Jeff Tweedy — 12/19/13, Los Angeles, CA (Largo at the Coronet Theatre) [Night 4]

[bböp]

I'm not really sure what I expected from the fourth and final night of a memorable run of shows at Largo, but I suppose tonight's performance was sort of a microcosm of the previous three. There was banter (of course), there were deep cuts, there were singalongs, there were a few awkward moments, there were a plenty of laughs and there was probably some more banter. In the end, Jeff sent the crowd home with one more evening of (mostly) songs he hadn't played before at this venue — by my count, a total of 83 different ones that were at least attempted over the course of the four shows.

 

It's virtually impossible for an artist to please everyone at any given performance, but I think Jeff might have come closest to meeting that goal with this show in the sense that it had a little something for everyone. In my view, the Largo audience seemed to contain a challenging mix of folks — some very hardcore fans and many casual ones, not to mention some who wanted to sing along and others who wanted more of a recital — so striking a decent balance between all of these elements was probably a lot more difficult than we might think.

 

From the start, Jeff seemed more focused than the previous evening. He plowed through seven songs before saying any more than a simple thank you to the crowd. Finally, after Sky Blue Sky, he asked, "Is my hair feathered enough?" And then added, "All the good songs are over already, so I might as well look like a clown the rest of the night."

 

That opened the banter floodgates. Shortly thereafter, Jeff told the crowd that he had recently converted to Judaism, joking that "I figured I hated myself so much I might as well make it official." He then proceeded to tell a detailed story about his conversion process, which he said was harder for a grown man than a baby and included the hiring of a moyel (if you don't know, look it up) even though, in Jeff's words, "I had the proper configuration." Maybe the funniest part of the story was when the moyel was doing his work and apparently told Jeff, in a particularly vulnerable moment, "My sons are big fans." That might be the apex of awkwardness, IMHO. Jeff then pondered whether he had shared too much and/or whether he should have sent out a press release that might have landed him on the cover of Heeb.

 

Jeff also had recurring fun throughout the show with a man in the front row who was wearing an eyepatch, as well as commenting on how much he loved the no photography/no recording policy at Largo. Regarding the latter, he said he (and Wilco's team in general) had tried everything to get people to stop shooting video at shows but that when he went on a rant about it, that was the only thing that didn't appear on YouTube. By contrast, Jeff said there were about "700 versions of Nels' solo on Impossible Germany" and questioned whether people really wanted to watch these clips six months later through their phone's tiny speakers.

 

During the encore, Jeff also tossed out a couple of funny one-liners — first, about the recent Duck Dynasty controversy, he said, "What did they expect? That'd be like Animal Planet firing a cheetah for attacking an antelope." And after a pretty successful audience singalong on Jesus, etc., he quipped, "Most audiences couldn't carry a tune if it had a handle." Joke tech, anyone?

 

And of course, how could I forget another extended reading of a couple of recent Via Chicago posts by our Swedish friend Lotti? Tonight, Jeff read out Lotti's response to the Night 3 Largo show as well as a post written in the aftermath of last summer's AmericanaramA tour. (Greetings, Frau Lotti! And apologies for yesterday's gender misidentification. )

 

Musically speaking, the show could be split into at least two parts. There was the first part when Jeff played, more or less, what he wanted to play. Many of the songs were actually ones that were on the setlist for Night 3, but weren't played. And it's always great to hear rarities like No More Poetry, Chinese Apple and If That's Alright.

 

Then toward the end of the main set, after someone in the crowd asked about the pre-show announcement made by Largo's house manager about not singing along, Jeff dispelled any notion that the instruction had come from him and proceeded to do a series of songs to which he encouraged the audience to sing along, starting with Give Back The Key To My Heart and Candyfloss. Though neither of those went perfectly — Candyfloss sort of died out shortly before reaching its proper conclusion, for example — they changed the mood of the show.

 

In the encore, Jeff continued the singalong trend by fully letting go of his "no repeated songs" stance and playing a few of the "hits," much to the delight of some in the crowd. (In terms of the printed setlist, it appears that the set was played mostly as intended; a few of the songs in the "swapout box" that weren't played were John Lennon's God as well as Country Disappeared, I Got You and Bull Black Nova.)

 

In the end, I suppose those feel-good encore songs (along with an off-PA Dreamer In My Dreams) were as fitting a conclusion as any for this unique set of performances. They were certainly some of the most intimate, unguarded shows I've ever seen Jeff play by himself, and to be able to see them all over the course of this week has been a bigger Christmas present than I could have realistically hoped for. So what I should really say is: Many thanks to friends both new and old, Largo and its staff and, of course, Jeff and his team for making this all possible (and so probable).

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played, for Night 4:

 

Ashes Of American Flags

Please Be Patient With Me

When The Roses Bloom Again

Bob Dylan's 49th Beard

Please Tell My Brother

One By One

Sky Blue Sky

No More Poetry

So Much Wine [The Handsome Family]

Lost Love

Radio Cure

Chinese Apple

At Least That's What You Said>

I'm Always In Love

If That's Alright

—Reading of Lotti posts—

Box Full Of Letters

Give Back The Key To My Heart [Doug Sahm]

Candyfloss

Pecan Pie

Outta Mind (Outta Sight)

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

California Stars

Jesus, etc.

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Dreamer In My Dreams (performed at edge of stage w/o PA system)

[Preferred B]

I just have to say I've wanted to hear "Ashes" solo for such a long time now, but it didn't even occur to me to try requesting it at Largo. I was beyond thrilled that Jeff opened with it tonight! I was also in a Candyfloss kind of mood, so that was great to hear. These shows were a privilege to attend, and I'm grateful to everyone involved in making them happen. Not to mention pnêyu, who introduced me to Largo almost ten years ago. It was wonderful to see so many friends this week.

[Albert Tatlock]

As has been said before and hopefully will be said many times to come - thanks for some great reportage Bbop

[bböp]

As has been said before and hopefully will be said many times to come - thanks for some great reportage Bbop

 

Cheers to you, sir! Thanks for taking the time to read some of my humble musings...  

[kidsmoke]

Thanks, Paul. You always sum these up so very well, and remind me of little details I had already forgotten. Really appreciated!

[worldrecordplayer]

Sounds great. Thanks Bpop for the on the scene reporting, which almost makes me feel like I was there. always the first read of my morning whenever Wilco or Tweedy are on tour.

 

Sent from my PM23300 using Tapatalk

[Magnetized]

I'm happy to chime in on the chorus of gratitude for your detailed reporting, Paul. And I'm always so impressed--and grateful--that you put up such thorough reviews so quickly after the show ends. Like worldrecordplayer says, the first thing I do when I wake up is look in the After the Show thread. Instant gratification!

[Lotti]

Here is trove of detailed research of very special nature! Mr Jeff Tweedy makes decent change on his part with many good reason to justify - as in example here in arctic it is wise to keep minimum present to Mr Jack Frosting for bites of the meat and double vegetable when caught short after schnapps binge. Otherwise fur legging is never same! I cannot speak in public place concerning arrangements too close to bone of Mr Benny and Mr Bjorn, but it is synchronicity move in right direction. Send PM for the details if you have desire to copy their cats in this special effort. Amongst the other things there is advantage gain for Mr Jeff Tweedy in lycra suit performance for sure!
In final way of adding, there is also opportunity for fan auction of wastage for Secreting Santa, no?
Welfare!
P.S. Do not have the fear - there is no piercing attachment in special effort so no airport check-in delay on international tour.

[chisoxjtrain]

The Muppets got this one right:

[uhfr]

My first post to VC though I am a HUGE Wilco fan. I was the guy who asked about the singing along. On Wed, Jeff seemed crazily uncomfortable to me, and I was wondering if he wasn't the one that requested no singing if that was why: if you anticipate a song to become a huge singalong and it doesn't, and you have a history of self doubt, you're going to beat yourself up, if that happens all night you're going to be unbelievably frustrated, especially at shows this intimate. I kept thinking of the best way to phrase it in case I was wrong -- what I ended up saying was "was the no singing along policy your choice?" had he said yes, I would have kept quiet, no matter how fucking hard that was to do.

 

When he said no, and his face lit up, I was so glad I piped up. All of last night was a joy, but the singalongs reminded me why I got into this band in the first place so many years ago.

[kidsmoke]

Welcome to Via Chicago, uhfr! I know I wasn't the only one who was so very grateful you spoke up last night!

[Lonesome Wind]

I was the guy who asked about the singing along.

 

Thank you for that! Crowd participation really makes his shows so wonderful and I was a little disappointed when the "no singing" announcement was made. The whole mood in the theater changed once you asked and it made a great gig even better. Thanks again!

[tstrapac]

My first post to VC though I am a HUGE Wilco fan....

 

I'm pretty sure we were line friends. Howdy!

[Albert Tatlock]

So apparently someone was flaunting the rules

 

[remphish1]

Gosh wish Tweedy would do 4 NYC shows in a row! Jealous!!!

[M. (hristine]

So apparently someone was flaunting the rules

 

Now I see why there was supposed to be no photography. Jeff got a haircut and wanted to keep it on the down low.

[tstrapac]

So apparently someone was flaunting the rules

 

I don't think that's one of the Largo shows.

[kidsmoke]

Actually I think it is....and isn't that Lotti's letter laying on the cart  beside him?

[tstrapac]

Actually I think it is....and isn't that Lotti's letter laying on the cart beside him?

Didn't Jeff wear the same long sleeve black button up every night?

 

I also don't remember that specific guitar, but I also have a terrible memory.

[uhfr]

I'm pretty sure we were line friends. Howdy!

 

Hi there!