Jeff Tweedy, Boulder Theater, Boulder CO, 1/7/2011

[chango]

Great stuff... Jeff handled the loudmouths wonderfully... everybody in great spirits... lots of fun... Someone Else's Song from the lip of the stage w/no mic for the 2nd song... Cars Can't Escape... New Madrid... Walken... etc., etc., etc... I'll let someone else post the whole setlist instead of trying to piece it together right now, but those were my favorites. I'm friggin' tired and going to bed, I think.

One single small gripe... boo to the Boulder for jamming the chairs in so tight in their rows. It was sardine-esque in there. Cest la vie. Like I said... a small gripe... not near enough to mess up such a damn good night.

Evenin', ya'll.

[Griddles]

Don't know about the rest of the people that were there, but I was pretty pissed. Jeff was great, don't get me wrong I really like the song choices, but the people that were there. Perhaps it was just those around me, but god lord they almost ruined the show for me. The guy who wanted his Adult Head signed was kind of sitting in front of me. By kind of I mean he and this other guy who was passed out for the time he was sitting there were constantly switching places. Or else no one was sitting there. I was in section A so these were not the seats that were easy to get. Also the loud guy who was stoned was super annoying. Bring that shit up knowing (or maybe not) that Jeff has been sober for years? very confusing. maybe I am just being particular, but a solo almost acoustic show that cost many dollars, I would prefer if it was quiet (sining along is of course fine) and still during the songs. Oh well hopefully tomorrow night will be better.

[bböp]

I'll let someone else post the whole setlist instead of trying to piece it together right now, but those were my favorites.

 

Here you go:

 

Spiders (Kidsmoke)

Someone Else's Song (performed at edge of stage w/o PA system)

One By One

IATTBYH

Cars Can't Escape

One Wing

Muzzle of Bees

Via Chicago

I'm Always In Love

Country Disappeared

The Ruling Class

You Are Not Alone

Hummingbird

Jesus, etc.

New Madrid

Hesitating Beauty

Impossible Germany

A Shot in the Arm

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

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Walken

California Stars

 

There was apparently a problem with one of the channels in the mixing board that caused a weird effect on Jeff's vocal mike during Spiders, so he had to pull an impromptu "off PA" performance early on in the set.

 

It was a solid performance with plenty of good banter, much of it relating to pot smoking which seems prevalent in Boulder. I guess Jeff was just in a chatty mood...

 

Some banter highlights:

 

-"The last time I smoked pot, the radiator started playing 'Over Under Sideways Down' by the Yardbirds."

 

-"I'm not on Facebook because I'm not a 14-year-old girl, but I am going to start Tweeting because...it's a narcissist's dream." He then proceeded to poke fun at Kanye West's Twitter habits.

 

-After asking for audience help during the part of Hummingbird "I don't do very well," (i.e. the whistling part at the end that stands in for the guitar solo) and a lackluster effort by the crowd, he said, "You guys aren't very good at it either."

 

-When a girl yelled out, "How was Mexico?" he immediately shot back, "That's creepy." He also later (after a girl yelled out for "Single Ladies") labeled as creepy -- unless we were his son Spencer's math teacher -- the fact that people had heard Spencer's reworked version of that song, called "Single Digits (Put A Line On It)." Though Jeff reiterated his previous comment that "that ship has sailed" in terms of him ever doing "Single Ladies" again, he did do a tiny fragment of "Single Digits," though -- "five fingers on your left hand, five fingers on your right hand..."

[bböp]

And for anybody who's interested, here was the Handsome Family's opening set (I felt badly for them because there was so much chatter going on while they were playing, and they're already far from the loudest band around, even with the helpful presence of multi-instrumentalist Steve Dorocke on bass, electric guitar and violin):

 

Weightless Again

The Bottomless Hole

Darling, My Darling

The Loneliness of Magnets

So Much Wine

After We Shot The Grizzly

When You Whispered

Don't Be Scared

All The Time In Airports

The Sad Milkman

My Sister's Tiny Hands

 

I'm not expecting it, but hopefully Brett and Rennie will come out and perform something with Jeff tomorrow night...

[danelectro]

Been a while since I've posted here. Anyway, good show not great, I actually liked the distortion of Jeff's vocals on Spiders's, gave it a cool effect that almost seemed intentional. The big-mouthed dork was annoying, yes you Mr. I have to try inject myself into the show because I think I'm cool, you're not. Maybe all the trucker hatted, western wearing, show interupting wannabe's will be in the balcony tonight.

 

Loved the Handsome Family, great set, nice picking on that Esquire Steve.

[chango]

The crowd was certainly peppered with idiocy. But... nothing I didn't expect. Jeff's reputation for banter has gotten around, obviously, so you know there's gonna be some jackasses at every show. I thought he dealt with it excellently, though, and that's what made the show for me. Plus, as soon as he gave a little back and forth and then launched into another song, all was fine. I heard pretty much no talking during the songs themselves and extremely limited cell phonery and such. While the music was playing, I thought the crowd was fine.

 

However, the few who suck are just a sign of the times, I guess. The ultra self-entitled behavior is annoying, but until it's legal to just shoot these people, I guess we have to put up with them. One jackass, sitting behind my wife, kept putting his feet up on the back of her chair, like this was a perfectly acceptable activity. She finally had enough of it and turned around to confront him, and he and his girlfriend/wife/whatever were giving my wife shit about being so upset about it. Seriously? I mean, really, you're putting your foot up against a total strangers ass and tapping it in time... and the person you're doing it to is the one who's "being rude"??? Ridiculous. Same goes to the guy behind me who kept stomping his feet on the floor in what he thought was keeping time with the songs. Dude, it wasn't... you're not a drummer, and Jeff doesn't need one in this setting... cut it out.

 

But... again... overall minor gripes. I had a great time. There's no way you're going to get a "silent" Jeff show anymore... if you ever could, really. So, just try to shut out the jackasses as much as you can, and focus on the man on stage. He makes everything work out fine. I wish I was going back tonight.

 

*Oh, yeah, wanted to agree on the Spiders vocals. I suspect, since we didn't see a mic change or see any sound guys running around to fix things, that maybe that was all planned. Pretty funny, if so.

[Moss]

I really liked the Handsome family, saw them hanging out in the crowd and talking to people after the show. I also thought they might join Jeff for something but no such luck. Rennie's onstage banter is hilarious and I can't believe the bass sound she gets out of that "worlds smallest bass".

 

It was my first solo Tweedy show so I just assumed that was about the normal amount of shout outs from the audience but sounds like others thought it was excessive? It is annoying but he does handle it well. Loved his non PA Someone Else's song while they were fixing the sound.

 

Over all I thought the show was fantastic and can't wait to hear what he is going to do tonight.

 

Looks like I have slightly closer seats tonight although not by much. Section B, Row 8, Seats 28,29 if anybody wants to say Hi.

[banjopj]

My first solo Jeff show. Great stuff!

 

Highlights for me were New Mad and Walken.

 

Crowd was challenging at moments, but thankfully only annoying between songs. For the most part I thought everyone was fairly good during the quiet songs like Via.

 

Tons of banter from Jeff (he seemed to have an anecdote lined up after nearly every song). That was partly out of necessity for the happy crowd, but he definitely could have done less if he wanted. Poster above captured some good ones. For me, his opening line set the tone quite well - "Happy 75th Anniversary Boulder Theater. They asked me to come back tonight because I was the first act to play here originally. (crowd - You look great!). That's right I do look great."

 

~BanjoPJ

[BoulderEagle]

Wow. A lot of hating on the crowd going on here. Other than the guy in front of us (we were 10th row far left) who puked mid-Handsome Family, I thought people were pretty quiet and respectful (other than singing along) during the songs. Were a lot of the shouted comments between songs stupid? Of course, but as usual Tweedy's replies were consistently hilarious. My two favorites were the guy who yelled "Dispensaries" for no apparent reason, spuring the pot discussion, and the guy who yelled out "You owe us a Kidsmoke!" near the end of the show, to which Tweedy replied "Do you know I'm doing two shows?" If you thought the crowd was invasive, I can only assume you didn't see them in Aspen last September, where most of the crowd aggressively talked over the first 45 minutes of the show.

 

Musically, I thought it was great. Jeff's guitar sounded superb, and other than the vocal issues during "Spiders," the sound was stellar. Highlights for me were the PA-less "Someone Else's Song," which got people going after the problems with the opener, "The Ruling Class," "You are Not Alone," "New Madrid" and "I'm Always in Love." I don't like "Impossible Germany" as much as most others, but this version was powerful, and Tweedy had some funny comments on his lyrics afterward.

 

Can't wait to see tonight's set list. One thing's for sure--he owes me a Kidsmoke!

[knotgreen]

my first time in boulder, and i've got to say-- i really like this place. downtown is pretty fantastic. i thought the show last night was okay... coming off of the high that was bowery ballroom, it's tough to compare to the two. i thought the setlist was solid, but i was really distracted by the crowd. i've never seen a crowd go for so many beer runs. it's safe to say that everyone in my immediate peripheral was more interested in drinking then they were the show.

 

as mentioned, the banter was pretty hysterical, and jeff seemed to be in a great mood. my favorite went something like: "you guys like skiing? i think skiing's stupid. do you do THAT high?!"

[BoulderEagle]

Knotgreen, glad you like it here. I think it's all of the dispensaries that make it so special...

[danelectro]

I suppose distaste for the crowd being disruptive depends on how close you are to the offenders. I am all for people having a good time and my expectations are realistic, it's gonna happen. I was unlucky and sat near the really loud guy, he thought he was entertaining enough to take a bow, and another that spent the first half of the show telling anyone near him about his fan credentials. According to him he was Uncle Tupelo's very first fan and has been a devoted follower since. When that is happening it's difficult to tune out.

[agonistes]

The crowd was bad. This isn't my first Tweedy solo show, and I went in knowing what to expect both from him and from a Boulder crowd, but between a crowd that got increasingly obnoxious and a set with only a few standouts (just three non-Wilco songs? seriously?), I wasn't all that pleased. Hope tonight's better on both counts.

 

That said, that version of "Walken" was amazing. It was also my first time seeing the Handsome Family live, and I loved them. It's been a long wait.

[South Halsted]

Don't know about the rest of the people that were there, but I was pretty pissed. Jeff was great, don't get me wrong I really like the song choices, but the people that were there. Perhaps it was just those around me, but god lord they almost ruined the show for me. The guy who wanted his Adult Head signed was kind of sitting in front of me. By kind of I mean he and this other guy who was passed out for the time he was sitting there were constantly switching places. Or else no one was sitting there. I was in section A so these were not the seats that were easy to get. Also the loud guy who was stoned was super annoying. Bring that shit up knowing (or maybe not) that Jeff has been sober for years? very confusing. maybe I am just being particular, but a solo almost acoustic show that cost many dollars, I would prefer if it was quiet (sining along is of course fine) and still during the songs. Oh well hopefully tomorrow night will be better.

 

Disagree, Griddles, the banter was to be expected! I had further expectation that Tweedy would play along with the hecklers. What I didn't expect was that he would have fun with it. I remember seeing him solo about 4 yrs ago at the Gothic in Denver and he was a complete jerk to the crowd. He derailed the show b/c people were talking and he wanted everyone to be quiet. He intentionally unplugged from the amp out of frustration with the crowd, which still didn't seem to work. That was 4 yrs ago. I think the Wilco/Tweedy fans last night were a much better crowd, one which he felt happy to play for. People were quiet when they needed to be, loud when it was appropriate.

 

I'm just glad last night we didn't get this version of Tweedy: My link

[chango]

The heckling/banter last night was definitely more comical than in years past.

Looks like Jeff actually has a fun with it now.

Lotsa laughs, for sure.

[mcs5280]

Great show last night. My first, and definitely not my last, Jeff Tweedy show. I was up on the general admission balcony, and I must say that there wasn't a bad seat in the house.

 

I have to say that I did not enjoy the Handsome Family (opening act). They are no doubt talented musicians, but their lyrics were extremely awkward in my opinion. I felt like there was little depth in what they were saying (a song about insects mating...). Was I the only one who was thankful when they finally finished their set?

[will&co]

Great show last night. My first, and definitely not my last, Jeff Tweedy show. I was up on the general admission balcony, and I must say that there wasn't a bad seat in the house.

 

I have to say that I did not enjoy the Handsome Family (opening act). They are no doubt talented musicians, but their lyrics were extremely awkward in my opinion. I felt like there was little depth in what they were saying (a song about insects mating...). Was I the only one who was thankful when they finally finished their set?

Thankful doesn't begin to describe it. Maybe I'm just old and crotchety? Or maybe they are quite bad, for the reasons you described so eloquently and accurately. Their between song 'banter' was painful and I kept waiting for some sort of redeeming quality in the music/lyrics. Even the electric guitar player, who was obviously quite talented, couldn't counteract the mess the other two were making. This is all just my opinion, so who cares? But I just had to say it. Yikes...

[mdpoet]

Looks like I have slightly closer seats tonight although not by much. Section B, Row 8, Seats 28,29 if anybody wants to say Hi.

Wish I saw this before, would have definitely stopped over to say hello.

 

Loved the moment after Impossible Germany when Jeff commented on why he messed it up, saying he was trying to think ahead on how to do Nels' part. He did a good impersonation by stepping up on his toes, scrunching his shoulders up and noodling around.

[bböp]

Thankful doesn't begin to describe it. Maybe I'm just old and crotchety? Or maybe they are quite bad, for the reasons you described so eloquently and accurately. Their between song 'banter' was painful and I kept waiting for some sort of redeeming quality in the music/lyrics. Even the electric guitar player, who was obviously quite talented, couldn't counteract the mess the other two were making. This is all just my opinion, so who cares? But I just had to say it. Yikes...

 

Meant to reply to this earlier, but I'm just getting to it now. Doesn't really matter one way or the other because everyone responds to music differently, and the Handsome Family certainly aren't for everyone. I'm a fan, though, so I feel the need to say a few words to maybe help put their music in some context...

 

The "other two," for the record, are really the Handsome Family. Rennie, the wife of the husband-wife tandem, writes the lyrics, while Brett writes the music and does most of the singing. Steven Dorocke, the guitar player/multi-instrumentalist, just plays with them on occasion. The lyrics, if you look at them carefully, are great little vignettes about "giants in Illinois, insect love, incestuous brothers and sisters in the womb, and ghosts that wander the aisles of supermarkets," to quote one writer. If you don't think these are redeeming or worthy subjects for songs, then this probably isn't the group for you. But I, for one, find their songs really fascinating and interesting. They are a different way of looking at nature, at weird things in life.

 

The passage I quoted earlier came from a relatively recent interview with Rennie I happened to stumble across on someone's blog. I thought it was a pretty good read, helping give some insight into her viewpoint.

 

I will say that they might not be the most exciting group musically, not having drums or real loud guitars or complicated arrangements, so some people might struggle with that. And their banter can be awkward if you're seeing them for the first time but part of it is just their shtick as a "bickering couple." Maybe some of it is true, but it can come off as odd if you're not used to it. Then again, I think they would probably proudly admit to being a bit odd.

[hellaciousc]

i'm jealous for anyone in boulder that got to see The Handsome Family as the opening act.

I can see how they're not for everyone, but i really dig them.

 

their favorite of mine is also a favorite of Jeff's, that he covers semi frequently, and which he has said 'might be the best song ever written"( from a bootleg from 8-18-06):

 

Moderator edit: link removed; Jeff Tweedy and Wilco do not allow videotaping of shows; Via Chicago doesn't allow links to videos.

 

(i have an mp3 where he says that at the end of it, if anyone is interested)

[Magnetized]

i'm jealous for anyone in boulder that got to see The Handsome Family as the opening act.

I can see how they're not for everyone, but i really dig them.

 

their favorite of mine is also a favorite of Jeff's, that he covers semi frequently, and which he has said 'might be the best song ever written"( from a bootleg from 8-18-06):

 

Moderator edit: link removed; Jeff Tweedy and Wilco do not allow videotaping of shows; Via Chicago doesn't allow links to videos.

 

(i have an mp3 where he says that at the end of it, if anyone is interested)

 

I understand the link had to be taken down, but I'm curious--was the song "So Much Wine?" Because that's one of my favorite Jeff covers. After Solid Sound I couldn't stop listening to that song for the longest time.

[Preferred B]

I believe it was, and it's also my favorite Handsome Family song. So good. I also love "Don't Be Scared," which Andrew Bird recorded and is a highlight of any live show where he plays it.

[hellaciousc]

yup, it was "so much wine".

there are a few videos on youtube.

sorry mods, i was unaware that i couldnt post videos on here.

 

Owl and Bear has the show from 8-18-06 where he plays it and says it might be the best song ever written.

you can download the whole show here: http://wilcoarchive.com/tweedy%2020060818.flac/

("so much wine" is the track #6 i believe)

[agonistes]

I also love "Don't Be Scared," which Andrew Bird recorded and is a highlight of any live show where he plays it.

 

Oh man, YES. I know one of his favorites (which he talked about at the first DC gezelligheid show last month) is "The Giant of Illinois", but I've never liked that one quite so much as "Don't Be Scared". He also covered "Tin Foil" in DC, off the Handsome Family's Milk and Scissors, and that's been one of my favorites for a long time. "So Much Wine" is up there, too!

 

I have to confess that I was nearly -- NEARLY -- more excited about getting to see the Handsome Family than I was Jeff Tweedy. Although I think I might have expired from joy had they played together -- my favorite Handsome Family song is "Cathedrals", which Jeff sang backup on. This was the first time I saw them live, and I had no clue what to expect, but I loved them both nights. I really do think it's an "either you get it or you don't" thing.

[mcs5280]

I think I'm losing my mind. Every time I listen to Jeff play Spiders now I hear him singing with the distorted vocals that opened up this show.