Wilco — 3/5/12, Paris, France (Le Grand Rex)

[bböp]

Working with kind of a spotty Internet connection, so I'll hold off on making too many comments for now, but suffice it to say that Le Grand Rex is indeed grand. In the sense of big, or at least big feeling. It's normally a movie theater, I guess, though it apparently does host its share of concerts as well. But it's a weird place for a show, I have to say. Most of the seats on the main floor anyway are made of leather and are as comfortable as a recliner — even Jeff said that they might be the most comfy chairs ever at a rock concert.

 

So given that, and just the kind of subdued sort of feeling I got from the crowd before the show, I didn't have the greatest hopes for a particularly energetic show. But hand it to the French. They always seem to come through in their own way, especially since visits by the band are relatively few and far between.

 

No really deep nuggets in the setlist, but the band played well all night. I thought Nels really played an especially gorgeous solo on Impossible Germany, for instance, and you could really hear it with a nice sound mix and a good PA. And Jeff had some fine electric guitar moments himself, on songs like At Least... and Laminated Cat.

 

Banter-wise, Jeff as usual didn't say much through the first half of the show. Some guy yelled at him between songs to "tell the security guards to chill out" and a couple songs later, he did say, in sort of a deadpan, "Hey, security guards...chill out. I think they're already pretty chilled out." But later he got going, introducing Box Full Of Letters as "a song that sold maybe two copies in this country. Hope you're both here." And having a sort of ongoing joke with the crowd for the second half of the show after he accidentally paused for an extra second before starting a song or something, making it seem like he was mugging for extra applause.

 

Anyway, here was the complete setlist, as played:

 

Art Of Almost

I Might

IATTBYH>

One Wing

Bull Black Nova

At Least That's What You Said

Black Moon

Spiders (Kidsmoke) (acoustic arrangement)

Impossible Germany

Born Alone

Laminated Cat (electric arrangement)

Via Chicago

Whole Love

Box Full Of Letters

Capitol City>

Handshake Drugs

Dawned On Me

A Shot in the Arm

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

Misunderstood

Jesus, etc.

Theologians (started and restarted)

Heavy Metal Drummer

I'm The Man Who Loves You

I'm A Wheel

[bböp]

Oh, and not to respond to my own thread, but I wasn't sure if it was worth starting another separate thread for the Autumn Defense in-store that John and Pat played down the road a bit just a couple of hours before taking the stage with Wilco, so I'll just put it here...

 

As an unamplified acoustic duo, they did seven songs for about 40 people packed into a cool little record store called Boutique Fargo in the 11th arrondissement. Not sure if the AD had played Paris before — I think maybe once — but anyway, it was a nice intimate setting to hear a few of their tunes.

 

Their setlist was:

 

The Sun In California

Every Day

Spend Your Life

The Answer

Simple Explanation

The Swallows Of London Town

Sentimental Lady [bob Welch/Fleetwood Mac]

[fortuleo]

They hadn't played in France since 2007 (and we were VERY frustrated by that fact), so they were clearly a little self conscious about what image of the band they should present. I mean, when they play for crowds that get many chances to see them, they tend to vary the setlists a lot. But in this case, it was more "Wilco as it should be" if you see them only once in 5 years or once in a lifetime. Thus the emphasis on the "experimental" side of the band (BBN + Spiders + Germany + Laminated Cat + Handshake Drugs + One Wing + Misunderstood + AoA, etc.) which was a little bit overwhelming for my taste, but fantastically played nonetheless, and also informed by the 'comfy' style of the venue. I mean, no "I'll Fight" or Hummingbird for us. Only real surprise : Box Full of Letters. Handshake Drugs was a particular highlight and all the newer songs sounded terrific.

[Shug]

Sentimental Lady [bob Welch/Fleetwood Mac]

 

I have a very soft spot for this song, I love it and I'd love to hear John and Pat sing it, I'll bet they harmonized wonderfully.

[victor79]

WORST crowd ever. Wilco give it all and we tried to stand up at the begining of the show because they were rocking out and we wanted to have a party with them as we have been waiting for so long for them to come back. But all those lame people behind us told us to sit down. I mean it's a rock concert not Mozart. If you want to sit, just stay home and listen to the record, don't bully people that goes to a concert to give as good a feedback as the guys deserve. Parisian audience is just crap. Like tweedy said watching them makes him wants to sleep. And when finally Tweedy encourage them to stand up mid-way to the show, they stood up like a bunch of sheeps. Talk about spontaneity. Wilco should not come back after this. This town and this country ain't worth it. Why bother with a bored bourgeois audience. Looking forward to Primavera where we're going to have a real blast (us real fans).

[suites]

WORST crowd ever. Wilco give it all and we tried to stand up at the begining of the show because they were rocking out and we wanted to have a party with them as we have been waiting for so long for them to come back. But all those lame people behind us told us to seat down. I mean it's a rock concert not Mozart. If you want to seat, just stay home and listen to the record, don't bully people that goes to a concert to give as good a feedback as the guys deserve. Parisian audience is just crap. Like tweedy said watching them makes him wants to sleep. And when finally Tweedy encourage them to stand up mid-way to the show, they stood up like a bunch of sheeps. Talk about spontaneity. Wilco should not come back after this. This town and this country ain't worth it. Why bother with a bored bourgeois audience. Looking forward to Primavera where we're going to have a real blast (us real fans).

 

Trust me...not the only time that happened at a Wilco show....Maybe happens 50% of all shows.

[victor79]

Trust me...not the only time that happened at a Wilco show....Maybe happens 50% of all shows.

 

It was my fourth Wilco show and the first time I saw that. Last time I saw them was at Brussels' Cirque Royal during the Sky Blue Sky tour and the crowd was great.

[tblair]

WORST crowd ever. Wilco give it all and we tried to stand up at the begining of the show because they were rocking out and we wanted to have a party with them as we have been waiting for so long for them to come back. But all those lame people behind us told us to sit down. I mean it's a rock concert not Mozart. If you want to sit, just stay home and listen to the record, don't bully people that goes to a concert to give as good a feedback as the guys deserve. Parisian audience is just crap. Like tweedy said watching them makes him wants to sleep. And when finally Tweedy encourage them to stand up mid-way to the show, they stood up like a bunch of sheeps. Talk about spontaneity. Wilco should not come back after this. This town and this country ain't worth it. Why bother with a bored bourgeois audience. Looking forward to Primavera where we're going to have a real blast (us real fans).

what a snobbish load of pumped up ranting crap

 

real fans....

[victor79]

I stand by what I said. Where you there? The lack was of enthusiasm was dreadful. You have Nels onstage ripping off a killer solo and the response he's got is just people sunk in their comfy chairs vaguely clapping their hands while drinking champagne (they sold champagne!!!). I've been to thousands concerts I have always respected other people in the audience. They do whatever they like. But if I feel like I want to stand up and dance and cheer I expect people to respect that because that is exactly what a concert is for.

Maybe you are not from Paris and don't understand the frustration but this concert we've talked about it with my friend for years. How many times we saw Wilco announcing a European tour with several dates in Spain and Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavia and nothing for France and Paris. We have even contacted management and french promoters to see what was the problem and why it was so rare for them to play here.

Yesterday was supposed to be our big night. Our big party.

Watching a rock concert seated in a chair is just no point. You feel nothing. It's like watching TV. What people do all the time is watching TV. For once we had a change to let a bit our emotions run wild. Be less in the secure zone.

"Real Fan", yes maybe an easy thrown away formula. I don't know, I have like all records in cd and vinyls. DVDs officials and bootlegs. Side projects. I have invested money in Wilco and was rewarded by some great music. But seeing all the reports years after years from the states and other places... You just want once to enjoy it has much as the rest did.

And don't talk me about snobbish. I'm a parisian. I know this city by heart. I know too well it's default. I know the hipsters. I'm friend with some of them. But is it too much for once to enjoy something on a genuine first degree where it matters more to enjoy the moment rather than being in only concern about how I'll tell my social contacts how I was there and oh it was "meh... not that good".

[victor79]

I mean there was so few request on the web site that me and my friends got all the one we asked for: Laminated Cat, Theologians, Misunderstood and I'm The Man Who Loves You.

[theashtraysays]

And don't talk me about snobbish. I'm a parisian.

 

tell it like it is! the wilco freak flags come in all languages.... apparently except French. c'est la vie.

[Magnetized]

I feel your pain, victor79. Like it or not, the crowd energy really does have an effect on the show, and I would be disappointed too. But--and I really don't mean this facetiously--you get to live in Paris, so you can console yourself with that! Maybe you just have to travel somewhere else to find a responsive audience for the music you love.

[tblair]

And don't talk me about snobbish. I'm a parisian.

And don't talk me about snobbish. I'm a parisian. I know this city by heart. I know too well it's default. I know the hipsters. I'm friend with some of them. But is it too much for once to enjoy something on a genuine first degree where it matters more to enjoy the moment rather than being in only concern about how I'll tell my social contacts how I was there and oh it was "meh... not that good".

 

you know the hipsters? ... good for you

 

it's all the generalising that's dumb. This concert was disappointing.. that's all. Every time I've seen Wilco play to as seated audience, that's what happens. It's Wilco, half of what they play isn't exactly get up and dance type material

 

I've spent a lot of time in Paris, and France generally. My band has played Paris probably 2 or 3 dozen times, and they have been among the most enthusiastic audiences we've ever played to... I'm no stranger

 

maybe they should have played a different theatre... we always like the Bataclan (when it didn't have seats)... not sure if that's big enough (or even running still). I do remember our promoter having trouble finding a place to play in Paris that didn't completely rip you (the act) off. The last time we played in a great club to about 7 or 800 people, and after the local agents cut, the hire of the place (I know, they charged us for that!), the PA and everything else, we didn't get paid anything

 

we haven't been back since

[Chinese Apple]

I had mixed feelings about the security at the Paris show.

 

I'm short and had just been to the show in Brussels, where there were clearly too many tall Dutch folks up at the front. I couldn't see anything but the top of Jeff Tweedy's head, which was a nice head with an apropos hat, but I'd like to have seen his gruff face when he said sarcastic things, like about early Wilco fans all being dead, etc.

 

In Paris I was glad that security didn't let the late-comers rush the stage when we had to get there early for our seats. On the other hand, the guy in front of me didn't deserve having a flashlight shone in his face for playing air guitar and dancing with his girl.

 

Where I thought it was just a venue with over zealous security (btw it was a fancy-pants venue with roman statues and fake palm

trees, etc), my Parisian friend and host also seemed to blame it on her own culture. "You are not allowed to have fun in France," she said dramatically.

 

I thought actually that her reaction of criticizing her own was quintessentially French! I love French films for their similar way of exaggerated comment on society, where minutia and details represent something larger, as though it was all metaphor. You know?

 

Anyway, love Wilco. Never a bad show. I always come home euphoric.

 

(null)

[tblair]

Where I thought it was just a venue with over zealous security (btw it was a fancy-pants venue with roman statues and fake palm

trees, etc), my Parisian friend and host also seemed to blame it on her own culture. "You are not allowed to have fun in France," she said dramatically.

I've met people who say that about their own country in loads of different countries. I think it usually says as much about them as it does about the place. If you can't have fun in France - a beautiful country with amazing people, but not unique in that respect - ... then you're doing something wrong

[Theremin]

I feel your pain, victor79. Like it or not, the crowd energy really does have an effect on the show, and I would be disappointed too. But--and I really don't mean this facetiously--you get to live in Paris, so you can console yourself with that! Maybe you just have to travel somewhere else to find a responsive audience for the music you love.

Yeah, just come to a Brussels show next time bro.

[Guest Jules]

What does everyone think about the sit vs. stand debate?

[tblair]

What does everyone think about the sit vs. stand debate?

all I know is a seated audience seems to not be the most conducive for Jeff... it seems to make him feel... errmm..... uneasy?

 

in my experience

[fortuleo]

I've done the same as victor79, trying to contact everyone to try and see why Wilco didn't come to Paris more often. The answer was that it's almost impossible for them to make any money if they play their usual 800-1000 people venues. They've waited all these years to receive an offer for a venue like this one, which can hold 2500 seated people and make it profitable for them. When it was announced they'd play the REX, I had the chance to talk to John Stirratt. I warned him about this "sitting issue" and he told me "oh, don't worry, we know how to work these places." In my opinion, the other night, the real problems were 1/ security were instructed not to allow people to dance close to the stage; 2/ the REX always sells "VIP" seats with Champagne as an excuse to charge extra money ; 3/ the setlist WAS designed for a sitting audience. 4/ no one in France knew that you could make requests on the Website. But don't blame it on the french audience. The show at the club "la Maroquinerie" in 2005 or 2006, was duly reviewed in MOJO as one of the best EVER. Myself, I've seen the band in four different countries, and it was by far the most satisfying.

But the money issue is where it's at : they played two concerts in Brussels, thus playing for more or less as many people as in Paris in one, but surely making much more money…

[Pennyghael]

I wouldn't necessarily call this a set designed for a seated audience, just your basic Wilco set. They no doubt started with Art of Almost in an attempt to get the crowd going early but to no avail. The obvious starter for a venue like the Rex was One Sunday Morning. They don't seem to have a louder rockier set on this current tour until you get to the encores.

 

I thought the only problem were the security guards. it took me back to the days of Hammersmith Odeon (now Apollo?) or the Birmingham NEC when you weren't allowed to move in your chair, if you did you got a torch shone in your face! What the guards do not realise (or perhaps they do?) is that their constant moving forwards and backwards in and out of rows is so distracting to all and sundry. Perhaps there should be guards allocated to guard the guards??? That'd be a laugh.....

 

Apart from that a good show with a good selection of songs.

[tblair]

I've done the same as victor79, trying to contact everyone to try and see why Wilco didn't come to Paris more often. The answer was that it's almost impossible for them to make any money if they play their usual 800-1000 people venues. They've waited all these years to receive an offer for a venue like this one, which can hold 2500 seated people and make it profitable for them. When it was announced they'd play the REX, I had the chance to talk to John Stirratt. I warned him about this "sitting issue" and he told me "oh, don't worry, we know how to work these places." In my opinion, the other night, the real problems were 1/ security were instructed not to allow people to dance close to the stage; 2/ the REX always sells "VIP" seats with Champagne as an excuse to charge extra money ; 3/ the setlist WAS designed for a sitting audience. 4/ no one in France knew that you could make requests on the Website. But don't blame it on the french audience. The show at the club "la Maroquinerie" in 2005 or 2006, was duly reviewed in MOJO as one of the best EVER. Myself, I've seen the band in four different countries, and it was by far the most satisfying.

But the money issue is where it's at : they played two concerts in Brussels, thus playing for more or less as many people as in Paris in one, but surely making much more money…

la Maroquinerie!... that's the place (I forgot the name) where we got ripped off and didn't get any money. Good place, fantastic audience, but no money . I wonder if it's still the same people who run it ?

[fortuleo]

No idea ! I'm gonna ask. But I've been at la Maroquinerie so often that there's a good chance I've seen you play there ! If I only knew who you are…

[tblair]

No idea ! I'm gonna ask. But I've been at la Maroquinerie so often that there's a good chance I've seen you play there ! If I only knew who you are…

we played there in 2002 (The Inmates)

[fortuleo]

Damn, I wasn't there. But I REGRET IT, I love the Inmates, the ONLY band that would open an album of Beatles covers by Little Child !! So cool ! And close it by I'm Down… In the 80's, when the Beatles were unbelievably uncool ! Now, that's what I call rock'n'roll.

[tblair]

really cool! a Wilco fan who liked my band.. that's cool... very cool

 

we played in France more than any other country. We loved it, the french (seemed to) love us... the gig at le Maroquinerie was one of the most enjoyable we ever did. I love the set up there. From a performers perspective, looking out at a banked/wall of punters is almost unbearably inspiring.

 

I always remember, whoever our tour agent was, every one of them struggled to find us a venue in Paris that ever made any money. Paris was the first place we played outside of the uk... we had a fan who ran the Gibus club, which was a fantastic place... (he was the guy who organised the gig of Beatles covers, which was never meant to be an album, just a one-off event. It worked out so well, that we released it)

 

anywaysss....

Paris was always difficult. I never understood why. Every other city was no problem... Bordeaux, Lyons (oh... Lyons!), Montpelier, Marseille... anywhere was great

 

Once, we did 2 nights at the New Morning. That was a great venue, would suit Wilco? no?

(edited to say... the stage might be a bit too small..?)