Jeff Tweedy — 6 September 2018, Oslo, Norway (Sentrum Scene)

[bböp]

Oh, Oslo...will you be destined to go down with places like Iowa City and Edinburgh — at least in my mind — when it comes to a single audience member nearly derailing the show? Well, that's probably a bit dramatic but certainly last night's show at the Sentrum Scene proved to be an "interesting" (to quote Jeff) way to close out a short run of solo performances in Europe. I guess I'll always remember it as the "God Has Left The Building" show.

 

As I've often opined in post-show recaps, the optimal audience for a Jeff show is neither too rowdy nor too polite. I think you want to have some of both, because otherwise it becomes either a total shitshow or a sedate recital, but it's definitely a fine line. What you definitely don't want to have is one member of the audience, likely due to being under the influence of alcohol and/or other substances, disrupt the show to the extent that it adversely affects the performer, who after all is pretty vulnerable up there on stage already.

 

Unfortunately, that's what happened about midway through the show when a loud man in the balcony yelled what to me was an unintelligible request but which Jeff apparently somehow understood. A brief exchange ensued where Jeff commented that the man must have some knowledge of his songs (because I guess he conveyed his request for Misunderstood by citing some lyrics or something?) The man replied by saying something to the effect that "I'm not the god of knowledge," to which Jeff replied, "Well, you're invisible," and then asked the rest of the audience, "You guys hear him too, right?" After Jeff assured the man that he would get to the man's request eventually, he quieted down for a bit.

 

But then a couple of songs later when Jeff decided to play Misunderstood, earlier than usual in the set possibly to get it out of the way, the man resumed his shenanigans by making a spectacle of himself following the "...If you still love rock and roll" line. Jeff responded by slightly changing a couple of lines in the song to "I think I might just crawl back in bed" and, most pointedly, "God of knowledge-shaped hole." The drunk guy continued yelling out during the ending 'nothings' and then went on some more after the song, when an exasperated Jeff finally told him, "OK, you can go now," and while putting his fists up, jokingly threatened that if "I have to come up there and kick your ass, I will. I'm tough." Finally the man himself proclaimed loudly that "Security is coming, (and) I'm getting kicked out," and before Jeff resumed, you could indeed hear the man being hauled out of the venue. Jeff quipped, "God called security on himself at the show in Oslo. That seems about right for 2018." It had taken seemingly far too long for said security to respond, but finally order was restored. I thought I heard another audience member in the balcony confirm that "God has indeed left the building."

 

You could hardly have blamed Jeff if he quickly made his exit after that, but to his credit he not only played a couple more songs in the main set but also closed it with a surprising and really great version of On And On And On. I have no idea why Jeff decided to do that song at that moment, but it was definitely welcome. Perhaps he felt some need to express a sense of community or perhaps that had nothing to do with it. But this much was certain, Jeff showed how far he has come as a solo performer over the past 15 years, expressing regret for what had happened yet also displaying some defiance. "I'm really sorry if I could've done something different to expedite that situation, as we call it in the biz," he said. "You guys have been an interesting audience. You've kept me on my toes. I think going forward from this night, I'll be stronger so thank you for that."

 

Prior to the "God" incident, it seemed like the most eventful banter of the evening would come early on when small pockets of clapping broke out during I Am Trying To Break Your Heart. Jeff endured it, but after the song, he said, "The clapping is weird, I'm just gonna say it. I have trouble playing along with your clapping. Thumbs up on the appreciation and enthusiasm, I dig that. But whoever started (the clapping), maybe sit on your hands. People didn't pay to hear you clap. Going further, they didn't pay to hear me clap either."

 

About the only other noteworthy banter came when Jeff returned for his encore and a few people yelled out requests (including one for If I Ever Was A Child, which while not granted, may have resulted in Normal American Kids getting played shortly thereafter). But the requests led Jeff to expound on his usual bit about not having any hit songs that he has to play every night and how he looks at the song requests made on the Wilcoworld site and every night the No. 1 song is something different. "Try making a career out of that," Jeff joked. "So 37 people in Oslo want to hear Box Full Of Letters — which I'm not going to play because it sounds stupid on an acoustic guitar. My new encore is just going to be standing here and making people guess what I'm gonna play."

 

In any case, it certainly proved to be an interesting evening indeed. I'd always wanted to make it to a show in Oslo, and I was glad to finally be able to. The Sentrum Scene is sort of reminiscent of the Vic Theater in Chicago, with its tiers sloping down toward the stage, except that the main level is actually one level underground while the balcony is on the ground level where you enter (and a lack of opera boxes). But otherwise the vibe was fairly similar. Like the other shows in Europe on this run, there was general admission seating on the main floor and maybe that contributed a bit to the relatively sedate vibe overall. As I observed to a friend the other day, maybe European audiences generally get geared up and responsive for standing performances by full bands and treat seated solo and/or acoustic performances more as things to be observed. Well, except for "God," anyway...

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played, for Oslo:

 

Via Chicago (w/harmonica)

new song-Bombs Above

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

New Madrid

new song-Having Been Is No Way To Be

Hummingbird

One Wing

new song-Don't Forget

Impossible Germany

Bull Black Nova

Laminated Cat (aka Not For The Season)

new song-Let's Go Rain

Passenger Side

new song-Some Birds

Misunderstood

Jesus, etc.

I'm The Man Who Loves You

On And On And On

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California Stars

Normal American Kids

A Shot in the Arm

Acuff-Rose

[50footqueenie]

Sounds like a guid Scots night oot - if it's not Scottish it's crap!!