Jeff Tweedy — 11 March 2019, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Ponte Vedra Concert Hall)

[bböp]

And so begins a week of shows in Florida. It's always been kind of a fascinating state — to me, anyway — when it comes to any sort of cultural performance because you look around at other folks in the audience and think, 'Who are these people?' Are they true fans of the performer, or just people curious about a name they've heard? Are they truly local people, or transplants from someplace else? Did they come because they were supporting the arts, or because their friend/parent/spouse goaded them into it?

 

Ultimately I'm not sure Jeff ever fully got a read on the audience at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, which is relatively new converted Baptist church that holds roughly 700 in the seaside town of Ponte Vedra Beach about 20 miles east of Jacksonville. It just seemed like he never fully connected with the crowd to the point where there was somewhat of an equal give-and-take that comes with his best (in my humble opinion) shows.

 

Not that the lack of connection made for a bad performance at all. Actually, Jeff ended up playing pretty well and even stretched his setlist a bit with a few songs he had yet to play on this tour, such as One Wing, Someone To Lose and Ain't No Doubt About It. And he only had one serious lyric flub, which snuck up on him in the encore when he transposed a couple of lines in A Shot in the Arm.

 

As far as Banter Corner, there wasn't an overwhelming amount but he did have a funny monologue centered around playing harmonica just before playing She's A Jar. Putting on his harmonica rack again, he said it's "a little scary because I'm not the best at beard hygiene" and joked that sometimes when people thought he was emoting while playing a song it was actually because he was in pain from having a mustache or beard hair stuck in the rack. He added that he couldn't believe that the harmonica rack was "the state of the art, still," that in this age of 3-D printing and other technologies, that someone wouldn't have invented a better method for a singer-songwriter to play the harmonica than an adjustable metal rack around the neck. "This is a terrible contraption," Jeff said, adding that as time goes on the rack becomes more and more difficult to tighten so that the harmonica is at the proper level and telling a story about how once he was playing a show and went to blow into the harmonica and it wasn't where it should have been because the rack had loosened up.

 

Jeff also elaborated a bit on the story he has been telling about his forthcoming solo album Warmer that will be released next month and how he initially wanted to call it "Open Kimono." He explained that for him, that phrase is a family joke that came about when his son Spencer once went to deliver some food to his grandpa, who came down the stairs to greet him in an open kimono of sorts and unintentionally exposed just a little bit too much of himself. "That was the end of Spencer's innocence," Jeff joked. And here I thought he was just poking a bit of fun at the suggestive term that has apparently become part of the business lexicon in recent years to mean that a company reveals what is being planned or shares important information freely, according to Investopedia.

 

And the last bit of banter that was probably noteworthy came when Jeff, unprompted, made a comment about the neighboring Sawgrass resort, which is playing host to the PGA Tour's prestigious The Players Championship golf event this week. "So Sawgrass is here, huh?" Jeff asked. "I used to tear up that course on Sega." He then noted that he was also in "the top one percent of Angry Birds players," to which some guy in the crowd decided to brilliantly yell, "Is that what Some Birds is about?" Jeff gave him a brief "very funny" glare and then simply said, "Yeah, that's what Some Birds is about. Wiseass."

 

Like I said, and perhaps you can glean from previous comment, the crowd vibe was just a little weird all night. It was like Jeff was on one wavelength and most of the audience was on another. A few songs in when Jeff had yet to really say anything to the audience, someone close to the front must have made a comment to that effect and Jeff replied by basically suggesting that the guy just liked his own banter, liked hearing himself talk. And later on, he gently chided someone taking a photo of him with a flash and joked that no one between the ages of 35-55 knew how to turn off the flash on their phones.

 

Then there was the matter of singalongs, which Jeff tried to encourage both literally (on Let's Go Rain) and through some of his song choices toward the back half of his set. But no big singalongs or crowd participation moments ever really emerged, with barely anyone even doing the hoo-heys on Heavy Metal Drummer or the bloodier-than-bloods on A Shot in the Arm. I guess that wasn't entirely surprising, when I think back on it, but it would have made things a little bit more fun. Maybe next time...

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played:

 

Via Harmonica (w/harmonica)

Remember The Mountain Bed

Bombs Above

Some Birds

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

Family Ghost

She's A Jar (w/harmonica)

Guaranteed

New Madrid

I Know What It's Like

One Wing

Having Been Is No Way To Be

Someone To Lose

Ain't No Doubt About It

Misunderstood

Let's Go Rain

Heavy Metal Drummer

Jesus, etc.

Hummingbird

I'm The Man Who Loves You

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

Don't Forget

A Shot in the Arm

Acuff-Rose

[Magnetized]

Thanks for the review, Paul. I always wonder how much is cause and how much is effect when it comes to a disconnect between audience and performer in places like Florida. I mean, are people unfamiliar with the music because Wilco and Jeff don’t play there very often, or don’t they play very there very often because the audiences are not engaged? It’s hard to tell, and obviously there are some big fans in every city/state, but I do fully understand why a band keeps returning to the same places where they feel they’re going to find a receptive audience.

 

And I also assumed the open kimono remark had to do with the business lexicon, not a literal open kimono! Haha

[aricandover]

And so begins a week of shows in Florida. It's always been kind of a fascinating state — to me, anyway — when it comes to any sort of cultural performance because you look around at other folks in the audience and think, 'Who are these people?' 

Calm down, Seinfeld. 

[bböp]

Calm down, Seinfeld.

Honestly never crossed my mind, but I’m surprised you even care about this. (I’ll let you know when I get to Del Boca Vista... )

[theashtraysays]

... or the bloodier-than-bloods on A Shot in the Arm.

Not even a hearty "ANY MOOOOOORE"?  Damn.

[bböp]

Not even a hearty "ANY MOOOOOORE"? Damn.

Yeah, maybe there was a decent one of those. By then, though, it was kinda too little, too late.

[legalsandwichmaneuver]

Driving home in that rainstorm was fun.

[worldrecordplayer]

When I saw this show was upcoming this particular week I started wondering if there would be any PGA folk in the house, and whether Jeff would be aware that the TPC (one of every golf fan's favorite tournaments) is being played this week. So kudos to Jeff for being aware. And just for the record, I played the championship course with my son before he went off to college and we both parred 17. Not a single ball in the water in our 4-some. So take that PGA pros!    

[Mr. Heartbreak]

And so begins a week of shows in Florida. It's always been kind of a fascinating state — to me, anyway — when it comes to any sort of cultural performance because you look around at other folks in the audience and think, 'Who are these people?' Are they true fans of the performer, or just people curious about a name they've heard? Are they truly local people, or transplants from someplace else? Did they come because they were supporting the arts, or because their friend/parent/spouse goaded them into it?

 

 

Thanks for another fine report as always.

 

To answer your initial query: I think that in small Floria venues, it's often some of all of the above. I remember hearing a recording of a Wilco show once where Jeff said, "Hi. We're Wilco. For all you season ticket holders." That type of intro could be appropriate for some of the theaters here, as there are some arts patrons who just go to all the shows. There are also hardcore fans, of course.

 

As for transplants: my nearly 25 years of Florida living has led me to conclude that most serious arts patrons here are transplants. In fact, it often seems like most people living here year-round are transplants, leading to the oft-heard "Everyone here is from somewhere else." Although there's nothing quite comparable to the arts scene of a New York City or Chicago, there are great pockets of enthusiasm for music and visual arts in Florida's larger cities, and even some smaller ones: Tampa, Orlando, Naples, and even smaller towns like St. Pete and Sarasota have vibrant, dynamic arts communities. 

 

I suspect that Jeff's lack of connection may have more to do with him and his experience than the venue or audience. I saw Bruce Cockburn just a few years back in that exact Ponte Vedra venue, and it was a warm, intimate, fantastic show. But then, Bruce doesn't exactly have the same reputation for prickliness as our pal JT, and he's also probably not used to receiving the same level of adulation as Jeff in large venues around the US' major population centers.

 

Anyway - always appreciate these reports, and looking forward to the Tampa show on Thursday in the beautiful Tampa Theatre - built in 1926 and still an amazing place just to visit, much less see a show!

[suites]

Sweet....I will be at the Fort Lauderdale Show...who is going, maybe a drink before.

[bböp]

Sweet....I will be at the Fort Lauderdale Show...who is going, maybe a drink before.

I’ll be there. Feel free to hit me up. I think you have my number?