WILCO @ 9:30 FEB 23/24

Ask average Joe on the street who Interpol is, most likely answer is "isn't that the police thing?" Ask them who Toby Keith, Alicia Keys or Gwen Stefani are, and they'll probably make some connection. A band like Wilco is about as popular as the Replacements were 10 years ago. They were visible enough to headline a place like the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, but their records weren't even going gold (much like Wilco). They have a devoted fan base, and are just hip enough to be cool but still be liked by a fairly diverse audience. That being said, we are in Washington DC…not Lawrence Kansas or Salt Lake City. Indie might seem mainstream in an urban area like this, but truly it is FAR from mainstream in many other places.
You'll have to check with Rhett, he is the apparent authority on all these mainstream indie bands.

Originally posted by ratioci nation:
Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:

25 Rascal Flatts, Feels Like Today
I was in St. Louis for a wedding last month and a high school friend said he had just been to their show and that they are great. I had never heard of them, are they new country?
Originally posted by tbmtt:
I actually enjoyed the more "rocking" songs that a lot of long time fans don't. Maybe it was the guy directly behind us shouting that he was at the Florida show every time Jeff made a joke; maybe it was a late night for me after a week of late nights; maybe it was the increadable hype for this show; maybe it was the fact that I have not seen this many ball caps since attending Spring Training. Whatever it was the show just didn't strike me as great. I hope others really enjoyed it.
Shit. I am wearing a hat tonight but its only because I'm a dirty boy and should have washed my hair.
seven pages of wilco "discussion" and not once has anyone mentioned the incredible musicianship of nels cline and glenn kotche? these guys are not hired hands but amazingly skilled musicians with diverse backgrounds ranging from free jazz to folk to experimental noise. even if wilco's songs sucked, i would enjoy watching them to hear cline and kotche's mastery of their instruments.

that said, i enjoyed last night, though it took me a while to get a decent spot (and i work at the club!). i don't think they sounded tired at all. then again, i also don't understand the hatred for "a ghost is born." i think it's a great record with only a couple of unmemorable moments. IMO, there are very few bands who can straddle the line between beautiful songwriting and textural explorations. which bands are cutting loose with fuzzed-out psych solos on a major label record?

i'd go see 'em tonight but i have a date with unrest.
Originally posted by BookerT:
nels cline is a damn good guitarist
i appreciate nels's guitar playing, and glen's drumming provided many of the highlights, but i maintain that the current lineup feels somewhat forced. it's jeff tweedy and his backing band of guys who can do exactly what he wants them to do. that's fine and all, he picked some great people, but it's still very, i dunno, academic, or something like that. those summerteeth/mermaid ave.-era shows may not have been as technically dazzling (although jay bennett could BRING IT), but they certainly had another element that the current shows are lacking. i realize that this is a different phase for the band, and that obviously plenty of people are digging it, and i had a good time myself, but still.
i see what you're saying…i think what is missing is the spontaneity. wilco does seem to be much more calculated these days.

how about this? john stirratt, who has been in the band since the beginning, doesn't get the recognition he deserves for what he brings to the band. much of their pop element comes from him (check out the autumn defense).

tweedy is damn good at surrounding himself with the right kind of musicians to take his ideas and run with them.
I thought the Thursday show was very good – all in all.

It seemed to take them a long while to hit their stride, but once they did, I thought the show was excellent. Right up until that last song. I can understand Tweedy wanting to end with a "message," but…….well…..whatever. I thought ending on "Don't Fear the Reaper" would have been fine.

While Tweedy was in the right to call-out the guy who yelled "you suck" to the Dietholz, I think that guy was just vocalizing what a lot of people were thinking.

The club was selling tickets when we got there just before 9:00.
I have to agree. Once they got all their Ghost material out of the way the show took off. It was a surprise to hear Kingpin and Outta Sight. The onlder material sounded quite fresh. By far the best I myself have seen from them.
First night-DJ Setlist
I am a DJ-I am what I play
Iron & Wine-Woman King
The Band-Chest Fever
Camper Van Beethoven-Eye Of Fatima (Pt.1)
Clearlake-Almost The Same
Guided By Voices-Gonna Never Have To Die
Mercury Rev-In A Funny Way
The Creation-Making Time
Tommy Keene-Begin Where We End
Slow Motion Reign-Isn't It Time? (Rats)
Bob Mould-Wishing Well
Traffic-Paper Sun
Elliott Smith-Memory Lane
Kings Of Leon-Taper Jean Girl
Sons & Daughters-Fight
Folk Implosion-Fuse
Television-Friction
Sonic Youth-Plastic Sun
Big Star-When My Baby's Beside Me
Rolling Stones-Torn And Frayed
Flaming Lips-Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Pt.1)

Wilco covered the music in between sets
Here is last nights webcast archive.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4502847

1. Handshake Drugs
2. Company In My Back
3. Hummingbird
4. Should've Been In Love
5. Jesus, Etc.
6. Muzzle Of Bees
7. Theologians
8. I'm Always In Love
9. At Least That's What You Said
10. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
11. A Shot In The Arm
12. Wishful Thinking
13. Poor Places
14. Reservations
15. Spiders (Kidsmoke)

Encore 1:
16. Misunderstood
17. California Stars
18. I'm The Man Who Loves You
19. The Late Greats
20. Outta Mind (Outta Sight)

Encore 2:
21. Bob Dylan's 49th Beard
22. Hesitating Beauty
23. Heavy Metal Drummer
24. I'm A Wheel
25. Kingpin
26. (Don't Fear) The Reaper
27. Comment (If All Men Are Truly Brothers)
Originally posted by bunnyman:
Ask average Joe on the street who Interpol is, most likely answer is "isn't that the police thing?"
WRONG!!!

They're a Joy Division tribute band.
Could someone PLEASE give me the pre-sale password for these shows???? I'm dying to go see Wilco. They're practically my favorite band!
Wilco, Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse have all cracked the top 20. Interpol, Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service, Strokes, and I'm sure others have all been in the top 100, I'm sure.

My point was that by putting out an album that was more "indie" than "Americana", Wilco was advancing more toward the mainstream than retreating from it. And I'm sticking with my point.


Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
Originally posted by Sam Pulsize:
indie is the new mainstream.
:roll:

Billboard Top 50

1 Ray Charles, Genius Loves Company
2 Green Day, American Idiot
3 The Game, The Documentary
4 Various Artists, Grammy Nominees 2005
5 Usher, Confessions
6 3 Doors Down, Seventeen Days
7 John Legend, Get Lifted
8 Eminem, Encore
9 Maroon5, Songs About Jane
10 Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway
11 Alicia Keys, The Diary Of Alicia Keys
12 Ray Charles, Ray (Soundtrack)
13 The Killers, Hot Fuss
14 Fantasia, Free Yourself
15 Gwen Stefani, Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
16 Kenny Chesney, Be As You Are: Songs From An Old Blue Chair
17 Michael Buble, It's Time
18 Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, Crunk Juice
19 John Mayer, Heavier Things
20 U2, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
21 Various Artists, Now 17
22 Los Lonely Boys, Los Lonely Boys
23 Gretchen Wilson, Here For The Party
24 Destiny's Child, Destiny Fulfilled
25 Rascal Flatts, Feels Like Today
26 Ciara, Goodies
27 Tina Turner, All The Best
28 Shania Twain, Greatest Hits
29 Various Artists, Totally Country Vol. 4
30 Tim McGraw, Live Like You Were Dying
31 Brian McKnight, Gemini
32 Ludacris, The Red Light District
33 Kanye West, The College Dropout
34 Mario, Turning Point
35 T.I., Urban Legend
36 Nelly, Suit
37 Soundtrack, Garden State
38 Snoop Dogg, R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece
39 Jesse McCartney, Beautiful Soul
40 Soundtrack, The Phantom Of The Opera
41 Motley Crue, Red, White & Crue
42 Joss Stone, Mind Body & Soul
43 Jay-Z/Linkin Park, MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents: Collision Course
44 Lee Ann Womack, There's More Where That Came From
45 Toby Keith, Greatest Hits 2 2
46 Various Artists, Disneymania 3: Music Stars Sing Disney …Their Way!
47 George Strait, 50 Number Ones
48 Queen Latifah, The Dana Owens Album
49 Guns N' Roses, Greatest Hits
50 Norah Jones, Feels Like Home
Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
I thought the Thursday show was very good – all in all.
i thought it was a great fucking show … while i would have preferred a set with older rockers like casino queen and end of the century, i know that this isn't the same band, and they just put on one hell of a show …

the best way i could describe it is "mature," alot of shambling songs played with great attention to detail and a couple tips of the hat to their old days (outta sight being one of the highlights)

two and a half hours and 27 songs did not seem long at all, i really liked the two encore format.

the openers were really bad, but they were upbeat and chipper guys, so it didn't matter [cough] … i mean, you're the bloated king of alt-country/americana and could choose basically anyone to tour with, and you choose these guys?? how great would it have been to have my morning jacket or drive-by truckers up there, just would have made the night incredible … that said, you just can't heckle the band and tell them to shutup, really rude

lot of baseball hats (more than i can remember seeing at the club), definitely a different crowd than i'm used to there, but i didnt see any fights or anything like that

for those who went both nights … how'd thurs' show compare?
wilco sounded better than ever last night…IATTBYH was f*ing great, as was kingpin. i definitely attribute their new-and-improved live sound to nels. he's and absolutely amazing guitarist…last couple of shows i've been up front and could appreciate his virtuousity up close. but, unfortunately, last night i was relegated to the back with the npr mics. if you want more proof of the power of nels, check out wilco's recent Austin City Limits performance.

beyond that, tweedy sounded really good last night, the band was tight, and i dug the setlist. in hindsight, i really wish i had gone wed night too.

oh…and speaking of the meatheads at last night's show, when they started playing kidsmoke there was this douchebag jock with his douchebag sidekick who was telling his buddy (at full volume, mind you) about the awesome guitar break and proceeded to air guitar and sing the guitar part (keep in mind, the band hasn't even gotten close to the break; in fact, jeff was still singing the first verse). he talked through the rest of the song but damn, when that guitar break came, he was a madman…pumping his fist in the air and totally impressing his friend, i'm sure. what a fan!
Nels may be a great guitarist, but Bennett was a hell of a lot more fun to watch.
I'm listening to it on the internet now and so far, it's great. Aside from this one girl who shreaks before and after every song. I feel sorry for the person next to her last night….
I'm listening to it on the internet now and so far, it's great. Aside from this one girl who shreaks before and after every song. I feel sorry for the person next to her last night….
I seemed to notice folks walking around with concert posters on Wed night but did get a chance to go by the merchant stand since I thought I was going to be going last night as well. How's it look?

Never mind, it's on their site…