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Wilco 10/29/14 Capitol Theatre - Port Chester, NY


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Surprised that no one has mentioned how Jeff basically chided the crowd for not really "giving it up" between the main set and the first encore. And it was true. That's a big pet peeve of mine when people basically don't even applaud and then just expect that the band will come back out.

 

Jeff seemed a bit miffed and/or annoyed at that; for him to even say something about it, you knew it was a pretty lackluster ovation. I think Jeff sort of said something like, "We've already played two hours...we don't have to keep playing." A small part of me wished he was more of a dick and just decided to end the show after the first encore (or even the main set). Even though, the hootenanny encore is always fun...

 

Anyway, to my mind, there was a little bit of a weird vibe to the crowd last night. Can't quite put my finger on it, but it just felt a little "off" somehow. And maybe Jeff was in a slightly weird mood as well; he mentioned in the first encore that his hand was cramping and it looked like he mouthed "I'm done," at his guitar tech when he decided to cut I'm Always In Love at the end of the main set.

 

Still a good night with some relative rarities. I called it the night of the Fakeout Endings with Hotel Arizona, Someday Soon and That's Not The Issue. Was that a secret theme of Being There? Haha. And as previously mentioned, True Love Will Find You... and Be Not So Fearful in the second encore was a treat.

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I think Jeff has been a tad ornery the last two nights with his banter. I thought the crowd was very loud when they first came out and when he was joking about playing forever and never stopping except for a short break before coming back tonight. I think some bands are so routine with the encores that crowds come to expect it and the longer a band takes to come back out the quieter it can sometimes get. That said, i have the same peeve and Wilco deserves the loud applause that leaves them no choice but to come back out. I loved both shows and expect more of the same tonight and our shot at 90 different songs in 3 nights.

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Surprised that no one has mentioned how Jeff basically chided the crowd for not really "giving it up" between the main set and the first encore. And it was true. That's a big pet peeve of mine when people basically don't even applaud and then just expect that the band will come back out.

 

Jeff seemed a bit miffed and/or annoyed at that; for him to even say something about it, you knew it was a pretty lackluster ovation. I think Jeff sort of said something like, "We've already played two hours...we don't have to keep playing." A small part of me wished he was more of a dick and just decided to end the show after the first encore (or even the main set). Even though, the hootenanny encore is always fun...

 

Anyway, to my mind, there was a little bit of a weird vibe to the crowd last night. Can't quite put my finger on it, but it just felt a little "off" somehow. And maybe Jeff was in a slightly weird mood as well; he mentioned in the first encore that his hand was cramping and it looked like he mouthed "I'm done," at his guitar tech when he decided to cut I'm Always In Love at the end of the main set.

 

Still a good night with some relative rarities. I called it the night of the Fakeout Endings with Hotel Arizona, Someday Soon and That's Not The Issue. Was that a secret theme of Being There? Haha. And as previously mentioned, True Love Will Find You... and Be Not So Fearful in the second encore was a treat.

 

 

The crowd was definitely more chill on night #2. You are right different vibe, a bit less upbeat.

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The "you're a much better looking crowd tonight" banter got a little awkward, as Jeff noted. 

 

I thought his "the show will never end, we'll keep playing  and then take a break and be here tomorrow" was pretty funny.  While the crowd may have been less upbeat than the previous night (I was only there last night), the crowd was quick to react when he hinted the show will end at some point.  

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I totally agree that the audience should whoop it up to get encores. Yes, it's an expectation that there will be an encore, but that doesn't mean that we don't owe them that much, especially considering that they're up there playing their hearts out for us. It's a concert tradition, people. When the yelling and stomping and whoos start slowing down, take a cue from Pee Wee Herman and "yell real loud!" Get that energy back up!

 

Jeff has every right to be perturbed if the audience isn't doing its part. After all, "half of it's you, half is me."

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We must've been at different shows. Jeff looked very happy to me. All smiles.

 

I thought it was a fantastic show. The setlist was near perfect, and Nels & Glenn in particular were just on fire, particularly during Ashes. I think taking this past year off to play with other people has been good for them as a band.

 

The only downside for me - and it's a small one - was that I ended up on the rail directly in front of John's rig, so I got a bit too much bass & not enough Nels. Still hard to complain, though.

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The crowd was definitely more chill on night #2. You are right different vibe, a bit less upbeat.

That might have something to do with the setlist. They played a lot of their slower tunes last night. Great songs all, but they weren't exactly going to inspire a mosh pit.

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Now available for pre-order at Roadcase #38...in fact all 3 Port Chester shows, Knowxville, & all 6 Chicago Winterlude shows are now available as pre-orders, thus making up Roadcases #36-45...Happy Wilco's 20th Anniversary!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I forgot that I wanted to comment specifically on Ashes of American Flags. I remember at the show getting lost in the outtro jam and thinking to myself "what song is this?", and then realizing that they were still in Ashes...  Maybe it has been played that way before, or maybe it's just been a while since I've heard it in-person, but the jam seems to have taken on a new feel. I distinctly remember my first listen to YHF and thinking that Ashes was going to be my favorite song because it sounded like it was right out of Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii era. Very heavy and dark and spacey. Now it sounds more like the Grateful Dead's spring 1977 soaring takes on tunes such as Morning Dew. Heavy and emotional still, but in a different way (more uplifting, eventually?). Of course this little review will make no sense to those who aren't familiar with those bands, but for me it confirms Ashes, and Wilco (as if they weren't already, LOL) in some heavyweight historical benchmark territory, in my musical library.

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I forgot that I wanted to comment specifically on Ashes of American Flags. I remember at the show getting lost in the outtro jam and thinking to myself "what song is this?", and then realizing that they were still in Ashes...  Maybe it has been played that way before, or maybe it's just been a while since I've heard it in-person, but the jam seems to have taken on a new feel. I distinctly remember my first listen to YHF and thinking that Ashes was going to be my favorite song because it sounded like it was right out of Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii era. Very heavy and dark and spacey. Now it sounds more like the Grateful Dead's spring 1977 soaring takes on tunes such as Morning Dew. Heavy and emotional still, but in a different way (more uplifting, eventually?). Of course this little review will make no sense to those who aren't familiar with those bands, but for me it confirms Ashes, and Wilco (as if they weren't already, LOL) in some heavyweight historical benchmark territory, in my musical library.

 

The ashes jam was one the top moments of the three nights.

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The ashes jam was one the top moments of the three nights.

 

 

I forgot that I wanted to comment specifically on Ashes of American Flags. I remember at the show getting lost in the outtro jam and thinking to myself "what song is this?", and then realizing that they were still in Ashes...  Maybe it has been played that way before, or maybe it's just been a while since I've heard it in-person, but the jam seems to have taken on a new feel. I distinctly remember my first listen to YHF and thinking that Ashes was going to be my favorite song because it sounded like it was right out of Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii era. Very heavy and dark and spacey. Now it sounds more like the Grateful Dead's spring 1977 soaring takes on tunes such as Morning Dew. Heavy and emotional still, but in a different way (more uplifting, eventually?). Of course this little review will make no sense to those who aren't familiar with those bands, but for me it confirms Ashes, and Wilco (as if they weren't already, LOL) in some heavyweight historical benchmark territory, in my musical library.

Hmmm, not only was I in the house, but I've listened to it several times.  Not that I didn't love every second of it, but it hasn't struck me as having an outro jam that was unusual or more out there than other versions of Ashes.  I will have to listen again.  And I love the spring '77 reference, I know *exactly* what you refer to.  Don't have a clue about the Floyd Live at Pompeii era though

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I don't necessarily mean that they did it dramatically different, but I know that everybody did their part right, with perhaps a bit more urgency, and that Nels was a bit more frenetic, than I remember  - a "firing on all cylinders" musical happening that doesn't occur every night, when all the musicians hit the right notes at the right times and took me somewhere else for two minutes. 

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"a "firing on all cylinders" musical happening that doesn't occur every night"

 

That's pretty much how I felt about that entire show! I came out of there and told my friends i felt like the band played with such intensity the entire night, as if they were determined to make every song the "best ever" version.  Over the weekend I will get myself properly adjusted and give Ashes a good listen.

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