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Jeff Tweedy — 4 January 2019, Los Angeles, CA (Largo at the Coronet Theatre) [Night 2 of 4]

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A couple of songs into his second of four performances at Largo this week, as he often does when playing multiple nights in the same venue, Jeff took a moment to survey the audience of about 250 as to how many had attended the previous evening's show. When a smattering of applause that he estimated to be about 20 responded, Jeff said in a delightful tone, "Oh good, I can just play the exact same songs I did last night."

 

He was joking, of course, as he has done countless times before. But few could have anticipated just how much when he then proceeded to play some songs he rarely ever does, such as Cars Can't Escape and Shakin' Sugar (aka Alone). Of the latter, which was apparently a request submitted through Wilco's Web site, Jeff rehashed his bit about how all of his songs get exactly one vote each night, which is the advantage of never having had a hit but is also disadvantageous for the "fairly obvious" reason that only one person is satisfied by his granting of any particular request. But sparked by one audience member's assertion that she was "dying" to hear the song he was about to play, Jeff also had a pretty hilarious digression about how he sometimes thinks about what would happen if someone actually did die when they heard the song they had wanted to hear and then reached the afterlife and wondered if it had been worth it.

 

As with all of these Largo shows that Jeff has done over the years, the mood in the room is so intimate that it definitely feels about as close to a living-room show as you can get while playing for a couple hundred people. That leads to plenty of interesting banter — like the tidbit Jeff shared that he spent the day going around to bookstores in Los Angeles signing copies of his book — but can also leave open the possibility for one or two loud-mouthed and/or overly boisterous individuals to hijack the show. There was at least one such person at this show, who Jeff eventually sort of had to put in his place a bit, but fortunately it didn't create too much weirdness.

 

Not that there isn't usually at least some measure of awkward interaction between Jeff and Largo audiences. It's kind of hard to convey to someone who hasn't experienced it, but basically the intimate nature of the room allows almost any stray comment to be heard. So, for example, after Cars, someone sitting fairly close to the stage said, "That was amazing." To which Jeff, of course, replied in total deadpan fashion, "Awesome." You probably had to be there.

 

Anyway, other visits to Banter Corner on this night centered around religion and, specifically, Judaism. When Jeff shared early on that he had recently converted to the faith, someone yelled out, "Mazel tov," which Jeff pretended (once again in perfect deadpan) not to understand. Then he quipped that "as part of the (conversion) process, my rabbi wanted me to spend more time with Sarah Silverman," who had been the unannounced comedic opening act for the show. "It's a Reform thing." Then near the end of the show, Jeff for some reason decided to bring up another aspect of his conversion. "By the way, I did not have an adult circumcision," he said. "I have all of the equipment, but because it's a modern religion, they need to see some blood from your penis to accept you into the tribe. It makes sense to me."

 

Once again, also a seemingly regular feature at Largo shows now, Jeff decided to solicit questions from the audience during a couple of breaks between songs. Among the questions, which included another inquiry about his guitar (a 1930s Martin 0-17 that he once again used for the entire show) as well as a question about whether there would be new Loose Fur material (which quickly devolved into the difficulty of saying "new Loose Fur"), there was one about the Scott McCaughey line in Let's Go Rain that led to a very sweet story about the Portland-based musician who had a stroke a little over a year ago. Jeff said he had written a song for his friend called Let's Go Play Rock 'n' Roll Again with lyrics that were just for him and then he took the shell of the song and used it for Let's Go Rain. Jeff reiterated that Scott "is everything I believe in" and related how Scott is always at the front of the crowd for virtually any band he goes to see and that the positivity he exudes helps to counteract the negativity inherent in the rest of Let's Go Rain.

 

From a performance standpoint, the show almost seemed to flow in an opposite direction as the first night. Whereas Jeff had perhaps been a bit apprehensive at the start then as he eased into playing live again for the first time in a while, on Night 2, he seemed very focused at the outset and then sort of gradually had a few struggles as the show went along. He got halfway through Jesus Wept, for example, and then couldn't remember the next verse (and which, frustratingly, I couldn't come up with the correct lyric on cue either...you try it!). Oh well. And he also flubbed the "used to sound like the sun on the horizon" line in We've Been Had.

 

"I feel like I'm reimagining some of my songs tonight," Jeff remarked at one point, though it wasn't totally clear if he was merely being self-deprecating (because of some of his minor mistakes) or if he intentionally was trying to play some songs differently. One example of the latter was Gun, which was played almost in a subdued — or as I noted to myself, almost pensive — style with a gentler-than-usual strum at the start. And there were fadeouts at the end of both Cars Can't Escape and the show-closing I'm The Man Who Loves You that aren't always there. Via Chicago, with its lonely harmonica (as a friend described it) also was quietly devastating.

 

Between all of the varied banter, occasional deep cuts and encouraged singalongs, then, it was a really fun show to be at (and definitely cool to see more than a few familiar faces beforehand). It will certainly be interesting to see what the rest of the run has in store.

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played, for Night 2 of 4 at Largo:

 

Bombs Above

Some Birds

Cars Can't Escape

Via Chicago (w/harmonica)

Gun

Having Been Is No Way To Be

Shakin' Sugar (aka Alone)

I Know What It's Like

Jesus Wept

Hummingbird

Don't Forget

new song-Family Ghost

We've Been Had

Ashes of American Flags

Let's Go Rain

Jesus, etc.

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

Passenger Side

California Stars

I'm The Man Who Loves You

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knotgreen

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A really wonderful performance. Cars Can’t Escape and VC were particularly beautiful. Another highlight was Family Ghost, which I cannot wait to hear on the forthcoming Warmer.

 

From my vantage point it looked like the show was being video recorded. Was that the case for night 1 too?

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bustedafternoon

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I thought it was a great show. I actually look just as forward to Jeff's banter in these settings, as I do the music. He's hilarious and often has some great back/forth, and unpredictable, exchanges with the audience. I will say, for the first time, I felt a little bad for an audience member. When Jeff was eliciting questions from the audience, one dude barked out, "Will you sign my audiobook?" A dumb remark, without a doubt, but Jeff kinda embarrassed him. I'm sorta paraphrasing here, but he waited a second or two and then shot back, "I won't even respond to that. I'm sure you're already regretting that question." The room kinda went quiet. I dunno, maybe I'm a bit too sensitive, but it seemed sorta mean. It was a dumb, and harmless, question, that he should've walked away from.

 

Honestly, this is why, despite seeing Wilco/Jeff/etc. probably 100x, I've never had the courage to ask a question or add a remark. I've invested a ton of time and money into Wilco, etc., and the risk seems too high. Last night, I wanted to ask (in all seriousness,), "Do you have a favorite Son Volt record?" but I feared a snide remark, one that I'd always carry and could serve to cloud what's been a fantastic run with this band and Jeff as an artist.

 

Am I overthinking this? Absolutely, but just something that caught me last night.

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bböp

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And does anyone know if he was serious about Warmer/another solo record? I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not.

 

Yeah, he was absolutely serious. As previously mentioned in this thread, I believe it was being planned for Record Store Day...though I guess that could be moved up.

 

I thought it was a great show. I actually look just as forward to Jeff's banter in these settings, as I do the music. He's hilarious and often has some great back/forth, and unpredictable, exchanges with the audience. I will say, for the first time, I felt a little bad for an audience member. When Jeff was eliciting questions from the audience, one dude barked out, "Will you sign my audiobook?" A dumb remark, without a doubt, but Jeff kinda embarrassed him. I'm sorta paraphrasing here, but he waited a second or two and then shot back, "I won't even respond to that. I'm sure you're already regretting that question." The room kinda went quiet. I dunno, maybe I'm a bit too sensitive, but it seemed sorta mean. It was a dumb, and harmless, question, that he should've walked away from.

 

Honestly, this is why, despite seeing Wilco/Jeff/etc. probably 100x, I've never had the courage to ask a question or add a remark. I've invested a ton of time and money into Wilco, etc., and the risk seems too high. Last night, I wanted to ask (in all seriousness,), "Do you have a favorite Son Volt record?" but I feared a snide remark, one that I'd always carry and could serve to cloud what's been a fantastic run with this band and Jeff as an artist.

 

Am I overthinking this? Absolutely, but just something that caught me last night.

 

I feel compelled to respond to this, at least briefly. I think Jeff will respond to a sincere question if he senses that it's being asked sincerely. For example, the question about the Scott McCaughey lyric in Let's Go Rain. But I think he probably doesn't respond well to someone he feels is just trying to provoke him or be a wiseass. I think his response to the question about the audiobook probably reflected that. I'm not 100 percent sure, but wasn't the guy who asked that also the same guy who at first asked why Jeff's book cost $30 or something like that? He just came off as someone who was kind of being a dick, so Jeff responded in kind.

 

Now I'd ask you why you would ask a question about Jeff's favorite Son Volt record? I mean, first of all, I think Jeff has more or less addressed the topic of what he thinks about Jay Farrar and Son Volt's music fairly recently in some of the press he has done surrounding his book's (and Warm's) release, if not before. Now your question might actually be a sincere one, but IMHO it kind of comes off as trying to provoke something from Jeff in terms of once again raising the subject of someone with whom he used to make music and with whom he once had a close relationship but hasn't in a long time. I just think Jeff has already pretty much answered questions about both of the Jays, actually, as much as he wants to or can. I guess I just don't get why people keep trying to ask the same questions. :hmm

 

And as far as what you said about "the risk seems too high" to ask a question and have Jeff potentially dismiss it or give a snide response, I mean, would it really be that devastating? I mean, I get that you might feel embarrassed or whatever in the moment, but I think most people would agree with me in saying no one's really going to remember or care the minute they walk out of that room unless you've just completely been such a malcontent that you derail the show or something. And furthermore, would a snide response really "cloud what's been a fantastic run with this band and Jeff as an artist?" I don't know, that seems a little dramatic and/or sensitive to me but I don't know you, so maybe it would.

 

In any case, I would advise just giving some thought before you ask a question, considering whether that question is actually a reasonable one and whether that moment is an appropriate time to ask it, and if so, asking it sincerely. But that's probably just good advice for life in general... :thumbup

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bustedafternoon

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All good points. And yeah, if this guy had already egged Jeff on, then it justifies Jeff’s reply a bit more. I honestly agreed with Jeff’s response as it was a a moronic question. For some reason, I just felt for the dude. But he did ask the question, so I guess it is on him.

 

In terms of Son Volt, I’ve read that Jeff has listened to Jay’s work post-UT so I’m genuinely interested in his take. I could see that as a good one-on-one question but maybe too delicate in a full room. And yeah, he could misconstrue it as a snide question.

 

Also agree that I take this stuff too seriously :).

 

I feel compelled to respond to this, at least briefly. I think Jeff will respond to a sincere question if he senses that it's being asked sincerely. For example, the question about the Scott McCaughey lyric in Let's Go Rain. But I think he probably doesn't respond well to someone he feels is just trying to provoke him or be a wiseass. I think his response to the question about the audiobook probably reflected that. I'm not 100 percent sure, but wasn't the guy who asked that also the same guy who at first asked why Jeff's book cost $30 or something like that? He just came off as someone who was kind of being a dick, so Jeff responded in kind.

 

Now I'd ask you why you would ask a question about Jeff's favorite Son Volt record? I mean, first of all, I think Jeff has more or less addressed the topic of what he thinks about Jay Farrar and Son Volt's music fairly recently in some of the press he has done surrounding his book's (and Warm's) release, if not before. Now your question might actually be a sincere one, but IMHO it kind of comes off as trying to provoke something from Jeff in terms of once again raising the subject of someone with whom he used to make music and with whom he once had a close relationship but hasn't in a long time. I just think Jeff has already pretty much answered questions about both of the Jays, actually, as much as he wants to or can. I guess I just don't get why people keep trying to ask the same questions. :hmm

 

And as far as what you said about "the risk seems too high" to ask a question and have Jeff potentially dismiss it or give a snide response, I mean, would it really be that devastating? I mean, I get that you might feel embarrassed or whatever in the moment, but I think most people would agree with me in saying no one's really going to remember or care the minute they walk out of that room unless you've just completely been such a malcontent that you derail the show or something. And furthermore, would a snide response really "cloud what's been a fantastic run with this band and Jeff as an artist?" I don't know, that seems a little dramatic and/or sensitive to me but I don't know you, so maybe it would.

 

In any case, I would advise just giving some thought before you ask a question, considering whether that question is actually a reasonable one and whether that moment is an appropriate time to ask it, and if so, asking it sincerely. But that's probably just good advice for life in general... :thumbup

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