Jeff Tweedy — 7 January 2019, Los Angeles, CA (Largo at the Coronet Theatre) [Night 4 of 4]

[bböp]

How best to accurately describe and sum up the thrilling-yet-odd, delightful-yet-awkward experience of seeing Jeff perform solo at Largo? Including this year's four-show run, which concluded tonight, he has now played a total of 10 shows over the course of about five years at the intimate theater on La Cienaga Boulevard and you could make the argument that each of them has been somehow unique.

 

Part of that can be attributed to Jeff's mood and state of mind on any given night, while you also have to factor in the spirit of the venue and its cast of characters, not to mention audience dynamics and energy. Perhaps nowhere did the latter manifest itself more noticeably on this night than during Jeff's nightly mid-set pause for a question-and-answer session, which invariably turns into equal parts comedy routine, therapy session and confessional. It can serve as a gauge of the audience, offer some insight into Jeff's own mindset, devolve into a silly and amusing exercise — or all of the above.

 

Among the more memorable moments:

— The very first question, of course, came from a guy who bellowed out, "When is Wilco gonna play?" Jeff, after an extra-pregnant pause and staredown: "Not tonight." Then he joked that actually "all of the boys are backstage just waiting to come out," but it would probably take them eight hours to set up all their gear.

— A woman asked about Jeff's position on singing along and another encouraged him to give permission, to which a few others in the crowd grumbled, "No." Since everyone unquestionably remains seated at Largo, this has become the new sitting-versus-standing debate that divides the audience. For Jeff's part, he professed neutrality. (Later, he said it doesn't always make every song better but also encouraged it during Let's Go Rain and California Stars.) Hilariously, one woman — perhaps the one who originally asked the question — punctuated this exchange by declaring that, "I've seen you many times, and this is the first time I'm really hearing you and it's magnificent." To which Jeff gave an aw, but also asked, "This is the first time you're hearing me? Why did you come back?"

— Someone asked whether there would be a second volume of the Together At Last album, in which older songs are re-interpreted in a solo setting. Jeff replied, of course, "What's wrong with the new songs?" That turned into a bit about how this session wasn't doing a lot for his confidence. Almost on cue, a woman chimed in, "This is a serious question: How are you so awesome and your voice so perfect?" I can't remember exactly how that one turned out, but you can probably imagine.

— There was a somewhat philosophically posed question about the differences of playing solo and with a band. Jeff quipped, "I don't enjoy either...it's my job." Then he attempted to give a more serious answer, but still couldn't totally. "I enjoy playing solo acoustic quite a bit," he said, "but not tonight." Finally he talked about how, playing with a band, he couldn't have these types of conversations with audiences because there were five other musicians on stage with him just sort of twisting in the wind when he spoke at length.

 

The other lengthy digression during this show came after Jeff had gotten about a third of the way through Hummingbird when he stopped playing and realized that he had misplaced his capo, resulting in the song being transposed a half-step up. He then paused to talk about being distracted while playing a song and admitted he had been momentarily distracted during the previous song when someone's phone had rung during One Sunday Morning. Then Jeff mentioned how the other night when he sang the first line of Via Chicago ("I dreamed about killing you again last night/And it felt all right to me,") and heard some laughs, that he had thought about it for the rest of the song. "What kind of psychopaths are (at this show)?" Jeff said. "Should we add more security?"

 

The question of whether Jeff would actually ever return to Hummingbird lingered. He considered abandoning it, which some people protested. So Jeff took on a kind of hunched posture and did a half-hearted, spoken-word rendition of part of the song, then announced that he was "really trying to rally" while doing a few stretches. Finally, he said that he wanted the song to "happen naturally" and likened it to being at a urinal trying to pee while the audience watched him. "Everybody turn around," he joked. At long last, he composed himself and got through the song again — this time flawlessly.

 

Those were the highlights from Banter Corner, but Jeff also rehashed his bit from the previous evening about being "really sad because I knew that everyone who was at the show wasn't nominated for a Golden Globe, and I had a feeling some of them were eligible." Indeed, with the Globes over, it seemed like this was the night for some of the more prominent Hollywood types among Jeff's fanbase to turn up. Apparently Jon Hamm and Abbi Jacobson, among others, were in attendance, and the unannounced comedic opening act was performed by Jeff Garlin (who I glimpsed at least once actually standing on stage, at far stage right in the shadows, while Jeff was playing).

 

A bit lost, perhaps, in all of the chatter was the fact that this show featured eight of the 11 tracks from Warm (which I think is the most that have been played at any one show, except for the record release show at the Hideout which also had eight). That included what I think might have been the live debut of From Far Away, which was definitely folkier and more haunting without the drums and effects on the album version.

 

Other musical highlights were an encore performance by Jeff with his sons Spencer and Sammy of Bright Phoebus, the Lal and Mike Waterson song they had learned and played the previous night for Jeff's sister (who wasn’t there on this night), as well as another performance of the somewhat more plaintive interpretation of Gun that Jeff had played earlier in the run.

 

And with that, another Largo adventure was suddenly in the books. It's genuinely a treat and a privilege I don't take lightly to be able to attend these shows. I'm sure I'm not the only who feels that way. And even though Jeff waved a final goodbye by saying, "See you next year," or something to that effect, we all know that nothing is ever guaranteed. So a very hearty thanks to Jeff and everyone on Team Tweedy for making these shows happen, and here's to the next time — whenever that might be.

 

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

 

Bombs Above>

Some Birds

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

You And I

Having Been Is No Way To Be

One Sunday Morning

Hummingbird (started and restarted)

new song-Family Ghost

From Far Away (live debut)

Jesus, etc.

I Know What It's Like

Gun

Let's Go Rain

Passenger Side

How Hard It Is For A Desert To Die

Don't Forget

I'm The Man Who Loves You

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

Bright Phoebus [Lal and Mike Waterson] (w/Spencer and Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals)

California Stars

Acuff-Rose

[remphish1]

Looks like a great run! Curious what was the run time of the shows the setlist seem to be getting shorter???

[bböp]

Looks like a great run! Curious what was the run time of the shows the setlist seem to be getting shorter???

 

To be honest, I wasn't really clocking the various sets but I'd say Jeff was on stage for about 90 minutes on average. There were maybe two or three fewer songs played at Largo than, say, shows on the fall solo tour. But you also have to keep in mind that at Largo, he probably ends up talking quite a bit more than at an average show, so you have to factor that in as well.

[remphish1]

To be honest, I wasn't really clocking the various sets but I'd say Jeff was on stage for about 90 minutes on average. There were maybe two or three fewer songs played at Largo than, say, shows on the fall solo tour. But you also have to keep in mind that at Largo, he probably ends up talking quite a bit more than at an average show, so you have to factor that in as well.

Makes sense and I actually like the direction of the recent setlist!