barbkm Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 A friend asked for some sample songs, I gave her a whole list -- covering the sweet (Jesus Etc.), the rocking (Outtasite), the lovely acoustic (Either Way), the guitar extraordinaire (Art of Almost), and my favorites (I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Hummingbird, Born Alone). And she loved the, She's in. So,...now I wanna know where I register to get my toaster oven.? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Tatlock Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Cults, wonderful on the outside but on the inside are very manipulating. Cult leaders are desperate to trick you into joining. They are after your obedience, your time and your money. Cults use sophisticated mind control and recruitment techniques that have been refined over time. Beware of thinking that you are immune from cult involvement, the cults have millions of members around the world who once thought they were immune, and still don't know they are in a cult! To spot a cult you need to know how they work and you need to understand the techniques they use. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smells like flowers Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 I understand the excitement of that accomplishment! It's so fun when someone finally gets what you've been raving about all these years. My best friend of 20+ years came to a Wilco show with me in September, and it clicked -- SHE GOT IT! Very gratifying for best friend and best band to intersect. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Queen Amaranthine Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Congrats! I have been unsuccessful in past attempts in proselytizing and in fact have merely managed to make my friends think I am crazy and too OCD for my own good. I have learned to just stay quiet about my Wilco enthusiasm except for here and with a couple of friends who already love the band too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
worldrecordplayer Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Speaking of proselytizing, one of my proudest moments, posted in my buddy bobhund's upload of the Wang show: http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=548496 thanks to gmfeld for the heads up onthe ticket release, the setlist,the poster image & the proselytizing. bobhund and I have been going Dead, Dead related, Allmans, Mule, Lobos etc. shows (and tape trades) since we met on a GD taper's bulletin board in 1991. Over the last few years I had been laying the Wilco proselytizing on him pretty hot and heavy. I think I finally got him with the Wang show (but I think it was probably the combination of my obsession and his college daughter's having gone to the Montreal show). I've another recent success with my lifelong buddy now living out in CA. He'll be front and center at the Santa Barbara show. And as Amaranthine writes, any other number of my friends just think I'm obsessed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Magnetized Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 I've mentioned this before in other threads, but since there's now a thread on this topic, I'll say it again. Most people I've tried to recruit have not succumbed to the siren call of Wilco. Their reactions to my obsession and evangelism have ranged from bemusement to (I think) real concern about my mental stability. But there's one big exception to that, and that is one of my best friends since we were 10 years old. Her gateway was watching the Austin City Limits show right after Sky Blue Sky and she asked if this was the band I'd been raving about. I proceeded to load her up with everything I had, we watched IATTBYH together, then we went to a Tweedy solo show in Charlottesville last December. She was hooked! Then we went to Solid Sound last year and she brought along her husband and 16-year-old daughter, and now the whole family is smitten. Their daughter enjoys the music but has lots of other things on her mind, but my friend's husband is a total convert. We've already got our plans all made for Solid Sound again this summer (damn, I will be heartbroken if they don't do it this year!) and we have a Wilco night at least once a month--dinner and movie or one of the great old treasures from Jesse Hamm's awesome stash. It's been a real boon to our longstanding friendship, and gave me new appreciation for her husband, who I'd always had some minor quibbles with. No more! So, I totally appreciate how gratifying it is to make a convert, and when it's one of your best friends, that's just the best. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smells like flowers Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 succumbed to the siren call of Wilco. Love this phrase! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rwilson580 Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 It can be so frustrating trying to hook someone up with new music. They're doing you a favor just checking it out, and then giving you a grudging "It's ok" when you finally sink low enough to ask them how the experiment went. In 40 years of annoying my friends I've had, oh, zero success. But THIS band. I've created at least three huge fans, and three lesser ones, without half trying. Recently I've even gotten my daughter to try out a sampler...and she asked me to make a second! Wilco has restored my faith in my ability to brain wash my friends. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Autumnteeth Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Great work. You can try all you want but it takes a knowledge of who ou are bringing on board to make it work. Imagine someone saying ok, what album should I try? Wouldn't even know where to start. AM? Sure, but don't know what opinion tey would form. Being There? Great musical leap but how does this album translate YHF? Masterpiece, but not a starter album. Seriously think The Whole :pve brings the entire Wilco landscape into the picture and that is what I am pushing now. Great job, though. I am going to try to take neophytes to live shows because that is where the magic happens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Queen Amaranthine Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Their reactions to my obsession and evangelism have ranged from bemusement to (I think) real concern about my mental stability. Yeah, I know those facial expressions! I have a friend who doesn't get my Wilco obsession at all, nor any other obsession anyone else might have. Either she is totally mentally stable or just isn't passionate about much! She has some other friends who have a Nascar-themed bathroom. To hear my friend describe it, the bathroom is distasteful. Although I don't get Nascar, I thoroughly appreciate the enthusiasm and love for something, and if Nascar's your thing, a bathroom decorated that way sounds amazing. We all probably know people who are as passionate about something as we are about Wilco--Star Trek, Star Wars, sports teams, etc. However, there seems to be total acceptance of a rabid Green Bay Packers or Chicago Cubs (or insert most any professional or college team here) fan. Maybe it's because people are more familiar with sports, movies, or Nascar, or other passion-inspiring entities. Wilco isn't well-known and therefore up for suspicion. We might as well be telling friends about creatures from Mars or UFOs, in their eyes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wild Frank Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 I actually managed to lose Wilco a fan last month. I took my wife to the Manchester show and she was feeling really rough. She toughed it out as she knew how important it was to me. We compromised by standing towards the rear where she would be more comfortable. Consequently I enjoyed the show less and she came out just feeling sick and dizzy. Now, whenever I stick the new album on she leaves the room!. p.s: During the Manchester show everyone seemed to treat 'Some Sunday Morning' as a toilet break or an opportunity to get another beer. Crazy behaviour Manchester people! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AZTOMR Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 I'm taking the guitar player from our band to see Wilco in Tempe, hopefully we'll add some Wilco to the set soon after. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chinese Apple Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 You kid, but in actual fact Jeff Tweedy is a bonafide "charismatic religious leader". According to Nels Cline, "the Reverend Tweedy" was recently ordained (by mail order from the Universal Life Church) and was the officiant at the Cline-Honda nuptials where Yoko Ono and Rufus Wainwright were in attendance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
burrito Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 I feel very proud to have converted 2 of my friends to Wilco - so much so that one of them now claims to be a bigger fan than me (shocking!!!). I work in a bar and one of my now-converted friends is the manager, so he plays them incessantly, much to the bemusement of customers and staff. Took them both to the Bristol show and my friend, who's been a bit depressed lately, said it was so good that he'll never feel miserable again. Not quite true, I suspect, but a great testament to their greatness I think. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smells like flowers Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Took them both to the Bristol show and my friend, who's been a bit depressed lately, said it was so good that he'll never feel miserable again. I love that sentiment! The elation of seeing a live Wilco show does feel quite life-changing... but then it fades and you need to see them again, and again! And it shows no sign of stopping. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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