TWEEDY — 6/16/14, Milwaukee, WI (Pabst Theater)

[bböp]

I'm sure it won't take long for someone to chime in, so for now here was the complete setlist as played for the latest round of TWEEDY (the first show, I believe, at which Sukierae herself was in attendance):

 

Down From Above*

Diamond Light*

Flowering*

Desert Bell*

Summer Noon*

Honey Combed*

World Away*

New Moon*

High As Hello*

Where My Love*

Fake Fur Coat#

Slow Love*

Nobody Dies Anymore*

Via Chicago^

Spiders (Kidsmoke)^>

Muzzle Of Bees^

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart^

New Madrid^

Born Alone^

Hesitating Beauty^

Jesus, etc.^

Pecan Pie^

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

Wait For Love*

Low Key*

Give Back The Key To My Heart* [Doug Sahm]

Misunderstood^ (performed at edge of stage w/o PA system)

 

* — with full TWEEDY band

# — with guitarist Jim Elkington only

^ — Jeff solo acoustic

[Magnetized]

Oh, it sounds like a fantastic show. I can just imagine how all their hearts must have been filled to bursting to have been together in that theater tonight. What an experience!

[Jcamp]

The sound was really good for both The Handsome Family and TWEEDY. The Pabst Theater is really nice and ornate. And not many theaters still have ushers to seat everybody.  The new material sounds really good live and the band seemed to play more like a well-oiled machine rather than a band playing their 7th gig.  I think 1/2  JT Band  1/2 JT Solo is a pretty cool outing. 1 of 2 of my requests was played. Hesitating Beauty sounded great but didn't get Dreamer in My Dreams for the closer w/o PA. The ending of the "w/o PA" Misunderstood was fun. Jeff stopped singing and playing guitar and was just pumping his arm in the air for Nothings .... and then just held out his hand to stop with the "for nothing at all" .....

[Jcamp]

An additional bit about the Pabst Theater is about the restrooms ( which were totally fine ).  Men's line had a good dozen in line while there was no line for Women. Things overheard were like, " fuckin unreal!" and "awesome!".  ... Sound and Logistics, thumb's up Pabst Theater.

[bböp]

Since I've been discussing the support acts on this tour, this was the first night with The Handsome Family. They played as a three-piece band with Brett on electric guitar and Rennie alternating between banjo and a ukulele bass and a drummer, Jason Toth. Although they seemed to be having a little trouble keeping their instruments in tune — mentioning more than once how they didn't seem to like the Midwestern humidity — it's always great to see them. If you're headed to a show they're opening on this run, do yourself a favor and get there in time for their set.

 

Here was their setlist, as played:

 

The Bottomless Hole

So Much Wine

My Sister's Tiny Hands

Somewhere Else To Be

Far From Any Road (aka the "True Detective" theme song)

Weightless Again

No One Fell Asleep Alone

Frogs

[bböp]

Also, I just wanted to say that as I mentioned in my initial post, this was the first TWEEDY show that Jeff's wife (aka srmt; aka Sukierae) attended and just before the main set-closing Pecan Pie, which he dedicated to her because he said it was the only song of his that she could remember the title of, Jeff acknowledged — I think maybe for the first time publicly — that Susan was dealing with a serious health situation and added how he appreciated feeling all the love and support from people since she got the diagnosis. He went on to say, among other things, that she has been inspirational for him as she battles this illness and that he just wanted "to be as cool as her."

 

I know there more than a few friends of the Tweedy family in the audience tonight, so that must have added some emotional resonance, particularly to some of the new material. A lot of us who frequent these parts of course already knew that the Tweedys were going through a challenging time, but I think it certainly gives anyone who hadn't been aware some new perspective when listening to a lot of the Sukierae songs. It occurred to me that, as the album release draws nearer and Jeff presumably does more and more press about it, it'll be interesting to see how this sort of sensitive stuff will be handled and what Jeff will say about how the album came about.

 

For instance, one thing I've been curious about is when a lot of these new songs were written and/or recorded. I'm pretty sure Jeff had a bunch of different songs in the can so to speak — like way more than the 20 that will come out as Sukierae — and I wonder whether he just picked out ones with lyrics that fit together with some of the themes of his life at the moment and, generally, how the songs that will be on Sukierae were chosen. Maybe some of them were just music and he wrote lyrics to fit with some of his emotions. Or maybe it's just a coincidence that some of these songs seem to touch on things like mortality, mature love, long-term relationships, etc., though that seems less likely to me.

[Preferred B]

I loved the show last night, for the reasons bbop mentioned and because it was just a good night of music. I hadn't heard any clips of the new songs going in, which really made for a unique concert experience. It's not every day I get to watch one of my favorite musicians perform fourteen completely new-to-me songs in a row. (Plus two more later on.) It's a lot to take in at once! I'm eager to have the album in hand and listen some more at my leisure, to really let things soak in.

I can't speak to the actual song selection process for the album, P, and I'm sure you're right that there were many more than twenty contenders. But I did hear that the songs were mostly written and recorded within the past year, with a few minor exceptions.

It was so cool to see Spencer up there on the Pabst stage (well, what I could see of him from my seat, anyway!) playing drums with his dad's band. Especially thinking back to the Blisters' first performance in 2003 at Second City. Gosh, kids grow up fast. (And I'm officially an old woman.) Loved "Give Back the Key to My Heart." I really enjoyed all of the solo set songs, too - something about the night, or maybe just the different context within the show, made me hear everything with fresh ears.

Incidentally, around the time I was starting to head back home last night, a tornado hit a couple of miles from my house. There's a lot of damage nearby. Yikes. I hope anyone driving back the same way fared okay.

[Smokestack Joe]

I was happy to be in attendance at the wonderful Pabst Theater. I havent seen the Handasome Family since they opened for Wilco back in the Riviera Theatre rock days. They were fantastic!

 

The new material was a joy to experience. Some songs in the folk, country-ish range and some more experimental and some straight out rock! It was odd seeing Tweedy performing with other musicians but refreshing as well and it was a delight to see him perform with his son. I observed their interaction a lot. Very cool to see. 

 

Tweedy was funny as usual and emotional. A great show and selfishly happy that it was in my town. 

 

Thanks Tweedy Band!

[smells like flowers]

An additional bit about the Pabst Theater is about the restrooms ( which were totally fine ).  Men's line had a good dozen in line while there was no line for Women. Things overheard were like, " fuckin unreal!" and "awesome!".  ... Sound and Logistics, thumb's up Pabst Theater.

That was the case in DC too! I'd never experienced that before. Heard a lady in the ladies' room saying it's cuz Wilco shows are "sausage fests," way more guys than gals. Funny!

[Sandoz]

What a special night at a beautiful venue. Hearing so much new material in one sitting was admittedly overwhelming at first, but it was great to eventually sit back, sip my drink, and enjoy the music and lyrics.  I loved it all, and I cannot wait to have the album so that I can really enjoy each track.

 

I've never heard Jeff gush so honestly (and for so long) about Susan on stage. His adoration for her is so deep and lovely; when he finally "realized" that he was going on and on, it was really a sweet moment. I was crying like a baby, but many here know that I am a crybaby nut job!

 

And last, but certainly not least, to see Spencer on stage at a large theater was thrilling and I was so proud of him. I've known this child since he was about 4 years old and he has grown to be the type of man that we all hope our children will become. Love that boy so!

PS He is truly an AWESOME drummer.