Two Questions

[dvigs24]

1) Vaguely remember giving Yankee Hotel Foxtrot a listen after I read about it on some "best of" list in the early 2000's, but it didn't really click with me. Really started to get into them back in 2008 when they kept popping up on one of my Pandora stations, and I'd keep going over to the computer to see who I was listening to, and it always seemed to be Wilco. So I decided to...

 

2) ...go see Neil Young on his fall tour in 2008 (12/13/08 in Worcester, MA at the DCU Center), even though I'd seen him before and tix were $$$, largely due to the fact that Wilco was the opener, and I wanted to check them out. Needless to say, I was blown away...listened to pretty much nothing but Wilco for the next 6 months, and finally found a band to knock Radiohead off the perch as my #1 favorite band.

[moxiebean]

1) A friend sent me a cassette tape of AM shortly after it came out (I think he put Trace on the other side of the tape) - I liked it okay but I didn't really get hooked until Being There.

 

2) First time seeing them was 2005 in Savannah. I had tickets to see them twice previously but it didn't pan out either time - YHF tour date in Florida (fuel pump died on the drive down I-95) & New Orleans in 2004 (which got canceled when Jeff went in rehab).

[ih8music]

1) not until 2007ish - after years of people suggesting uncle tupelo, wilco & tweedy to me because I'm a huge replacements/westerberg fan I finally bought the UT anthology CD. Loved it, and worked my way through the UT catalog from bottom up, while working my way thru Wilco from top down (starting at SBS). Taught me a lesson about listening to suggestions from people whose taste in music is similar to mine (which is the main reason I'm here, actually).

 

2) june 2009. caught 2 of their LA shows during the WTA tour. Fantastic shows - was mostly amazed at how much better the WTA songs sounded live.

[suites]

I will play.

 

1. After I read a review of Being There in Rolling Stone, I got both BT and AM.

 

2. Saw them open up for the Jayhawks in 1995 or 1996 (before I knew who Wilco was). I may have had a drink with JT or JB? I fell in love with Tomorrow the Green Grass and went to see Jayhawks. Then I saw them again when they opened for Sheryl Crow. First time I saw them headline was after Jay left on the YHF tour in West Palm Beach (when Wilco was only 4 Jeff, John, Glen, and LeRoy) only concert I ever went to by myself (Wife did not want to miss the Dolphin Monday Night Game).

[tinnitus photography]

2) ...go see Neil Young on his fall tour in 2008 (12/13/08 in Worcester, MA at the DCU Center), even though I'd seen him before and tix were $$$, largely due to the fact that Wilco was the opener, and I wanted to check them out.

 

 

i don't think that Wilco was the cause for those ticket prices.

 

and $75 for GA was the best deal in town for that particular night.

[Sparky speaks]

I had just gotten into Uncle Tupelo and then found out they had broken up. I liked Jeff's singing voice over Jay's but I wasn't sure which was which until I Purchased both AM and Trace and decided on Wilco over Son Volt. That had to be in 95 I would guess.

 

First Wilco show was the Schubert Theater in New Haven in early 2008. Haven't missed one in the Northeast since. Never saw Son Volt. Still don't like Jay's singing voice.

[jcroach]

What, no Leroy? I'd have loved to have seen a show with that lineup...that's pretty rare.

 

You know, I can't specifically remember seeing Leroy. I tried to piece it together with info from the web, but couldn't. Did he do most of the dates on that tour?

[Al.Ducts]

1: I was 12 years old when Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was released, so forgive me if I'm a little late to the party. I believe the first time I heard Wilco was through a friend of mine, my junior year of high school. So that would be... 2007? His older brother had given him a couple of their records. He played a few songs for me one day and was talking them up quite a bit. I wouldn't say I was instantly hooked but I was instantly curious. I remember describing the little guitar solo at the end of Theologians as sounding like a theme song to an old video game (full disclosure: I was possibly a little stoned). Theologians was probably the first song that I really dug and soon after we both learned to play IATTBYH. It was not until my senior year of HS that I really expanded my musical palette and Wilco was a big part of that. A Ghost is Born got me fully hooked, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot turned me into an ardent supporter and defender, and from there I was able to work my way through the back catalog with some perspective and appreciation for the growth in each one.

 

2: A much shorter response. October 2nd, 2009 at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, MN. I was right up front, and it was wonderful.

[ChicagoPepper]

1. Downloaded YHF freshman year of college the second I got an internet connection. Things were never the same.

2. Taping for PBS Soundstage.

 

They opened with the pre-AGIB version of Handshake Drugs.

Jeff was actually chewing gum during the performance.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlmi4W9DyIU

[Scott Gyrrr]

1. DJ Jason Rockpig from student radio station 95bFM (NZ)was playing Monday and Misunderstood for a couple of months before Summerteeth came out. I remember wondering if the guy on the back cover was Rivers Cumo from Weezer. Thought maybe it was some side project. It wasn't.

 

2. According to my t-shirt I saw them in Australia April 07 at the Enmore Theatre.

[brianjeremy]

1. Somewhere around '96/'97 on a radio station we could get out of Athens GA, whenever Being There first came out. Outtamind, Outtasite. I had heard of Uncle Tupelo and already owned and loved Trace at the time.

 

2. May 2003, Asheville at the Orangepeel.

[peteboiler]

Was in the Air Force stationed in Korea in 97 I think. Anyway, on a whim, bought Being There due to the fact it had amazing review stickers on the CD.

 

First saw them just last year in Clearwater, Florida. Rocked my world. Going to fly up from FLA to see them in Indy Sep 13th.

 

Bob

[anthony]

1. Downloaded YHF freshman year of college the second I got an internet connection. Things were never the same.

2. Taping for PBS Soundstage.

 

They opened with the pre-AGIB version of Handshake Drugs.

Jeff was actually chewing gum during the performance.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlmi4W9DyIU

I love JT's prickly/noise-y lead work on this. Capo 12 on the Tele!

[Wise Enough]

1 + 2. Im a huge Neil Finn fan so went along to the 7 Worlds Collide II shows. Had no idea who this "Wilco" band were. Neil was obviously a huge fan as about half the show was Wilco. I remember grooving along to Hoodoo Voodoo thinking "they don't suck". Walking back to the hotel after it I was saying to my friend "I didn't even know any of their songs", when I realised I was walking past Jeff Tweedy and Johnny Marr! We stopped for a chat and said how we loved the show and were new Wilco fans no, they were very nice. Went to the next 2 shows as well but I remember it was when they played At Least Thats What You Said that I got chills. Went home and bought all of their CDs and been a fan ever since.

[MarkyMark77]

I've had a long, storied history with my Wilco fandom. I saw the "Box Full of Letters" video on MTV late one night. I liked it alright, and then also on Beavis and Butthead, I believe. But I never really connected with the few tunes I heard. A while later I purchased "Being There" in NYC, because I knew this was a band I should like. But, for some reason, it never really resonated. I streamed YHF a few years after that, bought AGIB at Half Price Books for $2 a few years after that. But Wilco never really clicked for me until I saw them in 2009 in Iowa City. Then it all made sense, and after that show, Wilco was almost all my wife and I listened to for six months. So...there it is. Now we're hooked, know every word, every b-side, etc. Don't know why it took my brain so long...

[smells like flowers]

1. First heard Wilco in 1999 on the Gram Parsons tribute album (Return of the Grievous Angel).

 

2. First show: July 2002. A free, outdoor show in Nashville that was a honeymoon surprise. Wish I could relive that one...when I see the setlist now, I'm blown away! They played I'm a Wheel, way back then!

[Beltmann]

1. I think I became aware of Wilco around the time of Being There, but didn't really jump on board until Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which blew me away. Almost immediately I went back and bought the earlier albums. YHF and Being There remain my favorite Wilco records.

 

2. My first Wilco concert was July 3, 2003, at Summerfest in Milwaukee. During the distortion of "Poor Places," my wife leaned over and asked, "Is it supposed to sound like that?"

[Beltmann]

2. Taping for PBS Soundstage.

 

They opened with the pre-AGIB version of Handshake Drugs.

I watch that performance often--that version might be my favorite incarnation of "Handshake Drugs."

[thejokeexplained]

The first time i heard Wilco was the first time i saw them live at the Gypsy Tea room Dallas August 14 1999. I was new to taping and was just looking for some live music to practice. They blew me a way and I went out and purchased their back catalogue soon after.

[Scott Gyrrr]

During the distortion of "Poor Places," my wife leaned over and asked, "Is it supposed to sound like that?"

 

[Roy Munson]

Awesome thread. So many great stories of introduction.

 

1) I had a couple friends visit NYC from out of town in the late 90's and make passing comments about liking Wilco. I felt so late to the game because I finally got around to sampling YHF at a Borders listening booth in '04 or '05 (too stuck in my musical preferences to seek out new bands) and gradually started to get hooked on that album. My wife bought me Being There and Summerteeth and I then bought both Mermaid Ave. albums. It took a while for it to gain momentum. I hated Ghost is Born after checking it out in a Barnes & Noble listening booth but Kicking Television may have been the eye opener that that album was great and they were much greater than their studio work suggested. AM was the last of the catch up albums (not counting UT, Loose Fur, etc.). They all continue to grow on me and meet different musical needs at different times. Strangely enough, the friends who made the passing comments are, at best, lukewarm fans and have no idea what they helped foster with a couple random comments.

 

2.) Hammerstein Ballroom June 2007 was the first. Have seen 6 Wilco shows plus 1 Tweedy solo show plus 2 Solid Sounds. Hope to see a lot more.

[hazel]

WXPN in philly would often play 'can't stand it' the song didn't click (yet) they also played 'california stars' and i loved it. they played son volt too and i loved jays voice but had no idea there was a connection till some time later. soon after an online friend from a dylan chat room sent me a cassette tape of one of jeffs solo shows, i can't remember which show. i still have it in my box full of cassettes and cds from my trading days (lots of dylan shows too). i instantly fell in love with jeffs singing, banter, etc.

 

my first show was Cooper River Park, Collingswood, NJ 9/17/2000

 

16 shows so far 2 of them solo jeff

[H.Stone]

1. I first of heard of Wilco in 1995 when my then-boyfriend (now-husband) explained the UT split and the two resulting bands: Son Volt and Wilco.

 

2. H.O.R.D.E. Fest, Somerset, WI, 1995 -- Wilco was playing a side stage, and my hubby kept saying, "We have to get over to see Wilco." I'd ask, "Who's Wilco again?" and he'd reply, "You know: 'I've got a box full of letters'" That song is Wilco for me.

[uncool2pillow]

Reading some of these posts reminds me how important the Mermaid Avenue discs were in solidifying my feelings about this band, esp. Mermaid Avenue 2. For a while, I was lukewarm on ST. Then I heard Airline to Heaven, Secret of the Sea, and Remember the Mountain Bed. Wow.

[worldrecordplayer]

1) Vaguely remember giving Yankee Hotel Foxtrot a listen after I read about it on some "best of" list in the early 2000's, but it didn't really click with me. Really started to get into them back in 2008 when they kept popping up on one of my Pandora stations, and I'd keep going over to the computer to see who I was listening to, and it always seemed to be Wilco. So I decided to...

 

2) ...go see Neil Young on his fall tour in 2008 (12/13/08 in Worcester, MA at the DCU Center), even though I'd seen him before and tix were $$$, largely due to the fact that Wilco was the opener, and I wanted to check them out. Needless to say, I was blown away...listened to pretty much nothing but Wilco for the next 6 months, and finally found a band to knock Radiohead off the perch as my #1 favorite band.

I was at that Worcester show. I was already a big Wilco fan, and was thrilled at the double bill with Neil. I have vivid memories of Wilco's set. This was definitely a Neil crowd, It was pretty clear to me that most people had no idea about Wilco when they hit the stage. They opened with Via Chicago, and I stood there and watched heads snap and jaws drop as they worked their way through the calm and chaos of Via Chicago. By the time they finished that song they had the entire crowd in their hands.