bböp Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 Less than 24 hours after leaving the stage in a pastoral setting outside our nation’s capital, the men of Wilco were back on one in the big city — in the heart of the Upper West Side, at one of New York’s most famed music venues, to be exact — to kick off a three-night run leading into next week’s Solid Sound Festival. The contrast between the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park For The Performing Arts and the Beacon Theatre is certainly palpable, though I think both venues share some of the same drawbacks for those of us who prefer to enjoy a rock show in a certain way. Assuming you can attend each show, I’ll just say upfront that three nights of Wilco anywhere is of course preferable to just a single gig simply because you know that Jeff and Co. aren’t likely to play the same setlist from night to night. And of course, the Beacon is one of the legendary rooms in New York City, made famous by multi-night runs by the likes of the Allman Brothers and Steely Dan over the years not to mention innumerable one-off events. But like any seated theater, you run into issues like dynamic pricing of premium seats and the standing vs. sitting dilemma. As to the former, I know for a fact that you could have bought front row center tickets a couple of weeks after the initial ticket on sale for the tidy sum of just over $500 apiece, including fees, although I guess the prices eventually went down when apparently few were willing to pay — hence “dynamic” pricing. (I know someone who was later able to buy a front-row seat for just under $200 with fees.) And then you have the perennial issue of standing vs. sitting, which fortunately for me didn’t rear its ugly head last night but I know did for some people. I played the game for a little while, when the initial excitement of the first few songs gave way to the initial slow moment when most everyone retreated to their seats during Pittsburgh. But I knew that the familiarity of I Am Trying To Break Your Heart would bring at least some of sitters back to their feet, so I stood back up and fortunately was able to remain that way for the remainder of the show, although I was fully prepared to get “shouted down.” Such is the tension at theater shows if you want to stand, but obviously the band just does its thing regardless. I think unless it’s just egregious (i.e. front row all sitting with arms folded or something), Jeff is quite content not to suggest the audience do anything despite someone occasionally imploring him to “tell people to stand up.” Actually about the only thing Jeff really implores the audience to do is to clap along at the end of Spiders (Kidsmoke), and some of his funniest quips come out while he is urging people on. Tonight, for example, I believe he once again used Milwaukee (on a Monday!) as a point of comparison, pitting this crowd against a recent one — which I think didn’t quite have the same effect, rivalry-wise, as when he did so in Chicago. From a setlist standpoint, the first nine songs of Night 1 at the Beacon and the previous evening at Wolf Trap were identical with the exception of Pittsburgh being swapped in for At Least That’s What You Said in the fourth slot (which tends to happen at indoor theater shows). But then the 10th spot in the Beacon set provided one of the night’s biggest and most pleasant surprises: the granting of a request for Summer Teeth — the first full-band version of the song in more than four years. Actually it was two requests via the band’s Web site, to be exact, as Jeff clarified. “I hope two of you are happy,” Jeff said afterward. Whether or not Jeff was happy, he did have a couple of interesting forays over to Banter Corner over the course of the show. One came when he first checked in with the crowd about a third of the way through the show. He joked that he always remembered the Beacon “because the exit signs have the Black Flag font. That’s how I know where I am.” A little later, after getting an especially low-slung acoustic guitar for Passenger Side, he remarked that he felt like Johnny Ramone: “This is the lowest I’ve had a guitar in 20 years.” Then Jeff told an anecdote about when Tommy Stinson of the Replacements joined the band to play Color Me Impressed and Jeff asked him whether he wanted to play guitar or bass and Tommy replied, “Whichever has the lowest strap.” The other funny moment in the show involved, of course, the acknowledgement of Pat’s birthday. Near the end of the main set, a loud fan yelled out, “Happy birthday, Pat!” and Jeff practically shushed him as if he was trying to keep it under wraps for some reason and the rest of the band quickly launched into the next song. That got me thinking that maybe some sort of cake or other shenanigans were going to be coming out in the encore or something. When the band returned to the stage for said encore, however, there was no props in sight. Jeff simply expressed the birthday wishes aloud on behalf of his other bandmates and the Wilcrew. “We have a new 35-year-old in the band,” Jeff told the crowd before leading a round of “Happy Birthday.” “At least that was the age he was when he joined the band.” And before the band kicked off its final set of the evening with Falling Apart (Right Now), featuring the birthday boy on the B-benderish Telecaster, Jeff said, “55 couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.” Aw. Indeed, it was just that kind of show for Wilco’s long-awaited return to the Big Apple. Despite the inflated ticket prices, a weekend heat wave, the less-comfortable-than-I-remember seats and probably a few more reasons to be grumpy, ultimately, most everyone seemed content to look past it all and just be glad to be there — whether they were just coming for the one show or had one or two more to look forward to. Here was the complete setlist, as played, for Night 1 at the Beacon (didn’t get a look at a printed setlist, so can’t say if there were any changes/omissions): Misunderstood Forget The Flowers Handshake Drugs Pittsburgh I Am My Mother Cruel Country I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Meant To Be If I Ever Was A Child Summer Teeth Hummingbird Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull Passenger Side Evicted Impossible Germany Jesus, etc. Whole Love The Late Greats Heavy Metal Drummer I’m The Man Who Loves You -------------------------------------------------- Falling Apart (Right Now) California Stars Via Chicago> Spiders (Kidsmoke) 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
knotgreen Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 BBop, are you posting from the Beacon?! A good show, though I was seated in front of what might’ve been the world’s nicest heckler: “So generous!” and “Tweedy Sweetie!” 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
worldrecordplayer Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I got my Summer Teeth request. Contrary to what Jeff said, I can assure you there were more than two requests. The last time I was successful with this was the first night in St. Paul in 2017. Perhaps this is a good omen for my You Satellite requests for the Deep Cuts show. We stood the entire show in the center Orchestra without hassles. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Tatlock Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 Ta Milwaukee versus NY rivalries reminds me of the only baseball game I have ever attended - at Yankee Stadium in 1984. There was some kind of extension as 'you people' don't like drawn games, so it ended after midnight. Travelling back to southern Manhattan on the underground on my own was an 'experience'. NYC was a bit bankrupt and rougher in those days. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted June 23 Author Share Posted June 23 13 hours ago, knotgreen said: BBop, are you posting from the Beacon?! A good show, though I was seated in front of what might’ve been the world’s nicest heckler: “So generous!” and “Tweedy Sweetie!” Ha, no I only posted right before I left before Night 2 because the site was being super glitchy for me earlier. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kittykat414 Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 Selling two tickets at face value for tonights show. I can no longer make it :( ORCH2, second row from stage (BB), seats 14 & 16 (even #s only) $197.85 per ticket ($159.50 + $38.35 service fee) Total $395.70 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian F. Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 On 6/23/2024 at 7:33 AM, Albert Tatlock said: Ta Milwaukee versus NY rivalries reminds me of the only baseball game I have ever attended - at Yankee Stadium in 1984. There was some kind of extension as 'you people' don't like drawn games, so it ended after midnight. Travelling back to southern Manhattan on the underground on my own was an 'experience'. NYC was a bit bankrupt and rougher in those days. You should have seen the 1957 and 1958 World Series. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Tatlock Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 13 hours ago, Brian F. said: You should have seen the 1957 and 1958 World Series. "World". LOL. Actually I was in Japan when Japan beat USA last year. They were going mental over it - and the next day practically stalking some Japanese star who plays in America. Also and more importantly, there is a 'British' version of baseball played in the Cardiff/Newport and also Liverpool areas brought back by sailors and corrupted/improved. Quite different rules. We played as our summer sport in school. Lots of the rugby players used to play to keep fit in the summer. In fact my very local area team were often Welsh champions - though it was all amateur etc. This will give you an idea of how it was - and is quite funny to compare with glamour of US baseball. I went to school with some of the Llanrumney team and my sister is best friends with the wife of another. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AROeE_cv37Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh0oL3EwxqY Sadly it seems to be dying out now - too much time on gameboys I expect. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/cardiff-baseball-league-teams-grangetown-23250070 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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