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TWEEDY — 3/24/15, San Diego, CA (Balboa Theatre)


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Don't have time to write a particularly extensive recap, but basically this was the epitome of a "professional show." Which is to say that it was a perfectly fine performance that you'd never be able to tell was lacking anything, unless you'd seen a bunch of other shows to have some sense of perspective. (Sorry, but I can't help thinking of the "Tull's Tips" segment from Conan here — you take Monday night, a seated theater, San Diego vibe, slightly weary band...boom, professional show. :P )

 

In short, it was bound to happen at some point during a relatively long tour and all the ingredients were in place tonight. Jeff even hinted at the band fatigue early on when he said, "If we look a little dead behind the eyes, we've been in LA for the past week." It's not that this was a bad performance by any means, given that the band played fine and the crowd seemed generally appreciative (if a bit reserved until the very end). It's just that somehow this one didn't quite have the extra juice to really make it a transcendent show, IMHO. And they can't all be transcendent.

 

Certain aspects of the venue didn't necessarily help. For one, the extremely dim lighting throughout. This may have been the band's choice, but I'm fairly sure that from the stage, the performers couldn't see much of anything; they were lit and the crowd was totally dark. It was typical lighting for a theater show, I guess, but I felt like it was especially dark tonight. And then there was the odd security vibe, which seemed to stifle any energy in the room by focusing on people who stood up and getting them to sit down yet not doing much, say, to enforce people taking videos.

 

Perhaps it didn't help that Jeff "called bullshit" on two people in the front row who were apparently sharing a seat and jokingly (?) asked where security was. He made a comment about "having to police all my own shows." (Jeff had already had to step off mike to admonish someone in the front who was apparently recording video.) Then at the very end of the show, a couple in the front row center stood up to dance as the band launched into California Stars. When a security guy came over to try and make them sit down, Jeff actually stopped playing and said "Come on, man, it's the last fucking song...let them dance." That was met with a big cheer (and the inevitable stage rush), so that the room had some real energy for maybe the first time all night.

 

Other notes that may or may not be of interest to anybody else beyond like three people:

 

— I wonder if the Minus 5 had to leave midway through the Tweedy set because Scott McCaughey came out to play on Wait For Love, as he usually does, but not during the encore.

— Jeff's sister — or as Spencer would say, "Aunt Debbie" — was in the audience and influenced some of what Jeff decided to play during the solo set. He mentioned, for instance, that I'm A Wheel was one of her favorites. (Incidentally I hadn't realized just how many of Jeff's songs mention his sister, or a sister, but there's more than a few.)

— You Are Not Alone was listed on the printed setlist as the first song of the encore, but wasn't played. I don't know if it was cut because the venue had an 11 p.m. curfew, but that's almost exactly when the show ended and the house lights went up.

— Not too much from Banter Corner tonight that I haven't already mentioned, but a couple of remarks stand out. One was a riff on Jeff's #waltzwave banter from throughout the tour, with Jeff saying that he suspected a decent part of the audience was over 30 and that "if you want to stay hip and relevant, you gotta get with the 3/4 (time), bitches." And the other happened during the band introductions when Jeff specifically called out a Hollywood Reporter review of one of the band's LA shows that had mentioned that Spencer was "rocking the double bass pedal on the tricky rhythms of “Diamond Light Pt. 1.” "To clarify for the Hollywood Reporter reviewer, no son of mine would ever have a double kick drum pedal," Jeff told the San Diego audience. "That's a single kick (pedal)." Never let it be said that the man doesn't read what's written about him or his band.

 

Anyway, that's about all I can really think of for now. Maybe some other folks will chime in, but probably not...so hopefully this will suffice. Onward! :thumbup

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played:

 

Hazel

Flowering

Summer Noon

Honey Combed

Desert Bell

World Away

New Moon

Fake Fur Coat>

Diamond Light, Pt. 1

Wait For Love#

High As Hello*

Love Like A Wire* [Diane Izzo]

Low Key*

Nobody Dies Anymore*

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart^

One Wing^

Via Chicago^

Hummingbird^

I'm A Wheel^

Muzzle Of Bees^

Please Tell My Brother^

New Madrid^

Whole Love^

A Shot in the Arm^

Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood

Only The Lord Knows*

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

The Losing End (When You're On)* [Neil Young]

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

California Stars* (started and restarted)

 

* — with Sima Cunningham on backing vocals

^ — Jeff Tweedy solo acoustic

# — with Sima Cunningham on backing vocals and Scott McCaughey on keyboard and backing vocals

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Also, if you wondering where my touting of 'Banter Corner' comes from (which I thank you greatly for sustaining), its a derivative of the famous 'Compost Corner' from 1980s anarchic live Saturday morning show Tiswas - ostensibly for kids but with a big student/adult cult following and an incredible guest list of celebrity fans* willing to be self-deprecating in a way too often lacking in this overly PR-conscious age.

 

By a strange piece of synchronicity, googling for a video revealed no other than Mr Gumby as a guest, with what also looks like a member of Status Quo in a leotard. It was a magnificently weird low budget show. 

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbuz796odgs

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8ibcPjoXs4

 

and if you ever wanted to see Roger Daltrey in a green leotard ...

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DazR4V2KTJM

 

 

* Famously, the Clash appeared on Tiswas featuring a classic punk 'gob'.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHlzfKQG7pA

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Also, if you wondering where my touting of 'Banter Corner' comes from (which I thank you greatly for sustaining), its a derivative of the famous 'Compost Corner' from 1980s anarchic Saturday morning show Tiswas - ostensibly for kids but with a big student/adult following. 

By a strange piece of synchronicity, googling for a video revealed no other than Mr Gumby as a guest, with what also looks like a member of Status Quo in a leotard. It was a magnificently weird low budget show. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbuz796odgs

 

Oh, thanks for the insight! I think it's rather an effective term when it comes to trying to put together these show recaps, so more than happy to help sustain... :cheers

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Here was The Minus 5 setlist in San Diego, for our interested friends...

 

Remain In Lifeboat

Hold Down The Fort

The Old Plantation

It's Beautiful Here

Adios Half Soldier

There Is No Music

In The Ground

The Zero Clowns

The Days Of Wine And Booze*

Aw Shit Man*

My Generation*

 

* — with Liam Cunningham on keyboard

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Thanks bbop for both setlists/reviews - with the 'issue' of people standing & dancing why doesn't Jeff just say to everyone to stand up & dance?? No brainer!

I think that just isn't Jeff's style, to tell an audience what to do; probably he would rather it happen organically, but often that means it doesn't happen at all.

 

Anyway, this stand-up-sit-down issue usually comes up when Wilco plays seated theaters and I think Jeff just prefers to stay out of it at this point. Because for everyone who wants to stand up and dance, there's someone else who would prefer to stay seated and not have their view blocked, so you can't win.

 

Incidentally, I did see a Ryan Adams show not too long ago when he actually told some kids who had rushed the stage in a seated theater that they should probably go sit down and respect the people who had paid for their seats. I hadn't seen an artist do that before...

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I think that just isn't Jeff's style, to tell an audience what to do; probably he would rather it happen organically, but often that means it doesn't happen at all.

 

Anyway, this stand-up-sit-down issue usually comes up when Wilco plays seated theaters and I think Jeff just prefers to stay out of it at this point. Because for everyone who wants to stand up and dance, there's someone else who would prefer to stay seated and not have their view blocked, so you can't win.

 

Incidentally, I did see a Ryan Adams show not too long ago when he actually told some kids who had rushed the stage in a seated theater that they should probably go sit down and respect the people who had paid for their seats. I hadn't seen an artist do that before...

I also wonder if there aren't venue rules at seated theaters telling performers that they shouldn't exhort people to stand up. Like, if it starts happening naturally the performer doesn't have to stop it, but he shouldn't actually encourage it.

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— Jeff's sister — or as Spencer would say, "Aunt Debbie" — was in the audience and influenced some of what Jeff decided to play during the solo set. He mentioned, for instance, that I'm A Wheel was one of her favorites. (Incidentally I hadn't realized just how many of Jeff's songs mention his sister, or a sister, but there's more than a few.)

 

 

Just wanted to add that I've seen a few shows up in Vermont (my Vermont-resident sister and brother-in-law are my Wilco co-dependents) and often Jeff's sister attends.  He's said on more than one occasion from the stage that she's his hero.

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