bböp Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 All talk and no play makes Jeffy a dull boy? OK, I admit that’s just a pithy comment that came to mind when I was trying to think of a way to start writing about tonight’s fourth and final show of Jeff’s annual run of solo performances at Largo. But maybe there is a little something to it when looking at what set this, uh, set apart from the others we have been treated to this week. For one thing, we got more songs played (22) than on any of the previous nights. Of course that could be attributed, at least in part, to the absence of any of the longer songs in Jeff’s catalog — no Feel Free or One Sunday Morning, to cite two examples — but also probably because Jeff paid less visits to Banter Corner. He must have been at least sensing that, since about halfway through the show, he expressed as much. “I feel like I’m gonna get in trouble for not talking enough tonight,” Jeff said. “Have I talked enough, Susie?” It would be one of several occasions when he addressed his wife directly, and each time she responded quickly and concisely. “Yes,” she replied, but at least one other person seemed to indicate the opposite, which led Jeff to decide that he was getting “conflicting” signals and conclude, “All right, who gives a shit then?” I suppose we were fortunate that Jeff gave a proverbial shit about putting on one more entertaining show despite admitting early on that he was “really down to the bottom of the barrel” in terms of songs he thought he could play. He said Susie had suggested he could simply repeat the second night because she thought that had been a good show and he showed a copy of the setlist from Night 2 before saying he really didn’t want to do that. “Is that OK, Susie?” he asked her. “Yeah,” came the response. Said Jeff, apparently detecting something in his wife’s tone, “Now I have to do it. All right then, here’s Night 2…” He proceeded to play the first two songs from that show, Don’t Forget and Having Been Is No Way To Be, with a little smile before the latter as if to say, “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this.” But before continuing further with the Night 2 program, Jeff finally relented and changed things up, though he did look at the printed setlist from the other night and quip, “Oh, there was a good one next. Oh, well.” (It was Sign Of Life, from Twilight Override.) Not that the previous three shows were all talk and no play, nor this show no talk and all play — and I mean play as in playing music — but perhaps there was just slightly more of the playing and less of the talking on Night 4. That really started to manifest when Jeff finally picked up the 12-string guitar that had been tantalizingly leaning against his side table all week but had never been used. It had been a bit of a running joke, in fact, with Jeff calling it “Chekhov’s guitar” (a reference to the Russian playwright’s advice about how a gun should be used if it appears on stage). When Jeff finally picked up the 12-string, there was a murmur in the audience and some audible “oohs,” a reaction which he said made him not want to use it. But he gave in and gave the people what they wanted for a couple of songs, finally playing Twilight Override opening track One Tiny Flower as well as Country Song Upside-Down. Afterward, he joked that it was “the last time I’m gonna allow people’s opinions about guitars to affect my playing.” From there, we got a couple of oldies in Radio King and New Madrid. After playing the former, Jeff said he had a memory that had also come up the previous night when he told a funny story about having once shared an apartment with his two bandmates in Uncle Tupelo and how they had been unable to divide the place’s $80 monthly rent by three so they got a roommate. That, of course, led perfectly into New Madrid. And one song later, we finally got the lone Summerteeth cut of the four-night stand with a plaintive arrangement of I’m Always In Love — sort of akin to the way Wilco had reworked the song starting last summer — that still left room for some of the braver audience members to contribute a few '“ooh oohs” at the end and bring a smile to Jeff’s face. I will say that one thing about the Largo shows, especially in recent years, that I miss a little bit is they haven’t been quite as singalong-y. Part of that is just the intimate nature of the room — it really is a listening room, and I think that’s why Jeff and so many other performers enjoy playing there — and perhaps also a little bit to do with Jeff’s audience getting a bit older and maybe maturing out of the crowd participation thing a bit. Who knows? I just know that I attended a couple of Jon Brion shows before Jeff started this run and there were a couple of singalongs at those, so it can be done in that room. I realize this is a controversial subject and a lot of (most?) people are of the opinion that singing along at a show like Jeff’s isn’t cool. But personally, I just think it can be done in a respectful and fun way. One final opportunity for a little bit of crowd participation, of course, came during the show-closing Lou Reed Was My Babysitter, which Jeff said would have been the encore if there had been one. Instead, it simply concluded a nice set of songs on which Jeff was joined as usual by Spencer and Sammy on backing vocals. Jeff prefaced the song by sharing that someone had asked him earlier in the day if Reed really had been his babysitter, and Jeff went on a hilarious little tangent imagining a scenario in which his parents in Belleville, Ill., actually had been able to contact Reed in New York City, put him on a plane and have him come over and look after their kid just so they could go out for the evening. “Yeah, and (infamous punk rocker) GG Allin was my tutor and (Plasmatics frontwoman) Wendy O. Williams was my wet nurse,” Jeff joked, crediting Spencer for that joke. In addition to that bit, Jeff also introduced LRWMB by calling it “our theme song” before imagining an alternate theme for the Tweedy trio: “Here we come/Walkin’ down the street…,” Jeff sang, finishing with the inevitable “Hey, hey, we’re the Tweedys…” The homage to The Monkees no doubt put a smile on the faces of some audience members old enough to remember that classic TV show. Anyway, when it came time for the requisite “whoos” and “rrrauws” in LRWMB, Jeff gave the Largo crowd an opportunity to redeem itself after a rather lame attempt at participation the previous night. It took a few tries, with some coming in a little late the first time and then early the second, but finally it seemed like everyone nailed it. “Give yourselves a round of applause,” Jeff urged, then immediately followed up by jokingly saying, “Don’t get too full of yourselves.” If there was ever a more fitting summation of Jeff’s outlook on things, I can’t really think of one. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a couple of the other songs the trio of Tweedys performed together, which were almost exclusively drawn from Twilight Override. To start, they tackled what I heard was a request for Over My Head (Everything Goes) — the first time that song has been played live — and then later treated us to a rare performance of Too Real. Jeff introduced the latter with a touching anecdote about the song being written in the wake of his hip replacement surgery when “I was on narcotics for the first time in 20 years” and how that was great because it relieved his pain but “also terrifying…to deal with losing my sobriety.” Sammy also added a poignant bit of harmonica on Too Real, and if you had bet me at the start of the run that Sammy would play harmonica at some point and Jeff wouldn’t, well, I probably would’ve taken that wager. By my count, 23 of the 30 Twilight Override songs got played over the course of the four nights at Largo (and of those seven that didn’t, two have yet to be performed live at all). For those of us lucky enough to attend all four shows, of which there seemed like more than a few, we got a really good sense of the triple album. And in a unique way, too, with the trio arrangements differing in some ways from the full band versions. So I felt especially fortunate to be able to make it this year, and with some good friends no less. I don’t want to be presumptuous and say, “See you next year,” but since Jeff basically did tonight, I guess it’s OK. Here was the complete setlist, as played, for Night 4 of Largo 2026: Story To Tell Don’t Forget Having Been Is No Way To Be Some Birds I Am Trying To Break Your Heart One Tiny Flower Country Song Upside-Down Radio King New Madrid Love Is For Love I’m Always In Love Dawned On Me Over My Head (Everything Goes) (w/Spencer and Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals) (live debut) Forever Never Ends (w/Spencer and Sammy) Amar Bharati (w/Spencer and Sammy) Evergreen (w/Spencer and Sammy) Mirror (w/Spencer and Sammy) Stray Cats In Spain (w/Spencer and Sammy) Too Real (w/Spencer and Sammy [harmonica]) New Orleans (w/Spencer and Sammy) Enough (w/Spencer and Sammy) Lou Reed Was My Babysitter (w/Spencer and Sammy) 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Tatlock Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 On 1/10/2026 at 2:44 AM, bböp said: old enough to remember that classic TV show. Firstly, a delayed ‘ta’ due to a long day trip back to the Motherland to watch Cardiff v Racing 92 (from Paris) in the Euro Challenge Cup. A great game/result and atmosphere at the Queen of rugby venues Cardiff Arms Park. I do miss the people of Cardiff, much nicer than Londoners. Secondly to get back on point. The Monkees were a core influence. Summer holiday weekday morning BBC schedules throughout the late 60s to mid 70s consisted of cycling repeats of:- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0qgUfvBw_FM “The Crab With The Golden Claws” is still my go to quote in Herge’s Adventures style for any announcement of dramatic import. Followed by a cheap black and white import, either:- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GeuW47Nt_OI White Horses a dubbed Yugoslav series set on the stud farm for Lipizzanner horses (as in the Hapsburg’s Vienna Riding School) in Slovenia. Whilst the show was not my favourite, the theme tune certainly is one of the definitive 60s sounds for me and was a hit in the UK. In my head it just evokes sunny goodness all round. Others agree as it still ranks highly in ‘best theme tunes’ polls. One of the most surreal experiences of my life was visiting said farm in Slovenia a few years ago and walking around the farm yard. Just seemed completely inconceivable that I could be there. Strangely the locals did not remember anything about the filming but did have stories about persuading Italian border guards to let them sneak over the border to visit nearby Trieste. Lithe limbed Eastern European girls and fluttering eyelids were involved. Or:- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RNsV1BUb9mc One if the most iconic TV shows of all time for my generation with an absolutely stupendous soundtrack (all the incidental music not just the theme and which which I own on CD) as also attested to by Jarvis Cocker who chose the theme as one of his Desert Island discs. Also dubbed from German/French co-production. Or:- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Sb9AoirSU Dubbed French top notch adventure. Or for an altogether more plaintive feel:- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wc_09iQ4l5k Inspiration for the eponymous group. Or Casey Jones or Champion The Wonder Horse, which you will know. Big fan of Fireman Wally here. Then finally an episode of The Monkees or The Banana Splits, which both just seemed like an explosion of colour and anarchy to drab British kids. All followed by a 5 hour football or cricket game. Good times. OK, walk down memory lane complete (no doubt triggered by Cardiff visit). Please carry on. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted Sunday at 10:00 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 10:00 PM 19 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said: Firstly, a delayed ‘ta’ due to a long day trip back to the Motherland to watch Cardiff v Racing 92 (from Paris) in the Euro Challenge Cup. A great game/result and atmosphere at the Queen of rugby venues Cardiff Arms Park. I do miss the people of Cardiff, much nicer than Londoners. Secondly to get back on point. The Monkees were a core influence. Summer holiday weekday morning BBC schedules throughout the late 60s to mid 70s consisted of cycling repeats of:- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0qgUfvBw_FM “The Crab With The Golden Claws” is still my go to quote in Herge’s Adventures style for any announcement of dramatic import. Followed by a cheap black and white import, either:- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GeuW47Nt_OI White Horses a dubbed Yugoslav series set on the stud farm for Lipizzanner horses (as in the Hapsburg’s Vienna Riding School) in Slovenia. Whilst the show was not my favourite, the theme tune certainly is one of the definitive 60s sounds for me and was a hit in the UK. In my head it just evokes sunny goodness all round. Others agree as it still ranks highly in ‘best theme tunes’ polls. One of the most surreal experiences of my life was visiting said farm in Slovenia a few years ago and walking around the farm yard. Just seemed completely inconceivable that I could be there. Strangely the locals did not remember anything about the filming but did have stories about persuading Italian border guards to let them sneak over the border to visit nearby Trieste. Lithe limbed Eastern European girls and fluttering eyelids were involved. Or:- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RNsV1BUb9mc One if the most iconic TV shows of all time for my generation with an absolutely stupendous soundtrack (all the incidental music not just the theme and which which I own on CD) as also attested to by Jarvis Cocker who chose the theme as one of his Desert Island discs. Also dubbed from German/French co-production. Or:- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Sb9AoirSU Dubbed French top notch adventure. Or for an altogether more plaintive feel:- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wc_09iQ4l5k Inspiration for the eponymous group. Or Casey Jones or Champion The Wonder Horse, which you will know. Big fan of Fireman Wally here. Then finally an episode of The Monkees or The Banana Splits, which both just seemed like an explosion of colour and anarchy to drab British kids. All followed by a 5 hour football or cricket game. Good times. OK, walk down memory lane complete (no doubt triggered by Cardiff visit). Please carry on. Wow, that was…something. I think maybe I understand a bit better now from whence the Tatlock emerged… Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Tatlock Posted Sunday at 10:47 PM Share Posted Sunday at 10:47 PM 16 hours ago, bböp said: Wow, that was…something. I think maybe I understand a bit better now from whence the Tatlock emerged… Hewn from fine Welsh anthracite, but sadly a flawed reject from the outside half factory. You will have to google that. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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