Jeff Tweedy — 11 April 2024, Los Angeles, CA (Largo at the Coronet Theatre) [Night 1 of 4]

[bböp]

Just when it seemed like we might suffer a year without a run of Jeff solo performances at Largo, poof...four dates suddenly materialized on the calendar a few weeks ago. And thank goodness they did (and thank goodness for the alert friend who nabbed tickets on my behalf when they went on sale because I sure wasn't in much of a position to pounce on them when they hit the interweb around 3 a.m. Australia time after a Wilco show over there. It really does take a village.) Anyway, obviously Jeff had to move his annual Largo dates a little further down the calendar on account of his recovery from hip surgery earlier this year, but it's nice that he and the club were able to fit them in again.

 

Interestingly I don't think Jeff mentioned his hip once during the first of his four shows this year, or he may have but only in passing. He claimed not to have any "bits" this year, which he said he has felt the need to have at Largo in the past when performing after some of the unannounced comedians who traditionally open his shows (tonight's opener was Bob Odenkirk and his son Nate doing a series of "interviews" with improvised characters). Of course, Jeff worked his way into some bits as the show went on — one of which became detailing exactly what he was thinking during the previous song. For instance, after One Wing he pondered whether he should have played it so intensely like the crowd seemed to enjoy or strum it more gently like he was inclined to do. It made for pretty funny banter over the course of the night.

 

Because of Largo's strict no-camera, no-recording policy, it's become a safe space for Jeff to try out new material in recent years — and tonight was no exception. We got three new songs in all, though I remembered him mentioning that one of them — the opening song of his set tonight — was a Tweedy band song that they had tried to get together to play a few months back at the Sky Blue Sky festival in Mexico but just didn't manage to in time (probably for the best, considering the lyrics, which include the lines, "Ain't it a shame when you want to die on the beach in the sun/ain't it a shame when you want to die young.")

 

The other two new songs both contained lyrics that dealt with the word 'high,' though it's difficult to ascertain any meaning from a first listen. The first one, called Enough, began with the questions, "Has it ever been enough/Has it ever been OK...Is your [heart] higher than your mind? It's hard to stay in love with everyone." [edited to reflect the suggestion in the following post that perhaps the lyric was actually "Is your heart higher than your mind?" which probably makes more sense. But anyway.] The other new tune, which is apparently called KC Rain, opened with the observation, "I was born a little sad/Mom and Dad let it slide/No wonder I'm never satisfied," and continued with the couplet of "High in the morning/High in the afternoon/High in the evening/When I'm sleeping, I'm with you."

 

In and around the new songs and the bits about what he was thinking during older songs were still more visits to Banter Corner that I can't even try to fully recap here. It's just one of the aspects that make Largo such a unique place to experience Jeff's solo shows. While he might have had some prepared bits in the past, he usually picks up a few comedic gems every show from interactions with the audience. It started early this year, with a running joke/annoyance of a guy who keeps showing up and requesting the song I'll Fight. He did it at several shows during the run last year and didn't waste much time making himself known again this year. Fortunately it didn't throw Jeff too much, and he even managed to joke about it this year with a retort of: "I'll fight you. I'll kick your ass. Why not? At least I'll have that to look forward to."

 

It wasn't clear if the "I'll Fight" guy  was the same goober who a few songs earlier had felt the need to chime in after Jeff played Hearts Hard To Find, with its signature opening lyric of "I don't mind/When certain people die." That line drew a knowing chuckle from the audience, and of course everyone in the room was thinking about O.J. Simpson, whose death had been reported earlier in the day. "I don't know why that song popped into my head," Jeff deadpanned. Immediately, a guy to Jeff's left (from vaguely the same spot as the "I'll Fight" guy) yelled out, "O.J.!" Jeff simply shook his head and replied, "You don't have to say it. That's not cool."

 

Speaking of not cool, another funny moment occurred near the end of the set when Jeff started to play You Are Not Alone and noticed someone walking out at precisely that moment and using the door nearest the stage that the Largo folks specifically ask people not to use during the show. Apparently it was a woman, who then also had the nerve to stand there and peek in at Jeff for a second longer before leaving...which also didn't go unnnoticed. After the door had shut behind her, Jeff jokingly told her, "Fuck you." Fittingly, Jeff had also just told a couple of funny anecdotes about some memorable experiences performing by himself at a recent outdoor festival in Florida when more than a few people left early and once at a nursing home when much of the audience nodded off.

 

Perhaps the most significant visits to Banter Corner, though, came as a result of Jeff's guitars (which he usually has set up on stage on stands, but said he had nixed that setup at the last minute for some unexplained reason). There was one memorable back-and-forth with the audience when Jeff switched guitars and a guy — again, in the same general area as the "I'll Fight" guy — felt compelled to share with Jeff in a loud voice, "That one sounds better." Jeff, taken a bit by surprise, strummed a few more notes and then jokingly yelled over to his guitar tech offstage that this guy thinks this one sounds better and to "throw that (other) one away." "They're all gonna sound kinda bad," Jeff continued, "because I don't change the strings and I don't really care." Then a bit later, Jeff called for a 12-string guitar to play a couple of songs but realized that the neck was bowed or something so he had to switch to a lower tuning with no capo to perform A Bowl And A Pudding (that's what he said, which is about the extent of my technical guitar knowledge, so I apologize if that's not 100 percent correct).

 

Surely I'm missing a good amount of chat and the like from Jeff, as I always do at these Largo gigs, especially on a night like this when Jeff is feeling especially freewheeling. But hopefully I've managed to capture a decent amount of the highlights. Near the end of the show, Jeff also mentioned he wouldn't be participating in the encore charade and going on and off stage, so he simply indicated where the main set would have ended and he would have normally engaged in said charade and we skipped that tired ritual. Oh yeah, there was also the moment earlier in the set when Jeff seemed to turn down a man's request for I'm Always In Love only to come back to it a couple of songs later. Doesn't he always do that? Well, not always...but quite often. "I'm here to serve," Jeff said, simply. Aren't we the lucky ones?

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played, for Night 1 at Largo (2024 edition) [edited to reflect new song titles taken from Wilcoworld, despite my, er, initial best guesses]:

 

new song-Ain't It A Shame

Hearts Hard To Find

I Know What It's Like

Ambulance

Box Full Of Letters (waltz version)

One Wing

Story To Tell

new song-Enough

I Am My Mother

Gwendolyn

Country Song Upside Down

A Bowl And A Pudding

new song-KC Rain

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

I'm Always In Love

Jesus, etc.

You Are Not Alone

A Lifetime To Find

I'm The Man Who Loves You

[Brian F.]

Thanks. For what it's worth, I thought I heard the new lyric as, "Is your heart higher than your mind?"

 

Since I was standing in line outside Largo all day yesterday and not privy to any news, I actually first learned of the death of O.J. Simpson from the crowd interaction described here. Speaking of death and Wilco, I came across an item the other day that I've been meaning to post on the board so I'll mention it here. From the July 1996 Music Issue of Details, in an article about the death of the great Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, who died on the band's tour bus: "The body stayed on the bus for a couple of hours, until the coroner took it away. (According to the driver, the bus just carried on. It wasn't fumigated, or refurnished, or taken out of commission. It simply transferred to the next band who needed it-- Wilco.)" I wonder if Jeff knows about this.

[bböp]

2 hours ago, Brian F. said:

Thanks. For what it's worth, I thought I heard the new lyric as, "Is your heart higher than your mind?"

 

Yeah, that word probably makes more sense in that line so I edited my original post to reflect that. Thanks for the clarification.

[nalafej]

Excellent review as always, bbop. Glad you are there to fill us all in.

 

wilcoworld has the song titles: 

 

Your "Hard To Stay In Love With Everyone" is "Enough"

Your "When I'm Sleeping" is "KC Rain"

 

I'm not going to say which titles are better

[bböp]

6 hours ago, nalafej said:

Excellent review as always, bbop. Glad you are there to fill us all in.

 

wilcoworld has the song titles: 

 

Your "Hard To Stay In Love With Everyone" is "Enough"

Your "When I'm Sleeping" is "KC Rain"

 

I'm not going to say which titles are better

 

Ha, thanks man. Should of course have cross-referenced Wilcoworld before I posted blind guesses for the new song titles like an idiot. I'll edit the original post above to reflect the apparent actual titles.

[Albert Tatlock]

(La Brea) Ta(r pits)

[bböp]

4 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:

(La Brea) Ta(r pits)

 

Methinks you have used that one before. Have you considered a Ta(rzana) by chance?

[Albert Tatlock]

Just now, bböp said:

 

Methinks you have used that one before. Have you considered a Ta(rzana) by chance?

Can’t remember doing so but you’re probably less senile than I. I have been there though. Not a big fan of LA. At least that place has some history.