Jeff Tweedy, 29 December 2017, Los Angeles, CA (Largo at the Coronet Theatre) [Night Two]

[kidsmoke]

Wow. This was one of those truly magical nights, just warm and funny and brilliant. Jeff at his most Jeff, with a great audience. Perfect.

 

Jeff played my request, Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You in the End". It was gorgeous. That line, "But how can it recognize you, if you don't step out into the light, the light..." was as perfect a bit of song as I've ever heard.

 

Bbop will probably have a good review soon. I just wanted to swoon over the evening a bit.

[bböp]

Finally getting a chance to put finger to keyboard and offer a few thoughts about the second of Jeff's year-ending solo shows at Largo, which was only a little over 36 hours or so ago but oddly feels like much longer. It's difficult to fully convey the intimacy of the theatre, but it's always been a special place to catch a show — and especially by a generous performer like Jeff. I always feel fortunate when I have the opportunity to take in a performance there.

Before Jeff took the stage, standup comedian Sarah Silverman made a surprise appearance to test out some new material. (She has done so at least at one other Largo show recently.) Silverman performed for about 15 or 20 minutes, juggling her glasses and several legal pads worth of notes while discussing such topics as Christmas and Jews' relationship to it, her bi-continental romance with actor Michael Sheen and the intricacies of female masturbation.

Then Jeff emerged, hair braided under his usual Stetson and sporting the same House of David jacket he had worn the previous night. After a couple of songs, he mentioned Silverman (and Nick Offerman) opening for him and joked, "I don't know what these stars want to glom on to me for. It must be a big break for them or something."

After a few more songs, including I Can't Keep From Talking (which I realized yet again has a very lovely bridge), Jeff really started to open up with the banter. He talked about how the previous night he "really felt responsible for everyone in this room. Tonight I don't (really care)." Then he went into a bit about how he often wondered while on stage at Wilco shows what percentage of the crowd he would be good friends with and how it might be like 2 percent. So that in the size of venues Wilco usually plays, that might work out to 25 or 30 people, but in a relatively small room like Largo it might only be one or two. Jeff went on, saying "that's not what you're supposed to tell an audience." He added, "You all look great, but I don't want to see you."

Actually my favorite part of this whole thing was when Jeff was wrapping up his extended bit about how he probably wouldn't be friends with the majority of the people who come to see him perform and someone yelled out, "You're still awesome!" And Jeff, without hesitation, replied, "See what I mean?"

It's that combination of acerbity and sweetness that really makes Jeff such an excellent solo performer when he wants to be. It's often on display when he talks about his wife, as he did while introducing her song request. He said he asked her to choose a song and this (Bob Dylan's 49th Beard) was the only one she could come up with. ... It's such a stupid song." But then he went on to say that "she's the coolest person I've ever met" and talked about how she had kicked the ass of "like four different kinds of cancer. They've had to make up new types of cancer for her to kick the ass of."

I imagine Jeff and Susie must've both been beaming, a few songs later, when their two sons, Spencer and Sammy, came on stage together to perform Graham Nash's protest song Military Madness with Spencer strumming an acoustic guitar while Sammy sang. It was a poignant moment, and especially endearing to watch Jeff sitting on the stairs leading up to the stage and quietly adding in some backing vocal harmonies.

Finally Jeff came back and closed out the show with a few more numbers, including California Stars (the lone repeat between the two nights). He wasn't quite as sharp as before, flubbing a verse in Red-Eyed and Blue and a chord or two in The Late Greats. But True Love Will Find You In The End was a sweet sentiment on which to close out the year — a year in which Jeff finally played live with Daniel Johnston, incidentally — and then it was nice to get a show-closing crowd singalong of sorts on Cali Stars with Jeff imploring the audience not to take his high harmony part and instead simply try to sing the melody. It worked out as well as it could have, probably.

As a point of comparison between the two nights, Jeff seemed much more confident and in control on Night 2 than Night 1 and that's hardly unusual for him. It just usually seems to take him at least one show to get back into the swing of things after a little time off. That resulted in a show that featured no more new songs, but certainly a much deeper exploration of his sizable catalog. It is tempting to make a simple assertion that a more casual fan would prefer Night 1 and a more serious one Night 2, but I think it's not necessarily that cut and dried.

Ultimately, I suppose different people go to Jeff's solo shows for different reasons. Some for the banter, some for the deep cuts, some for the intimacy, some to see which guitars he might play, some to hear the "hits," some to hear him flub lyrics. But it's the total package that makes these concerts special, and you don't always get all of the elements in just a single night. Luckily those of us who were fortunate enough to be at Largo over the course of two late December evenings got to witness most of the aspects that make Jeff's acoustic shows so enjoyable and compelling.

Here was the complete setlist as played for the second and final night at Largo:

New Madrid
Jesus Wept
The Ruling Class
I Can't Keep From Talking
Ashes Of American Flags
Cars Can't Escape
Pecan Pie
Born Alone
I'm Always In Love
Either Way
Bob Dylan's 49th Beard
In A Future Age
Pot Kettle Black
Military Madness [Graham Nash] (Sammy Tweedy on lead vocals and Spencer Tweedy on acoustic guitar)
Blasting Fonda
Red-Eyed and Blue>
I Got You (At The End of the Century)
Someone To Lose
Misunderstood
-----------------------------
The Late Greats
Kamera
True Love Will Find You In The End [Daniel Johnston]
California Stars

[Magnetized]

Echoing another thread, all I want for Christmas/New Years is . . . ROADCASE!!!

[knotgreen]

Wow. This was one of those truly magical nights, just warm and funny and brilliant. Jeff at his most Jeff, with a great audience. Perfect.

Jeff played my request, Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You in the End". It was gorgeous. That line, "But how can it recognize you, if you don't step out into the light, the light..." was as perfect a bit of song as I've ever heard.

 

Bbop will probably have a good review soon. I just wanted to swoon over the evening a bit.

Nice sitting with you last night!

 

I'm currently flying home and feeling great about my brief visit to LA. Night 2 at Largo was about as good of a show as I could have hoped for. Musical highlights for me included Born Alone, which is a song that I much prefer in its solo form, and BD's 49th Beard (Susie's request). Either Way was a pleasant surprise and I certainly didn't expect to hear Blasting Fonda (the only audience request that Jeff honored).

 

Sarah Silverman as a surprise opener felt like a uniquely LA experience. My girlfriend was particularly thrilled as she had spent some time in line talking about how badly she wanted to see her. I did spy Andrew Bird hanging in the courtyard before the show, and so I thought there was a chance he'd open or make an appearance. Nice to know that he was in attendance as a listener only. (And for record's sake, Jon Hamm was also in attendance.)

 

I can chime in later with some banter highlights, but for now it's time for some shut eye!

[scribex6]

What an amazing night!  As usual some funny banter from Jeff and a great selection of songs. Both nights were great with Thursday feeling more off-the-cuff while Friday was more focused and a stronger performance overall. It was nice to see Jeff watching his sons play and beaming with pride. 

[Preferred B]

I'm so thankful and happy I got to attend these shows. Despite being a midwesterner, I've been to fortunate enough to visit both incarnations of Largo enough over the years to really grow attached to the place. The opportunity to see Jeff there is something I will certainly never take for granted.

 

Thursday and Friday were both excellent nights of music and comedy (from both openers and the main act). On Friday night I especially loved hearing "Ashes" solo - I saw that version live for the first time a little over four years ago in the same room, and it was every bit as good as I remembered. The two new songs on Thursday were also a treat. As I head back to the arctic north, I'll have the memory of music and good friends over the past few days to keep me warm. (Just kidding. I'll still freeze.)

[kidsmoke]

That version of ashes was excellent.

 

 

Nice sitting with you last night!

I'm currently flying home and feeling great about my brief visit to LA. Night 2 at Largo was about as good of a show as I could have hoped for. Musical highlights for me included Born Alone, which is a song that I much prefer in its solo form, and BD's 49th Beard (Susie's request). Either Way was a pleasant surprise and I certainly didn't expect to hear Blasting Fonda (the only audience request that Jeff honored).

Sarah Silverman as a surprise opener felt like a uniquely LA experience. My girlfriend was particularly thrilled as she had spent some time in line talking about how badly she wanted to see her. I did spy Andrew Bird hanging in the courtyard before the show, and so I thought there was a chance he'd open or make an appearance. Nice to know that he was in attendance as a listener only. (And for record's sake, Jon Hamm was also in attendance.)
 

 

I can chime in later with some banter highlights, but for now it's time for some shut eye!

 

Tyler, this is you, right? I never made the connection that you were a VC member! Nice to meet you and Brigit! What a show. Nice review, too. Tell us your banter memories! Jeff was pretty funny last night.

[kidsmoke]

Echoing another thread, all I want for Christmas/New Years is . . . ROADCASE!!!

 

YES  PLEASE 

[knotgreen]

That version of ashes was excellent.

 

 

 

Tyler, this is you, right? I never made the connection that you were a VC member! Nice to meet you and Brigit! What a show. Nice review, too. Tell us your banter memories! Jeff was pretty funny last night.

Yep— it’s me!

 

I will, of course, butcher this, but some bits from banter corner:

 

Jeff remarked that when he’s playing a song that he’s played a thousand times sometimes his mind wanders. At a Wilco show, he’ll think about how among the thousands of fans he’d probably only be friends with roughly 2% of them. Applying that to the tiny Largo crowd, Jeff figured that he would only like 1 or 2 of us in attendance.

 

After asking for a request from the audience, Jeff said that every Wilco fan has a different favorite song because he’s never written a hit.

 

He made some really lovely comments about Susie, including that she’s the coolest person he’s ever known and about how she’s kicked cancer’s ass so many times that they keep coming up with new cancers so that she can beat them.

 

He again referenced the squeaky chair from the previous night, and also what a terrible job the previous night’s crowd did at singing along to California Stars, the only song repeated from the two shows. The sing along wasn’t particularly impressive, which could be credited to the preshow request for no photos, no talking, no singing, etc.

[tongue-tied lightning]

thanks Paul 

i need to hear this 

any tapers ? does Jeff allow it ?

[kidsmoke]

thanks Paul 

i need to hear this 

any tapers ? does Jeff allow it ?

 

Jeff might but Largo doesn't. We're all hoping for a roadcase because it was a wonderful set!

[Albert Tatlock]

Been out of circulation so a bit late, but as ever ... Ta.