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Misunderstoodness


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I happen to listen to my first Wilco show the other day. Memphis 10/30/2002 and was reminded of a couple of things. It is a great show and there is a pristine soundboard of it to listen to. I particularly remember how intense "misunderstood" was, the Jeff was almost in convulsions and lots of spit was coming out during the "thank you" crescendo. I was not sure until yesterday whether this was just a memory or that really, it is quite a cathartic performance. Well, it is, you can listen for yourself here.

 

What I was wondering how many permutations did this song go through? And might this be the most intensive period of performance? I listened to a few other years that I have and did not feel anything compared. Also wondering who was onstage playing guitar as I know Nels was not there, nor Pat or Jay? 

 

link to track on my dropbox

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hpdurhvhyvheatw/Misunderstood.mp3?dl=0

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Around that time Jeff did most of the guitar parts with Leroy Bach muti-tasking between keyboards & guitars, I saw them for the first time a few days after you did in Tampa. To me, the best performance of this song was on Kicking Television. There is a magic number of "nothings" that Jeff screams. On the album, when Jeff passes that number, the crowd goes nuts. It's fun to listen to. I think the number is either 25, 36 or 42, but that could be just be old age on my part. People here in the board use to report the number on "nothings" as part of their review of the show.

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I happen to listen to my first Wilco show the other day. Memphis 10/30/2002 and was reminded of a couple of things. It is a great show and there is a pristine soundboard of it to listen to. I particularly remember how intense "misunderstood" was, the Jeff was almost in convulsions and lots of spit was coming out during the "thank you" crescendo. I was not sure until yesterday whether this was just a memory or that really, it is quite a cathartic performance. Well, it is, you can listen for yourself here.

 

What I was wondering how many permutations did this song go through? And might this be the most intensive period of performance? I listened to a few other years that I have and did not feel anything compared. Also wondering who was onstage playing guitar as I know Nels was not there, nor Pat or Jay? 

 

link to track on my dropbox

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hpdurhvhyvheatw/Misunderstood.mp3?dl=0

 

Most versions from 1996-2000 are the same, with Jay Bennett making some noise on the keyboards and Bob Egan making even more noise on the pedal steel. It mostly resembled the album version. That song definitely took on a different form during the fall 2001 tour (Wilco the quartet, sans JB) and in the Leroy-Mikael era, 2002-2003. I've listened to a ton of shows from 2001-2003.

 

It became darker and more atmospheric. Less melodic in some parts, with Jeff fingerpicking through some dissonant chords and eerie keyboards hovering over the top, particularly during the instrumental passages between verses. There usually were some weird electronic blips and beeps weaving in and out of the song, which reflects the "sonic mentality" of Wilco at that time.

 

And yeah, Jeff definitely was exercising some demons during those years...imagine being pegged as an alt-country hero your whole career while you're trying to shed that image, evolve your sound, battle addiction, fight your record company, have a falling out with your closest creative collaborator. One definitely could feel misunderstood, so to speak, and it's easy to see how that song would provide an outlet for Jeff to belt it out. 

 

I have to be in the right mood to hear those versions. The sound and the song communicates such a different vibe than the version played today, which has such raw power, dynamics and an anthemic feeling. 

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People here in the board use to report the number on "nothings" as part of their review of the show.

 

My wife and I still count the "nuthin's" when we hear the song live. Many years ago Jeff crossed 50 at one of our shows, and the crowd went crazy.

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Some basic google searching will take you places. Entering Wilco 11/27/96 into a YouTube search immediately turns up the entire video:

 

I should have been more clear. I was looking for a mpeg to download and the show in FLAC format. I searched for a bit, but thought I would ask here as well. Thanks!

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I happen to listen to my first Wilco show the other day. Memphis 10/30/2002 and was reminded of a couple of things. It is a great show and there is a pristine soundboard of it to listen to. I particularly remember how intense "misunderstood" was, the Jeff was almost in convulsions and lots of spit was coming out during the "thank you" crescendo. I was not sure until yesterday whether this was just a memory or that really, it is quite a cathartic performance. Well, it is, you can listen for yourself here.

 

What I was wondering how many permutations did this song go through? And might this be the most intensive period of performance? I listened to a few other years that I have and did not feel anything compared. Also wondering who was onstage playing guitar as I know Nels was not there, nor Pat or Jay? 

 

link to track on my dropbox

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hpdurhvhyvheatw/Misunderstood.mp3?dl=0

You wouldn't happen to have the rest of the show, would you?  This was my first Wilco show and one of the first concerts I ever attended (I was 12).

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I have a source for 10/30/2002 and glad to share it. It was given to me by a friend who says it was given to him by someone running the show. It is certainly a SDB, but I have no other lineage than that. Just let me know where to send it. I tend to use WeTransfer, so I just need na email. I could also put it on my dropbox and post the link here if that is better. In exchange I would love any help finding two things missing from my collection that are not on the Owl Archive.

 

Wilco 2004-09-22 Upton Mix Nashville, TN Disc 1

Jeff Tweedy 2008-01-12 Drost Home Living Room Show Disc 3

 

I am currently digitizing all my Wilco material. I dont have a huge collections, about 50 discs, but when I am done ripping I would love to find a home for the discs as I no longer wish to store them. I can post a list of what I have in a few days when I am done.

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Weird, just found the Jeff Tweedy 2008-01-12 Drost Home Living Room Show Disc 3, so that is now complete and another show that is not up on the OWL, if you have not heard any of the Living Room Shows, they are quite something. 

 

Henry

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