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Tweedy — 30 March 2016, Tokyo, Japan (Liquidroom)


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Well I couldn't miss all the fun on this latest Tweedy band jaunt, which may very well end up marking the de facto end of the touring behind the Sukierae record, so it was more than worth the effort to get to this great city. And as has been the case thus far with Bowie covers, surprise guests and on-stage debuts, Tweedy — the man, the band and the family — has kept the audience on its toes.

 

Such was the case again tonight when Jeff brought old friend, collaborator and esteemed Tokyo denizen Jim O'Rourke on stage for a couple of Loose Fur songs to close out the set. In introducing Jim — and I'm paraphrasing here — Jeff said something to the effect that probably more than anyone else, O'Rourke had helped him get to the point he is now in terms of being able to get on stage and play music. Upon hearing that, the always self-deprecating O'Rourke promptly pulled out some cash and handed it to Jeff. Then they and the rest of the band got down to business, treating the Liquidroom crowd to what I think was the first full-band performance of The Ruling Class in more than a decade (since the last impromptu Loose Fur performance in November of 2005) and then a blistering 10 minute-long version of Laminated Cat with Spencer Tweedy ably filling in for Glenn Kotche on percussion and O'Rourke providing some fiery work on electric guitar.

 

Prior to the Loose Fur mini-reunion, the relatively decent-sized crowd also got treated to Sammy Tweedy's second-ever on-stage performance. The younger Tweedy offspring once again came on to sing lead vocals on Big Star's classic Thirteen, which his dad joked that he only did "once per continent." As he did several nights previous in Auckland, Sammy provided just the right dynamics to the song — a little bit of sweetness, a little bit of teenage angst — and provided one of the highlights of the show.

 

Thirteen came just after Jeff's first-ever solo set in Japan that kicked off with a beautiful Via Chicago featuring harmonica and also featured a performance of I'm The Man Who Loves You that Jeff dedicated to "my wife who is here tonight. Wait, that makes it sound like I have another wife somewhere else. I don't." Jeff then added that he felt very lucky to be able to do this tour with his entire family in tow and remarked on how much they liked being in Japan, half-jokingly saying that they were "scouting the world for places to leave to" in case a Trump presidency somehow becomes a reality. "You can't have too many friends around the world (if that happens)," Jeff said.

 

Perhaps the loudest cheers of the evening came at the start of the encore when Jeff announced that it wouldn't be too long before he was back in Japan, this time with Wilco. The band has apparently just been added to the lineup for this summer's Fuji Rock Festival, which was news many in the crowd were quite delighted to hear.

 

It gave a jolt of energy to the encore, which hardly needed it after O'Rourke's surprise appearance. But in spite of an nice effort by the audience at coaxing the band back on for a second encore, that was all the music there would be on this night. Nevertheless, it was once again nice to see how much the Tweedy band seems to enjoy playing music with one another and being in each other's company. And although there's still one more show left on this run, here's hoping that after tomorrow night, it won't be too long before we get to see this group together on stage again.

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played (on the printed setlist but not played were New Madrid in Jeff's solo set and California Stars as the final song of the encore):

 

Hazel

Fake Fur Coat>

Diamond Light, Pt. 1

Flowering

Summer Noon

World Away

New Moon

High As Hello*

Wait For Love*

Love Like A Wire* [Diane Izzo]

Low Key*

Nobody Dies Anymore*

Via Chicago^ (w/harmonica)

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart^

One Wing^

Hummingbird^

Born Alone^

Jesus, etc.^

I'm The Man Who Loves You^

A Shot in the Arm^

Thirteen# [big Star]

Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood

Only The Lord Knows*

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

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

The Ruling Class%

Laminated Cat (aka Not For The Season)%

 

* — with Sima Cunningham on backing vocals

^ — Jeff Tweedy solo acoustic

# — with Sammy Tweedy on lead vocals and Spencer Tweedy, Sima and Liam Cunningham on backing vocals

% — with Jim O'Rourke on electric guitar

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Great that you made it out there Bbop! Hope you get some time outside the two mega-metropolises - metropilli?

Nara is close to Osaka, Kyoto about an hour away by train. Ideally Koyasan but bit trickier to get to. Nikko from Tokyo is a doable day trip. Enjoy!

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Great that you made it out there Bbop! Hope you get some time outside the two mega-metropolises - metropilli?

Nara is close to Osaka, Kyoto about an hour away by train. Ideally Koyasan but bit trickier to get to. Nikko from Tokyo is a doable day trip. Enjoy!

 

Arigato for the tips, Herr Tatlock! Been here once before and had a great overnight visit to Nikko. This time, spending a couple of days in Kyoto to have a wander (any musts there?). Then back to the big metropolis briefly for some record shopping and eating before (unfortunately) heading back. Didn't realize you were such a Nippon-ophile! :thumbup

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BBOP!

Hey, it's Dave- we met in ATL and Roanoke- hung out with Ashtray after second ATL show.

hope all is well- wanted to drop you a line- after reading your tokyo review and reminiscing about meeting ya and the fine shows, I was watching Best of ACL on Palladia (oops MTV Live- ughhhh) and during the crowd shots and caught your mug- actually had to rewind it because you were in my thoughts at the time- it was weird and funny and made me smile, so wanted to share.

Enjoy the rest of your stay and safe travels home, my friend.

Dave

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This time, spending a couple of days in Kyoto to have a wander (any musts there?).

 

Three weeks driving/training around from Ibusuki to Nikko about 18 months ago. Want to go back for Hokkaido sometime.

 

Top Kyoto temple tips:-

 

Kiyomizu-dera

Ginkakuji

Kinkakuji

Ryoanji

Fushimi Inari

Tofukuji

 

But there are literally hundreds and most will be enjoyable for their own reasons. The food market in the arcades parallel to the main east-west street is colourful too (Tokyo fish market early morning is the best of market experiences if you can). Try to enter a big department store first thing at opening times - all the staff line up to bow and greet the first customers. You will feel like a king! Ta ra.

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Three weeks driving/training around from Ibusuki to Nikko about 18 months ago. Want to go back for Hokkaido sometime.

 

Top Kyoto temple tips:-

 

Kiyomizu-dera

Ginkakuji

Kinkakuji

Ryoanji

Fushimi Inari

Tofukuji

 

But there are literally hundreds and most will be enjoyable for their own reasons. The food market in the arcades parallel to the main east-west street is colourful too (Tokyo fish market early morning is the best of market experiences if you can). Try to enter a big department store first thing at opening times - all the staff line up to bow and greet the first customers. You will feel like a king! Ta ra.

 

Wow, that must've been excellent! I would love to come back and spend more time and get to different parts of the country. I'm trying to branch out each time. Thanks for the tips and if you ever need/want a travel mate for Hokkaido, hit me up! ;)

 

Thanks also to everyone for the kind words, other tips and...uh...thoughts! :ninja

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