "Be Not So Fearful", which he made the first of what would be many humorous flubs throughout the night. He explained afterwords that he was "listening to his guitar" which he had never played live before, and had a much fuller sound that the "toy guitars" he usually plays. He also commented on how the large guitar made him look smaller, then struck some poses with the Jumbo.

 

There was a bit of humorous banter about Jeff not taking requests, then saying all the songs were requests. That he'd been doing this a long time, and we should trust his judgment, as he selected a nice set list. He exhorted the crowd to "let him steer the ship for a while." Later, during Hummingbird, Jeff messed up the line in the second verse about "deep chrome canyons..." and stopped playing, saying that we know that line, and he was going to sing that verse again. After a humorous restart and whistled guitar outro, Jeff commented that sometimes when you steer the ship, you hit an iceberg.

 

John and Pat came out for the first encore, and for some reason, John did not have a guitar to play (what happened to his beautiful Gibson?), so he kind of awkwardly moved around the stage looking for something to do until it was time to sing on the chorus of California Stars. Eventually, a roadie tossed him a tambourine. 'I Got You' was really great, and the guys were obviously having a great time, especially Jeff and Pat.

 

The Autumn Defense set, as I mentioned earlier, was excellent. Pat was sporting a full beard, which made him look quite a bit older, very Bob Weir-esque. If you're into the whole "Laurel Canyon" sound and easy rock of the seventies (in the best sense of those words), then this is your band. The playing is impeccable, with some really nice harmony singing between Pat and John. Boy, can Pat play that Tele, what a great sound. I know some people feel he overplays, and don't get his whole thing, but I love it.

 

The flubs and banter were charming throughout the night, and I constantly kept thinking that that must have been what it was like to see Dylan, when he was first working the NYC clubs in the early sixties. All charm, rasp, showmanship, self deprecating humor, and most importantly, great songs. Set was a little shorter than I thought it would be, but I think it would have been longer had Tweedy gotten on stage sooner. I'd seen Jeff solo twice before, but this was by far the most intimate experience for me, and it was great. I'm truly fortunate that the tickemaster computer gods bestowed me with two tickets.

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...