Jeff Tweedy — 28 February 2022, Los Angeles, CA (Largo at the Coronet Theatre) [Night 4 of 5]

[bböp]

Well I'm not even sure where to go with this one, but somehow Jeff's 90-minute set tonight — his second of three solo outings at Largo during this five-show run — included a late discussion about buttplugs, splinters and the DeLorean from Back To The Future, a detailed explanation about his "main" guitar and why he hasn't used it as much lately, a new song that should probably be called "Circumcised" being played not once but twice, five more "new" songs in addition to that one and a Guided By Voices cover sung by a special guest vocalist. Oh, and before Jeff even took the stage, one of the most respected voices in modern comedy filmmaking — Judd Apatow — tried out material that he was thinking about using when hosting the upcoming Director's Guild Awards.

 

So yeah, just another Monday night in West Hollywood... 

 

I guess I'll just start at the start for once, and that meant — as expected — a "new" song. As I mentioned the other day, Jeff seems to be in the mood to play a lot of his more recent compositions and he acknowledged as much during the show. The song he opened with tonight, which I don't believe he played on The Tweedy Show (though I could be mistaken) [edit: he did play it at least once, in Episode 182 on 7 June 2021 and said it was called "Circumcised" back then], was an evocative one that opened with the lyrics:

 

I went out for a walk, looking for a light

Corner store closed early tonight

I had a funny feeling something's not right

I went out for a walk, and I needed a light

 

Thought I could see someone inside

Pressed my nose to the glass and shaded my eyes

So that's how I know he's circumcised

Standing naked in the buzz of a neon sign.

 

The song also had a chorus that went: "It's easy beginning/When it's ending, it's hard/I'm not a wise man/Even I understand when it's time/To get lost." Afterward Jeff quipped, "That's the kind of song I write when I'm not being careful. I didn't ask for that song, I didn't want that song...but I had to respond (to the thoughts I was having)." Someone asked him what the song was called and he said "Out For A Walk," but then admitted that it should probably be called "Circumcised," since that's the word that jumps out at you most from the lyrics. Whatever it's called, that "funny, sad song," as Jeff initially described it on The Tweedy Show must have been pretty prominent in his mind because about 20 minutes after opening his Largo set with it, while trying to decide what to play next, he sort of half-jokingly pondered aloud whether he should play it again. When an audience member encouraged that, saying he had been late arriving to the show, that's all it took for Jeff to reprise the tune.
 

Not surprisingly, it was the "new" songs that seemed to engage Jeff the most during tonight's set. I use quotation marks around new because some of these songs are almost a year old already, at least, judging by when he shared them on The Tweedy Show. It will be interesting to see which ones make the cut onto a record, but it's clear that Jeff has been incredibly prolific over the course of the pandemic. And there always seem to be more in the pipeline, including songs that have been played at other solo shows though not yet at Largo, such as Hints and Story To Tell.

 

Of course there were some deep cuts and old reliables, too. I would say One True Vine fell into the former category and saw Jeff use the full range of his voice to convey the message of the song that he wrote for Mavis Staples to sing. "That's a little high, (but I) thought I could do it," Jeff said afterward. "Mavis...she sings it a whole step down from there, which is smart." And I'm glad Jeff chose to play Passenger Side and Ashes Of American Flags back to back — what I call "The Inflation Suite" — because both have lines about the prices of things that probably need to be adjusted to fit the current reality. Judging by the eye-opening prices of gas displayed at the Mobil station just down the road from Largo, for example, "five dollars we can put in the tank" wouldn't get you very far. 

 

From the perspective of Banter Corner visits, there's just too much to fully summarize here. But we did get some insights and information about some of Jeff's guitars when someone inquired about them. There's always that dynamic, also present on The Tweedy Show I might add, where half the audience is probably super interested in the guitar talk and the other half doesn't really care all that much. I'm somewhere in between, I guess, but I did find it interesting when Jeff gave some explanation as to why he hasn't been playing a Kel Kroydon during these shows (a bridge apparently broke off one in San Francisco last week) or the rubber bridge model he had during the full-band shows (it went back to Chicago because he's only traveling with four guitars to his upcoming solo shows in Texas). And why he hasn't been playing what he called his "main" guitar, which I think is the 1930s 00-18 Martin that he's owned since Mermaid Avenue days (though don't quote me on that), as much lately (because the frets had worn down to the extent that they had to be replaced and the guitar hadn't felt quite the same since then). He later said he felt badly about saying some not-so-nice things about that guitar, which he ended up using on Jesus, etc. and California Stars in the latter portion of the set.

 

In the encore, which featured a surprise vocal appearance by Sammy Tweedy on Save It For Me and GBV's Smothered In Hugs (a Tweedy Show staple), Jeff responded to the sound of a clinking glass bottle that got knocked over — currently a no-no at Largo, where drinks aren't allowed in the main room — by bringing up glass buttplugs for some reason. When the discussion pivoted to wooden buttplugs (again, for some reason!), Jeff admitted that was a Nick Offerman bit. From there, there was a brief discussion of splinters when someone in the crowd pondered the hazards of a wooden buttplug and Jeff tried to make the argument that it was great to live in a world where someone, somewhere got turned on by getting a splinter. It didn't seem to be too convincing. 

 

A bit later, Jeff told a story about how he and Susie had gone over to his brother-in-law Danny's house during their stay in LA and just as they were getting out, a (the?) DeLorean from Back To The Future pulled up next door for someone's birthday party. I forget where exactly that story went, but I believe it ended with Jeff not sticking around to check it out because he didn't like being upstaged by a car. And earlier in the show, Jeff talked more than a little bit about the living-room show/charity benefit he had played locally on Sunday — on the "off day" of this Largo run — and had some pretty funny anecdotes about it, including the fact that normally the show is 30 songs but when the attendees were asked if they really wanted the full 30 songs, they apparently didn't (which, of course, Jeff joked made him want to play all 30) and that he was told by the hosts of the show that "most of us" are Wilco fans so that Jeff said during the show, he kept trying to figure out which people were there "against their will."

 

Jeff also took the opportunity to set the record straight about a story he had told the other night about someone who clearly recognized him at the Farmer's Market while he was having lunch but didn't approach him. He had joked that he was indignant that the person hadn't said anything to him, but tonight he clarified: "That is a bit. I don't want people to say anything to me. I thought I might have given the impression I like to be disturbed while I eat." 

 

Let's face it: These first two Largo solo shows have been weird. Delightful, but kind of weird. This is sort of why, as someone who is fortunate to see more than his fair share of shows, I find that I often enjoy Jeff's solo shows the best. They're certainly the most unpredictable, and I fully expect that to continue on the final night of the run. 

 

For now, here was the complete setlist as played for Night 4 at Largo (song titles edited to reflect new info from below):

 

new song-Out For A Walk (aka Circumcised)

You And I

New Madrid

new song-I Am My Mother

new song- The Universe

new song-Choir USA (aka Love My Country)

new song-Out For A Walk (aka Circumcised) (yes, played again)

On And On And On

new song-All Across (aka In A Hurricane's Eye)

Laminated Cat (aka Not For The Season)

One True Vine

new song-Sunlight Ends

Passenger Side

Ashes Of American Flags

Jesus, etc.

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

Save It For Me (with Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals)

Smothered In Hugs [Guided By Voices] (with Sammy Tweedy on lead vocals)

California Stars

Radio King

I'm The Man Who Loves You

[Steve]

Super fun show. The Largo openers doing comedy seems to always set the stage for Jeff perfectly to extend his already well-honed comedic skills. 

[Brian F.]

On Jeff's list, "Love My Country" was listed as "Choir USA."  "Still My Mother" was listed as "I Am My Mother."  Other unfamiliar (to me) titles included "Story to Tell," "Hints," "All Across" and "Tired of Taking It."

 

The complete list is below, including "Charlie," which is presumably "Drawing from Memory (Charlie)."  Credit to Eric for the photo, and for thinking to ask to take a photo.  I asked to see it but, not being a picture-taker, it didn't occur to me to take a photo.

 

A fun moment for me last night was asking Jeff to play "The Ruling Class" and Jeff responding, "I forgot about that song!"

 

It was also good to confirm that "Laminated Cat" was just a title that made Jim O'Rourke laugh.  No actual cats were laminated in the making of the song.  I've always worried about this but now I can sleep easy.

[u2roolz]

9 hours ago, bböp said:

I guess I'll just start at the start for once, and that meant — as expected — a "new" song. As I mentioned the other day, Jeff seems to be in the mood to play a lot of his more recent compositions and he acknowledged as much during the show. The song he opened with tonight, which I don't believe he played on The Tweedy Show (though I could be mistaken), was an evocative one that opened with the lyrics, "I went out for a walk, looking for a light/The corner store closed early tonight," and also contained the line "That's how I knew he was circumcised/Standing naked in a buzz of a neon sign." Afterward Jeff quipped, "That's the kind of song I write when I'm not being careful. I didn't ask for that song, I didn't want that song...but I had to respond (to the thoughts I was having)." Someone asked him what the song was called and he said "Out For A Walk," but then admitted that it should probably be called "Circumcised," since that's the word that jumps out at you most from the lyrics.

 

 

“Circumcised” sounded familiar to me, so it felt like a perfect time to check out Monty’s list and he did play it way back on episode 182 in June 2021. Spencer even sang backing vocals on it. My brief notes have “it’s easy beginning when it’s ending.” as a lyric. Not sure if it popped up again under a different name. 
 

That’s amazing that he’s focusing on these new songs in a live setting. I also wonder where this batch will wind up. 

[u2roolz]

3 hours ago, Brian F. said:

On Jeff's list, "Love My Country" was listed as "Choir USA."  "Still My Mother" was listed as "I Am My Mother."  Other unfamiliar (to me) titles included "Story to Tell," "Hints," "All Across" and "Tired of Taking It."

 

“All Across” and “Tired Of Taking It” do not ring any bells in my Tweedy Show memory of unreleased songs. The other ones he has played. In fact, he played “Hints” when John & Glenn showed up about a year ago. 
 

If you’re interested in tracking those down, here they are: 

“Love My Country/Choir USA” Ep. 146

“Still My Mother/I Am My Mother” Ep 206

”Story To Tell” Episodes 176 & 196

“Hints” Episodes 156, 188, 193, & 195

 

All of that info is on Monty’s spreadsheet that he’s been maintaining on a regular basis. 

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRT_myMknrM_1yZ5GXAWGCcGxMQqBUqRMthiw-IMGmcaLCN6n1sH99lQo-SbTGSlTo50gYsTxnBJJKV/pubhtml?fbclid=IwAR2mQRg0It-EScwUV7_lEC52fcsNizPrPv6Kmu1Bj9vZoKT9CYuy2j45VbQ

[bböp]

2 hours ago, u2roolz said:

“All Across” and “Tired Of Taking It” do not ring any bells in my Tweedy Show memory of unreleased songs. The other ones he has played. In fact, he played “Hints” when John & Glenn showed up about a year ago. 
 

If you’re interested in tracking those down, here they are: 

“Love My Country/Choir USA” Ep. 146

“Still My Mother/I Am My Mother” Ep 206

”Story To Tell” Episodes 176 & 196

“Hints” Episodes 156, 188, 193, & 195

 

All of that info is on Monty’s spreadsheet that he’s been maintaining on a regular basis. 

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRT_myMknrM_1yZ5GXAWGCcGxMQqBUqRMthiw-IMGmcaLCN6n1sH99lQo-SbTGSlTo50gYsTxnBJJKV/pubhtml?fbclid=IwAR2mQRg0It-EScwUV7_lEC52fcsNizPrPv6Kmu1Bj9vZoKT9CYuy2j45VbQ

 

 

Thanks for the info, O Tweedy Show Guru. I will amend titles in the setlist I posted above. I have my own notes of what new songs he played on which shows, but not with me. Which, in retrospect, was kinda dumb. Bad correspondent! 

 

2 hours ago, u2roolz said:

“Circumcised” sounded familiar to me, so it felt like a perfect time to check out Monty’s list and he did play it way back on episode 182 in June 2021. Spencer even sang backing vocals on it. My brief notes have “it’s easy beginning when it’s ending.” as a lyric. Not sure if it popped up again under a different name.

 

OK, will amend my not-yet-complete report from above. I thought I would have remembered "Circumcised," but I guess it was one of those songs that he played once after he had just written it. Those are the hardest to place off the top of my head. 

[u2roolz]

5 minutes ago, bböp said:

 

OK, will amend my not-yet-complete report from above. I thought I would have remembered "Circumcised," but I guess it was one of those songs that he played once after he had just written it. Those are the hardest to place off the top of my head.

Yup! It sounded like a fresh cut. 🥸

I’m in the same boat on quite a few of the new ones. I only remember the title. 

[bböp]

2 hours ago, u2roolz said:

“All Across” and “Tired Of Taking It” do not ring any bells in my Tweedy Show memory of unreleased songs. The other ones he has played. In fact, he played “Hints” when John & Glenn showed up about a year ago. 

 

 

Oh! I just realized that "All Across" is almost certainly referring to the song we have been calling "In A Hurricane's Eye," which has the repeated line "All across the world" as part of the hook: "In a hurricane's eye/People get by/living their lives/all across the world..." and "It's combustible/Inarguable/It's dangerous all across the world..." (No offense, Jeff, but I think "In A Hurricane's Eye" is a better title. )

[Freedy]

Sounds like a really fun show. Hope they release a Roadcase recording of it!

[Brian F.]

10 hours ago, u2roolz said:

“All Across” and “Tired Of Taking It” do not ring any bells in my Tweedy Show memory of unreleased songs. The other ones he has played. In fact, he played “Hints” when John & Glenn showed up about a year ago. 
 

 

When Jeff played "Tired Of Taking It" tonight (at night five at Largo), he commented that it was his first time playing it outside of the studio or his house.

 

He also played "Hints" tonight.

[Brian F.]

20 hours ago, bböp said:

So yeah, just another Monday night in West Hollywood... 

 

 

For the record, although Largo is very close to West Hollywood (the city limit is just a half-block away), it is actually in the city of Los Angeles.

[bböp]

1 hour ago, Brian F. said:

 

For the record, although Largo is very close to West Hollywood (the city limit is just a half-block away), it is actually in the city of Los Angeles.

 

OK. 

[Albert Tatlock]

23 hours ago, bböp said:

a new song that should probably be called "Circumcised"

 

Shouldn't this always be last on the setlist - just so that if JT mistimes and fails to meet the curfew, you can report that it was cut short. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtxbM7-jAD0

 

P.S. Ta.