Jeff Tweedy — 16 September 2017, Urbana, IL (Krannert Center for the Performing Arts [Foellinger Great Hall]) [Ellnora Guitar Festival-Day 3 of 3]

[bböp]

When I learned that Jeff's solo performance as part of "ELLNORA | The Guitar Festival" was scheduled for 75 minutes, I have to admit that my expectations were set a bit low. And when I discovered about 25 minutes before show time, along with more than a handful of other people, that the venue for last night's show wasn't the one bearing the name Foellinger where Jeff had played two previous solo shows on the University of Illinois campus, I was definitely in a bit of a scramble mode. But once seats had been found and artist had taken the stage, I joined a respectful audience in being treated to one of Jeff's most personal and charming solo sets in some time.

 

Perhaps it was the presence in the audience of his sister Debbie and aunt Gail — who provided some excellent fodder for Banter Corner that I'll get to later — or simply being in a good mood, but Jeff seemed chattier than he normally might be, especially with a polite crowd that didn't really provide too many shenanigans for him to play off. It was nearly everything you might hope for in a Tweedy solo show, with the exception of a more participatory audience (and I'm sure some would prefer that, after all).

 

The room, which turned out to be the Foellinger Great Hall (one of several auditoria located within the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts) and not the nearby Foellinger Auditorium, was excellent acoustically. Particularly for Jeff's current solo setup, which features just a vocal mike and one other mike for his guitar — he's not plugged into any amplification — it proved especially beneficial. You could hear virtually any sound in the auditorium very clearly, it seemed, and there was a slight echo effect that really stood out when Jeff performed Another Man's Done Gone a cappella near the end of the show. The only drawback was that it sort of detracted from any singing along, and so the show felt somewhat like a recital at times and perhaps lacked some of the crowd energy that you might get in a different space.

 

Jeff, though, provided some of that energy himself, being by turns self-deprecating, sincere and sarcastic almost from the very start. After finishing the set-opening Locator, Jeff turned and took a few steps to his right to get another guitar from his guitar tech and when he returned to the mike, he joked, "Did you think I was leaving?" A couple of songs later, he asked the crowd how it was doing and said, "Taking care of each other, I hope." He also proceeded to accidentally bump into one of his mikes, then joked that he had meant to do that.

 

But the best was yet to come when it came to Banter Corner. A bit later, Jeff once again attempted to engage the audience, asking "So, what's new?" The question was met with dead silence, then everyone cracked up. "That's how it goes when I talk to one person." Then Jeff shared that his sister and aunt were in attendance, which drew a small round of applause. "Don't clap," Jeff deadpanned. "They're cocky. Don't give them a big head." He then went on to share that his sister and aunt are "roughly the same age. My grandmother and mom were pregnant at the same time." When that drew a small titter from the crowd, Jeff continued, "Ooh...scandal. It kind of runs in our family." He then added that, "I love them so much and I'm glad they're here."

 

The relative banter continued when Jeff made a comment about being able to see a little bit because his sister had cleaned his glasses. He said that had never occurred to him before, but then poked a little more fun at his sister by saying that she was always concerned about her glasses because she was "blind as a bat" without them. Then he asked her whether it was true that she had worn glasses since kindergarten. When she finally responded to that inquiry, Jeff said, "Ah, echolocation...now I know about how far away she is and I can finally relax." He continued by (jokingly?) sharing that his sister would sometimes sneak up on him while he was on stage — "even when I was rockin'" — and mimed precisely that.

 

Not long after, Jeff provided probably the most touching moment in the set when he introduced "Ain't No Doubt About It," a song he wrote for the forthcoming Mavis Staples album, If All I Was Was Black. (He mentioned that he sings it as a duet with Mavis, "so imagine her singing it (too).") Jeff then shared that his father had recently passed away and that he and his family had gotten to spend a lot of time with him at his bedside and that it was a "magical" experience. Jeff said one of his favorite parts of that time was that he had gotten to play this song for his dad because he "knew he wouldn't get to hear it on the record." This was probably one of the first times Jeff has played the song publicly; I know he had performed it at some of the living room shows earlier this year.

 

From a performance standpoint, Jeff wasn't perfect by any stretch. But his mistakes weren't serious ones — a lyric transposition here and there, like "...enough to take you from me" in Reservations and or an occasional flub like the "smoking crack" line in The Ruling Class — and they are another charming aspect of the solo experience. He also had to restart the show-closing Casino Queen when he started the song extremely high and a tad shrill, but again, it came off as more charming than anything else (and incidentally, it's perhaps noteworthy that he played the album arrangement of CQ and not the LouFest twangy solo version).

 

Near the end of the set, Jeff had one more extended visit to Banter Corner that was prompted by someone from the balcony or the back of the room possibly yelling out, "Rapunzel!" At least that what it sounded like to Jeff, who promptly responded by saying, "I know my hair's getting long..." — his hair was not braided, by the way — "but don't yell again." Then he went on about the pre-show announcement that instructed the audience to turn off its cell phones and not use them for anything during the show. "Was anybody annoyed by the announcement at the beginning of the show? It was my idea." Jeff then said it actually wasn't his idea and that he thought it was a bit over the top — he poked fun at the not using them for anything part, asking if people still used them for sudoku or Angry Birds ("I've been living under a rock") — but he was glad that people had put their phones away for the most part. He concluded the monologue by asking how long he had been on stage and saying that it felt like he had "been up here for hours."

 

After one final moment of sarcasm about just realizing that this was actually a guitar festival — as it turns out, it was the seventh edition of Ellnora — and asking whether people had been "checking out my technique," Jeff played a generous encore, including the aforementioned final two songs for his sister, aunt and dad, and walked off stage with an encouragement not to be cynical and to take care of each other. He had only been up there for 80 minutes, as it turned out, but I think it's probably fair to say that few in the audience would have been upset if he had played for 80 more.

 

Here was the complete setlist as played (Jeff did have a setlist, it seemed, and acknowledged that he was skipping at least one song he planned to play off Wilco (the album); however I didn't get a look at it, so can't say if there were any other changes or omissions):

Locator
New Madrid
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
One Wing
Radio King
Country Disappeared
Lost Love
Hummingbird
Via Chicago (with harmonica)
Someone To Lose
Ain't No Doubt About It
I'm Always In Love
Reservations
Jesus, etc.
The Ruling Class
A Shot in the Arm
------------------------------
I'm The Man Who Loves You
Laminated Cat (aka Not For The Season)
Another Man's Done Gone (a capella)
Casino Queen (album arrangement)

[The Inside of Outside]

That is a killer set list. This

 

Radio King
Country Disappeared
Lost Love

 

is about as good as it gets in a Jeff solo show.

[Jcamp]

I marvel with every performance of Locator. Both solo and Wilco. It continues to get better and better... Perhaps a detailed review is imminent and I'd be happy to add onto that. A comedic moment included Jeff's sister sneaking up on him, in the past, onstage and spooking him while he was 'Rocking out'. Aside from some echo/reverb issues on the Nels side, the air was crisp. Very clean sound. From the 3rd row, you could hear JT's shoe tapping the floor. And that probably aired through the entire room. It's difficult to gauge the capacity of the Foellinger Great Hall vs. the capacity for the Krannert Center overall. Or perhaps challenging to my observation. The Krannert Center is listed at with of 2000+... Although the crowd could've been more raucous in general, it was seated show and you could've heard a pin drop during each and every song. That was fantastic.

[bböp]

That is a killer set list. This

 

Radio King

Country Disappeared

Lost Love

 

is about as good as it gets in a Jeff solo show.

 

Yeah, Country Disappeared was a nice surprise. At least to these ears.

 

I marvel with every performance of Locator. Both solo and Wilco. It continues to get better and better... Perhaps a detailed review is imminent and I'd be happy to add onto that. A comedic moment included Jeff's sister sneaking up on him, in the past, onstage and spooking him while he was 'Rocking out'. Aside from some echo/reverb issues on the Nels side, the air was crisp. Very clean sound. From the 3rd row, you could hear JT's shoe tapping the floor. And that probably aired through the entire room. It's difficult to gauge the capacity of the Foellinger Great Hall vs. the capacity for the Krannert Center overall. Or perhaps challenging to my observation. The Krannert Center is listed at with of 2000+... Although the crowd could've been more raucous in general, it was seated show and you could've heard a pin drop during each and every song. That was fantastic.

 

I literally sat down to start writing right when I saw your post about a detailed review. Hopefully I did the job. As for the capacity question, I was wondering myself. I would say maybe 800-1000 in the Foellinger Great Hall itself. Krannert has at least a couple of other smaller rooms within it and perhaps they just add all those up to come up with a total capacity? It is interesting the differences between a show at a place like the Vic and a place like the Foellinger GH (where it's seated, a bit formal feeling and they don't allow drinks or food into the room). Not saying one is better than the other, but it would be nice to get a better mix of raucous and reserved sometime. Maybe that's just not realistic, though.

[Jcamp]

On-site free parking garage. Thanks, Ellnora Guitar Festival. No gouge!

[theashtraysays]

Thanks Paul (and Joe!!) - a great read on this Sunday Morning.

 

... acknowledged that he was skipping at least one song he planned to play off Wilco (the album)...
 

One can only imagine Jeff scanning the room for a sign, finding none, and deciding to save it for the upcoming tour.

I approve.

By the way Jeff, that would be Atlanta and Asheville, just to be clear. 

Vince

[Albert Tatlock]

Ta. Hope I can reciprocate as well in February.