Jeff Tweedy — 15 March 2019, Fort Lauderdale, FL (Parker Playhouse)

[bböp]

As I've been following this current tour in support of Warm, the thought has occurred to me that it would have been really interesting to have been at Jeff's first true solo performance. I'm not even sure when or where that was. I suppose I could look it up — it was probably at Lounge Ax in Chicago — but record-keeping wasn't always as meticulous back in the day, so who knows for sure. (For the record, the earliest record of a bonafide solo show, not a radio or in-store appearance, in the database we have was at Lounge Ax in 1997.)

 

Unfortunately I can't claim to go back nearly that far in my fandom, but I have seen Jeff perform solo quite a bit since his first national solo tour in 2001. The reason I bring all of that up here is that my overriding thought during this penultimate show of a week in Florida was just how comfortable and seasoned he has become on stage by himself with an acoustic guitar and not much else. Not that he doesn't still have his moments or his struggles, but it's been a privilege to get to see him mature and develop as a performer.

 

That maturity and development was on display in more ways than one at the 1,200-seat Parker Playhouse, a true relic of a theater dating back to the mid-1960s that still looks remarkably like it did back then (and is rumored to be haunted). For instance, in the past, it might have been a bad omen for Jeff to so clearly flub a lyric early on in his set — which he did toward the end of Remember The Mountain Bed — but it would end up being his only mistake of the evening. And he even addressed it afterward, saying, "Sorry for flubbing lyrics in the second song. I got choked up, honestly. I didn't write those lyrics, so they're allowed to affect me that way."

 

This being Florida, Jeff also had to contend with some crowd behavior that was cringeworthy, if not malicious. For instance, during the serious song Having Been Is No Way To Be, there was an audible laugh that Jeff clearly heard at one point and then possibly the same (wise)guy in the back responded to the lyric, "Now people say, what drugs did you take..." by audibly yelling, "All of them!" But Jeff didn't let either faze him, nor did he let the barrage of requests yelled at him following a sweet performance of Guaranteed (which he again introduced by telling the amusing story he has refined into a bit about how Susie loved it the first time he played it for her and hated it the second time because he changed a lyric in the first verse). One amusing bit came when the request barrage was ongoing and some guy bellowed, "Smashing Pumpkins!" It set up perfectly for Jeff, who responded, "Did somebody yell Smashing Pumpkins? That is the fucking best. Don't tell him. Yes, I am the lead singer of Smashing Pumpkins."

 

A couple of songs later, Jeff had maybe his best digression of the tour so far when he pointed out that two people had requested the Big Star song In The Street. "Did you think that was a good acoustic guitar song?" Jeff asked rhetorically and then proceeded to perfectly play nearly a minute of the song while sing-speaking the lyrics. It was pretty hilarious (and awesome). Then, unprompted, he said, "Here's another good campfire riff," and launched into Television's Marquee Moon and played with that riff for another good 30 seconds before abandoning it. Afterward, someone yelled out, "Wilco!" with a tone suggesting he wanted Jeff to stop with this covers business and play a Wilco song. To which Jeff could only chuckle and say, "Ah, there's the voice of reason."

 

The crowd was pretty unabashed about vocalizing its requests all night, which seemed to amuse Jeff. He let it wash over him at one point, halfway through his set, finally saying, "I'm enjoying this, just enjoying seeing how many songs you know. Remember that scene in (the movie) Best In Show where's he naming all the nuts? This is kind of like that. It's almost involuntary. ... It's very sweet, but please don't." Then before starting Evergreen, he said, "I'm gonna play another new song — because those are the songs that I know."

 

Naturally, though, the songs that drew the most audience response in terms of singalongs were old standbys like I'm The Man Who Loves You and A Shot in the Arm. I suppose Jesus, etc., and California Stars, too, though Jeff joked about "songs everyone thinks they know (all the) words to." I will give the Fort Lauderdale crowd credit for being by far the most engaged Florida crowd so far, for better and worse. (And it is kind of funny to me that Jeff called out everyone in the previous night's crowd in Tampa, which he said "sounded like they were on cough syrup. They were like a half-measure behind on everything. Is there a cough syrup problem in Tampa?")

 

I think that sludginess in Tampa, if it can be called that, might have been due in part to the acoustics inside the Tampa Theatre, while actually the sound inside the Parker Playhouse was surprisingly crisp. (But hey, you don't recently host Paul Anka without a great-sounding room, right? Just kidding. Not really.)

 

At any rate, it seemed like Jeff has really hit his stride on this tour in terms of comfort level on stage and just presenting the show he wants to present regardless of anything. If the audience is willing to go along with him, particularly as he plays a set nearly half composed of songs from Warm and Warmer, then all the better. But he doesn't seem to really let too much get him out of his lane anymore, and I think that's as good a testament as any to his growth as a performer.

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played:

 

Via Chicago (w/harmonica)

Remember The Mountain Bed

Bombs Above

Some Birds

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

Impossible Germany

Having Been Is No Way To Be

Family Ghost

Laminated Cat (aka Not For The Season)

Guaranteed

Hummingbird

I Know What It's Like

In The Street [big Star] (fragment)

Marquee Moon [Television] (fragment)

Jesus, etc.

Evergreen

Heavy Metal Drummer

Let's Go Rain

California Stars

Don't Forget

I'm The Man Who Loves You

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

A Shot in the Arm

Misunderstood

Acuff-Rose

[TCP]

Great review as always bbop.
 

For instance, during the serious song Having Been Is No Way To Be, there was an audible laugh that Jeff clearly heard at one point and then possibly the same (wise)guy in the back responded to the lyric, "Now people say, what drugs did you take..." by audibly yelling, "All of them!" But Jeff didn't let either faze him

That's really too bad. I might have said this before but I heard Jeff play Having Been Is No Way To Be a few times before Warm came out, and there was always a laugh or woo from the audience. I figured that might just be because it was the first time a lot of people were hearing that song and didn't realize how heavy and serious that particular set of lyrics were. It's very uncomfortable to hear people react that way especially given how open Jeff has been about his experiences.
 

Jeff had maybe his best digression of the tour so far when he pointed out that two people had requested the Big Star song In The Street.

Does this mean Jeff/the crew can tell which IP addresses the requests come from? By that I mean, he knows it wasn't the same person requesting twice at the same place and time? If so, possibly opens up some different strategies in the art of ballot stuffing. 

[theashtraysays]

Great review as always bbop.

 Does this mean Jeff/the crew can tell which IP addresses the requests come from? By that I mean, he knows it wasn't the same person requesting twice at the same place and time? If so, possibly opens up some different strategies in the art of ballot stuffing. 

Techno-chicanery. Nice.

[bböp]

This might be the single-best review of a Jeff solo show ever...please read and enjoy (all the exclamation points and incomplete setlist, that is).

[50footqueenie]

This might be the single-best review of a Jeff solo show ever...please read and enjoy (all the exclamation points and incomplete setlist, that is).

It's obviously been a challenge to see how many! exclamation! marks! you can fit into a half! tossed! off! piece of 'writing'!!!

[TCP]

What else are you suppose to do if your period key breaks?? 

[Lotti]

This might be the single-best review of a Jeff solo show ever...please read and enjoy (all the exclamation points and incomplete setlist, that is).

I see no problem with this regard for sure!

Welfare!

[theashtraysays]

What else are you suppose to do if your period key breaks?? 

This happens all the time? It's never been an issue for me? URL's are a bit cumbersome for sure though!

 

Actually, I thought at first it was just a word processing / character swap / upload kind of issue.  But looking at the sentences themselves, I'm not so sure.  And the couple of all-dark photo's embedded in the filmstrip didn't exactly inspire confidence either.

[Magnetized]

And here’s a seriously excellent review from someone who has clearly fallen under Jeff’s spell. https://www.bocamag.com/concert-review-jeff-tweedy-at-parker-playhouse/