Jeff Tweedy — 5 March 2025, somewhere in the Caribbean Sea (Pool Deck aboard the Norwegian Gem) [Cayamo cruise]

[bböp]

Outside on the pool deck, under the hot mid-afternoon sunshine and in the salty sea air — the perfect setting, in other words — Jeff closed out his Cayamo schedule with a fun family band show featuring actual sons Spencer and Sammy on drums and backing vocals/harmonica, respectively, and adopted son Liam Kazar on bass. (Introducing his band near the end of the set, Jeff pointed them out individually as he presented, “Sammy Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy and Liam Tweedy.”)

 

From the outset, Jeff made it clear that this set would feature songs from his solo catalog — none of which “have been played by me on this boat, so I hope you enjoy them,” he said to an audience that ranged from ardent fans to lazy sunbathers and even a couple of people getting their laps in on the jogging track above.

 

But the fact that the crowd was a mixed bag didn’t keep Jeff from continuing to sprinkle in a handful of the newer tracks he has been playing over the last year or two, such as Feel Free and Enough, or even to debut another one of those songs. That tune was a relatively rocking number called Caught In The Past — title courtesy of Wilcoworld — that definitely benefitted from having a rhythm section behind it. It opened with the image of “L.A. hotel rooftop party sounds drift into my bed,” and featured a chorus that went in part, “No one stands a chance/Getting caught up in the past.”

 

Another relatively new development was seeing Sammy contribute to the band not only as a backing vocalist but by playing harmonica on several songs. Often they were just short little bursts, but they added a different texture to the band (especially with it missing lead guitarist James Elkington for this performance). On Neil Young’s Helpless, Sammy not only took the lead vocal — and sounded as good as ever, by the way — but also played a brief harmonica solo after Jeff seemed to encourage him to do so.

 

Helpless wasn’t the only cover in the set because we also got a touching Be Not So Fearful, which Jeff dedicated to the late Bill Fay. Explaining that Fay had passed away recently, Jeff briefly recounted their friendship and how Fay had finally returned to the stage with Wilco in 2007 after a 30-year absence. He added an encouragement to anyone listening to check out Fay’s two great albums from the 1970s as well as his more recent music.

 

There really weren’t many visits to Banter Corner during the 69-minute set, other than Jeff at one point joking about the show’s vibe not really matching the setting. “These are the most festive party songs we have,” Jeff quipped after Save It For Me. He also introduced Gwendolyn early on in the set as being “about an age when girls know so much more than you.”

 

Another funny moment involved a couple in the front row who flashed inflatable silver letters, specifically a ‘J’ and a ‘T,’ as the band took the stage. However, the way they held the J and T up spelled out JT to the audience but looked like TJ — well technically T and backward J, but you get my point — to the band and Jeff of course couldn’t help but comment on that. He also thanked them before leaving the stage for getting it right.

 

The only real flub by Jeff came when he kicked off Low Key with the wrong verse before realizing that he hadn’t sung the right words and stopping himself. Fortunately an audience member prompted him and he quickly recovered, restarting and getting through the song without further incident.

 

Barring any last-minute popups, that completed the trifecta of Jeff performances aboard the Norwegian Gem. It wasn’t a set that proved to be as popular as either his solo show or the Tweedy Creek collaboration, but all the same, it was a treat to hear "Tweedy And Sons" sing and play together. With the schedules of Spencer, Sammy and Liam getting busier and busier all the time as they pursue their own projects and interests, not to mention Jeff’s commitments with Wilco, etc., you don’t take for granted the chance to see everyone on the same stage — whether that happens to be on a Mexican beach, in a field in western Massachusetts or aboard a cruise ship on the Caribbean Sea hurtling back toward Miami.

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played, for the Tweedy band set at Cayamo 2025:

 

Evergreen

A Robin Or A Wren

Gwendolyn

Having Been Is No Way To Be

Don’t Forget

I Know What It’s Like

Save It For Me

new song-Caught In The Past [live debut]

new song-KC Rain

new song-Enough

Flowering

Low Key

Family Ghost

You Are Not Alone

new song-Feel Free

Be Not So Fearful [Bill Fay]

Guess Again

Helpless [Neil Young] (w Sammy Tweedy on lead vocal)

Let’s Go Rain

[bböp]

After suggesting an earlier post that Jeff might come out during Nickel Creek's final set of the cruise and sing the Bob Dylan song Tomorrow Is A Long Time that had been on the printed setlist for the Tweedy Creek show but wound up being cut for time, that ultimately didn't happen. Just in case anybody had been wondering...

 

During its set, however, Nickel Creek did do a pretty awesome cover of The Lonely Island classic I'm On A Boat, with some of the lyrics changed to fit artists on Cayamo. Perhaps some on here will be happy to know that Jeff was one of those who got a shout out, in the form of these classic lines (taken from Nickel Creek's on-stage lyric sheet): "I'm riding on a dolphin, doing flips and shit/The dolphin's splashing, getting e'rybody all wet/It's like if Coachella was more sea-weedy/Let's rock the boat, fellas, you and me and Jeff Tweedy."

[Albert Tatlock]

Ta. Oh for it to have been on the poop deck though.

[Brian F.]

That "Caught in the Past" couplet is powerful. I look forward to hearing that song.