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HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY, VIA CHICAGO!

kidsmoke

By kidsmoke,
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Reni

it’s been a long time. Met my husband of 16 years here. Jorge Fabregas.    Happy Birthday VC! My life would be so different had I not bumped into this place.    love to all. 

Beltmann

This was the first interwebs "fan forum" I ever joined (2003, maybe earlier), and that was because Wilco had become an exceedingly important fact in my life. I needed to find my tribe. At the time, I

Sandoz

Hey there people! I can't believe VC has been around for 20 years. I joined this message board specifically to find a recording of the 7/31/2002 Wilco show at The Orpheum Madison. So I probably joined

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ladyC

ladyC

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Happy Birthday VC!!

Came here in 2004 hoping that there were others who shared my Wilco obsession. Found that of course, and much more. 
Donna, thanks for all you continue to do to nurture this community. VC feels like home. 

:wub

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Be-Ah

Be-Ah

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Hey all! Happy birthday VC!!! I usually pop in to read the big bboppers recaps but I've made so many friends bc of this band. This forum has always been so civil so cheers to another 20!

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Narziss

Narziss

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I just logged in for the first time in years and there's ol' Josef staring back at me like the old days. Also, I had some new messages, the last was from 2012. Too late to respond?
 

Hello again everyone, the old crew, the new. It's crazy to think it's been 20 years!  Hopefully it won't take another to locate stardog.

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kidsmoke

kidsmoke

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1 minute ago, Cold as Gasoline said:

Congrats, Donna, and all you lovelies here at VC! This forum was the gateway to feeding my Wilco obsession and finding lots of others who shared it. Here's to 20 years of friendships and sharing musical obsessions. :music

 

I know exactly what you mean, Susan! These friendships have stretched all across my life in every direction ever since I met all of you. Thanks, Wilco, for bringing together all these beautiful, crazy people who've enriched my life so much!

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poppydawn

poppydawn

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So many of the best people in my life came from VC and everything that sprang from it. And it just keeps giving. 
 

Donna, thanks for keeping the fire stoked for all of us. 

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Beltmann

Beltmann

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This was the first interwebs "fan forum" I ever joined (2003, maybe earlier), and that was because Wilco had become an exceedingly important fact in my life. I needed to find my tribe. At the time, I didn't expect that Via Chicago and its extended community would also become important facts in my life.

Too many memories to share... endless B&PS (I still have them all); Wendy calling my answering machine so I could hear live Jeff singing "Radio King"; bbop and skyflynn saving me balcony seats in Madison; the lovely Saint Genevieve; the VW ad throwdown; ranking the albums in chronological order; rock star boyfriends; twobobs; a living room show; the RTT; surprise gifts in the mail from kidsmoke; surprise posters in the mail from John Lackey; the Masked Hater; "What Is Art?"; serving as a hub for Jesse's DVD Project; meeting the Berkmans at Summerfest; "Nels is essential"; knitted footwear from Reni for my newborn daughter; and the outpouring of VC love after my brother's death, which I'll never forget.

And that's just for starters, off the top of my head. Love you VC, love you VC'ers. Thanks for being my tribe, ya bunch of highymessedupfreaks!!11!

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Wilco Worshipper

Wilco Worshipper

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Happy Birthday, VC!!!

 

I didn't realize how young it was when I found it! This board and the ppl I met and are still friends with got me thru quite a few tough years and I am still so thankful for it.

 

While I am embarrassed by my name, I really made it a split second - it was who I was 16 years ago. 

 

Thank you Wilco, VC, the admins, and the peeps for making this such a great place to be!

 

✌

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Tweedy's Gurl

Tweedy's Gurl

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It's been a minute huh? Am I still in the top 10 commenters?

 

20 years is a hell of a long time. Weird to think I joined nearly at the beginning of things. This site made my high school years bearable and my college years full of adventure and music. The magnificent folks I met through this forum are lifelong friends. I'll try to find some Souper Sum It photos from our first big meet ups back in 03 and 04!

 

(Donna, I'll probably forget about the photos. They're all in an album on my Facebook if I do!)

 

Love to all my fellow ViaChicagoans past and present.

 

For those wondering what the hell ever happened to your little baby girl: I grew up, moved to southern Illinois, got married, got cats, went to grad school, and now I'm a trauma counselor/advocate. Oh, and I've done a long running local radio show, although that has beenon hiatus since the beginning of the panoramic.

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mountain bed

mountain bed

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I was on etree in the early oughts, doing my Dead obsession thing, and my oldest and dearest pal (not on VC) turned me on to Wilco. All the sudden I was looking for Wilco shows and came across a dude in Spokane named Rob Shelden (I can't even recall his VC name at the moment). This was Fall 2005. We started trading - Wilco for NRPS. He told me about VC - "You REALLY need to go there". So, in early '06 I did. At almost the same time another dude from Denver who was/is a HUGE Deadhead named Chris Beatty joined - the infamous "Lammycat". We immediately hit it off. Soon I made a number of great friends, Jess Towery, Chris Towers ("B2"), Mike aka Analogman, M Chris, Edie, Donna, Louie B, J4Lackey, Dan aka Bjorn Skurj, Beltmann, Ction, countless others. 

 

The thing I recall about it when I joined was there were 2 distinct vibes - the Day Shift, which was driven mostly by caffiene and endless snark, and the Late Night Crew, which mostly seemed to be inspired by bong rips and absurdism. I straddled both of those which basically meant I spent WAY too much time on the internets (which is a series of tubes, as a certain moron Senator from Alaska once said). 

 

Anywhoo...HBD VC you highy messed up freaks!

 

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kidsmoke

kidsmoke

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20 minutes ago, mountain bed said:

I was on etree in the early oughts, doing my Dead obsession thing, and my oldest and dearest pal (not on VC) turned me on to Wilco. All the sudden I was looking for Wilco shows and came across a dude in Spokane named Rob Shelden (I can't even recall his VC name at the moment). This was Fall 2005. We started trading - Wilco for NRPS. He told me about VC - "You REALLY need to go there". So, in early '06 I did. At almost the same time another dude from Denver who was/is a HUGE Deadhead named Chris Beatty joined - the infamous "Lammycat". We immediately hit it off. Soon I made a number of great friends, Jess Towery, Chris Towers ("B2"), Mike aka Analogman, M Chris, Edie, Donna, Louie B, J4Lackey, Dan aka Bjorn Skurj, Beltmann, Ction, countless others. 

 

The thing I recall about it when I joined was there were 2 distinct vibes - the Day Shift, which was driven mostly by caffiene and endless snark, and the Late Night Crew, which mostly seemed to be inspired by bong rips and absurdism. I straddled both of those which basically meant I spent WAY too much time on the internets (which is a series of tubes, as a certain moron Senator from Alaska once said). 

 

Anywhoo...HBD VC you highy messed up freaks!

 

 

This had me laughing but also getting all misty eyed. I love all the seasons of VC.

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foolnrain97

foolnrain97

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Happy belated BURFDAY everyone!@#$%! I'm a day late and a dollar short as per usual. This site and band were an important part of my life through college(read procrastination tool). I was very lucky to meet a bunch of really awesome people from here at various shows and a few of them even graciously opened their doors to me while traveling. So good to scroll through this thread and be reminded of all of the wonderful people. Many thanks to Kidsmoke and everyone else that started/maintained/continues to keep this place going. 

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pok

pok

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Holy heck.  20 years.  So good to see so many familiar faces (? names?)  in this thread.

 

I had bumbled my way to VC after posting on the frikkin' Wilcofilm forum for a bit (really just a chronological list of messages, I think, not a real forum).  I feel like someone may have posted a link there about VC and I ended up here not long after first seeing them in April 2002 at Union College in Schenectady, NY after missing out on NYC tickets.  I still have the ticket!  Also, on the Wilcofilm thing, I always thought it was sweet that the first post was from Jo Tweedy, thanking Sam for making a movie about her son.  And if memory serves (rarer and rarer these days), I believe I got a sweet 'welcome to VC' DM from @pnêyu not long after that. Hi, U!

 

I'll never forget the times meeting actual internet people in real life, first at/after the Wilco / Sonic Youth show at Central Park (the day after seeing Neil and Crazy Horse ON MY BIRTHDAY) in June '03.  That group pic has to be kicking around somewhere.  And then notably at the Irving Plaza AGIB show in June '04, which was one of the first few with the "new band" and being up front with the gang (still have that ticket too).  I still rank that as one of the very best concerts that I've ever seen - amplified by the personal connections, the ordeal in lining up in person for tickets, getting a couple extras (one of which went to a friend of Laura's, the other to...  fellow Canuck... @Dreamin' Judy, perhaps?), the post-show hang at Coffee Shop (I think?), the pre-scouting of Duke's as a post-show hang with Mart and Drew (Maybe?  Mart for sure, but I don't know if I'm imagining Drew @tongue-tied lightning being there).  Meeting up with Karen, Josh, and Paul to watch Mart burn the Red Lion down to the ground on a Tuesday (to paraphrase the man himself: "an NYC Tuesday night is better than a Saturday anywhere else") - @bböp I still owe you a meal if we ever cross paths again, after you sneakily paid my bill on your way out.  And then of course the two tribute albums, which were great fun to be a part of.  I should dig those out again as a VC birthday tribute.

 

Unfortunately, my old avatar seems to be broken, but I do believe I have that file kicking around on a drive at home somewhere.

 

And, lo and behold, I log in here for the first time in years and years and I get a pop up that there's a five-year-old DM waiting for me from @lizish - replying a year later after mine to her.  Ha! Hi, T!  Hope things are well!

 

Thanks to Jeff and Chris (RIP) in setting this thing in motion and, of course, the indefatigable Donna for forever being the champion of all things good.  

 

  Adam

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