'Twas a fun weekend. My friend Jeff and I made to trek out to Harrisburg to see Jeff Tweedy of Wilco for a solo show. So this extends my streak of seeing Wilco live to four years straight. This was the first time I've seen Tweedy solo, though, so it was a nice change of pace. While it wasn't quite as, well, mind-blowing as their past two appearances at the Three Rivers Arts Festivals, it was a wonderful concert.
Tweedy was in fine form, both vocally and musically. It may have just been the greater focus that being accompanied by only acoustic guitar brings, but I think his voice was stronger on Saturday than I've ever heard it. He played many of my favorite songs (chosing "Sunken Treasure" as the opener was a great way to kick things off) and a couple of great new ones. And the performances from A Ghost Is Born continue to solidify my belief that the album was rushed, as they now feel so much more lived-in and natural. Even when I saw them in the summer of '04, right after AGIB's release, they were stronger in concert than on record.
He was cracking jokes and was very talkative with the crowd, which is nice. At all but the first show I've seen them (where Tweedy has a major flu), he's excelled at crowd banter - a real showman. Especially given that the concert was at Messiah College, a Christian campus (duh). Highlight of the show - extending the chorus of "Heavy Metal Drummer" to include "Playing Cannibal Corpse covers - Playing Stryper covers - Playing Jars of Clay covers - Playing Pedro the Lion covers - Playing Danielson Famile covers - Playing Uncle Tupelo covers, beatiful and stoned!"
Certainly a more 'hip' Christian campus than most, I'd say.
Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche was the opener, playing an all-percussion set. Very interesting - he even had a box of live crickets mic'ed on stage as part of the sound. And then he joined Tweedy for the set's encore. There could have been more tracks from Being There, but I've been lucky enough to be at shows where they've liberally taken from that album before, so I'm not *really* complaining. I've already downloaded a great quality bootleg of the show, so it's nice to have that souvenir. Plus, Wilco's live album, Kicking Television, comes out this week. So it's Wilco overload right now. In a good way, of course.
And, of course, hanging out with Jeff was lots of fun. Outside of his wedding this summer, which doesn't really count, I haven't had the chance to really do anything with him for over a year. It's great that his marraige is going swimmingly; he definitely seems happy. Which, even though I'm an old sad bastard about not being with someone most of the time, that makes me glad. Before driving out to Harrisburg, we caught lunch with a couple other friends from college at Piper's Pup. Good Irish food and beer was an excellent prelude to the concert. All in all, a fantabulous weekend.
Oh, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is this weekend! Time to officially geek out (as if I wasn't doing that on Halloween). Heh. I'm seeing it with this girl on Saturday. A date? I dunno. We'll see. But she's a Potter nerd, too, so it's all good.
In other news, I want a higher-paying job in Canada, please. Okay, thanks.
Today's lyrics -
Wilco - "I'm Always In Love"
Why, I wonder, is my heart full of holes?
And the feeling goes but my hair keeps growing
Will I set the sun
On a big-wheeled wagon?
Oh I'm bragging
I'm always in love
When I let go of your throat-sweet throttle
When I clean the lash of your black-belt model
Will I catch the moon
Like a bird in a cage?
It's for you I swoon
I'm always in love
I don't get the connection
If this is only a test
I hope I do my best
You know I won't forget
When I fold the cold in my jet-lag palm
When I soak so long I forget my mother
Will I set the sun
On a big-wheeled wagon?
Oh I'm bragging
I'm always in love
It's a drag I sang
Oh I'm always in love
I'm worried
I'm always in love
Oh I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm always in love
Tweedy was in fine form, both vocally and musically. It may have just been the greater focus that being accompanied by only acoustic guitar brings, but I think his voice was stronger on Saturday than I've ever heard it. He played many of my favorite songs (chosing "Sunken Treasure" as the opener was a great way to kick things off) and a couple of great new ones. And the performances from A Ghost Is Born continue to solidify my belief that the album was rushed, as they now feel so much more lived-in and natural. Even when I saw them in the summer of '04, right after AGIB's release, they were stronger in concert than on record.
He was cracking jokes and was very talkative with the crowd, which is nice. At all but the first show I've seen them (where Tweedy has a major flu), he's excelled at crowd banter - a real showman. Especially given that the concert was at Messiah College, a Christian campus (duh). Highlight of the show - extending the chorus of "Heavy Metal Drummer" to include "Playing Cannibal Corpse covers - Playing Stryper covers - Playing Jars of Clay covers - Playing Pedro the Lion covers - Playing Danielson Famile covers - Playing Uncle Tupelo covers, beatiful and stoned!"
Certainly a more 'hip' Christian campus than most, I'd say.
Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche was the opener, playing an all-percussion set. Very interesting - he even had a box of live crickets mic'ed on stage as part of the sound. And then he joined Tweedy for the set's encore. There could have been more tracks from Being There, but I've been lucky enough to be at shows where they've liberally taken from that album before, so I'm not *really* complaining. I've already downloaded a great quality bootleg of the show, so it's nice to have that souvenir. Plus, Wilco's live album, Kicking Television, comes out this week. So it's Wilco overload right now. In a good way, of course.
And, of course, hanging out with Jeff was lots of fun. Outside of his wedding this summer, which doesn't really count, I haven't had the chance to really do anything with him for over a year. It's great that his marraige is going swimmingly; he definitely seems happy. Which, even though I'm an old sad bastard about not being with someone most of the time, that makes me glad. Before driving out to Harrisburg, we caught lunch with a couple other friends from college at Piper's Pup. Good Irish food and beer was an excellent prelude to the concert. All in all, a fantabulous weekend.
Oh, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is this weekend! Time to officially geek out (as if I wasn't doing that on Halloween). Heh. I'm seeing it with this girl on Saturday. A date? I dunno. We'll see. But she's a Potter nerd, too, so it's all good.
In other news, I want a higher-paying job in Canada, please. Okay, thanks.
Today's lyrics -
Wilco - "I'm Always In Love"
Why, I wonder, is my heart full of holes?
And the feeling goes but my hair keeps growing
Will I set the sun
On a big-wheeled wagon?
Oh I'm bragging
I'm always in love
When I let go of your throat-sweet throttle
When I clean the lash of your black-belt model
Will I catch the moon
Like a bird in a cage?
It's for you I swoon
I'm always in love
I don't get the connection
If this is only a test
I hope I do my best
You know I won't forget
When I fold the cold in my jet-lag palm
When I soak so long I forget my mother
Will I set the sun
On a big-wheeled wagon?
Oh I'm bragging
I'm always in love
It's a drag I sang
Oh I'm always in love
I'm worried
I'm always in love
Oh I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm always in love
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
good concert review