Luxbndr's Blog

Jeff Tweedy
State Theatre Portland, ME
March 26, 2011

I have seen Wilco and Jeff Tweedy twice in the past two years, once as the group and, in this latest, solo. I have learned TWO important things.
First. Although I consider myself a fan of the group and the musician, the live concerts have convinced me that I have missed much of their output and catalog. Perhaps it’s the renewed interest drawn from live performance, perhaps the presentation freshens the work. Perhaps I just haven’t deepened my library adequately. But I leave a concert wanting more, wanting to hear particular songs a few times to better understand the lyrics, which can be moebius-stripped puzzles, or at least obscurely reflective. Like looking through someone else’s prescription lenses, it takes getting used to. Unlike REM, which are so closely aligned to my verbal and visionary style that hearing the music and listening to the lyrics has a hand-on-heart understanding, or at least feels so. The set list for this evening was packed with songs I’ve never heard or rarely attended to.
The Second Observation is somewhat of a subset to Observation One. I have found that in live Wilco/Tweedy concerts, if I am unfamiliar with the work or hazy on lyrical content, I need not worry. For there, behind me, or perhaps to my left… or down and to the right, will be a Wilco/Tweedy FAN. They are quite happy to lend boisterous voice to lyric content. It’s like they’re taking a shower, singing some Tweedy/Wilco tune and well, you and Jeff happened to transport somehow from an alternate, parallel universe and there you are….in THEIR shower. Welcome! Hope you enjoy the show! Pass the soap? Let’s SING! Concert as musical … lovely….where are the costumes?
All to say that the State Theatre rousingly welcomed Jeff. And rightly so. I think Jeff loves Portland almost as much as Portland loves Jeff. It was a love-fest. Almost too much of one. Like when your girlfriend hasn’t seen you for so long that she gets drunk with the idea that you’re gonna show up. So when you do, she’s so shit-faced it’s embarrassing. There IS such a thing as undeserved enthusiasm. I’m trying to think of a way that Jeff Tweedy could have disappointed some of the audience. I don’t think he could have.
He showed up. With a bunch of acoustic guitars in tow, he did not “rock out” as would have happened with Wilco. Some in the audience were clearly disoriented by this…but since they were already disoriented from other activities, his lack of “noise” was merely replaced by their riotous adoration at practically everything he did. This was not an audience he had to win. This was an audience he had to tame, or at least channel into, perhaps, concepts of listening and being present. “Attendance” may not be necessary, but it sure is appreciated.
But enough. Suffice to say that when the audience is more notable than the performance, one needs to reorient.
I’m not sure why Jeff Tweedy went solo for this tour. Boredom? A need to be away from the band? To strike another spark, start anew? A need to revisit the well that dwells within? Who knows?
There were two signifiers for me, hinting a superior show. Of course, seeing the bank of six acoustic guitars before the first note was plucked dashed the idea of a Neil Young style acoustic/electric solo series, and I was okay with that…although obviously some people didn’t read that news flash at all. The second hint that we were in good woods for wanderin’ was when Tweedy came out to the stage to start off “Via Chicago”….. no intro, no hello’s, he just wanders out kinda hunched with an acoustic guitar and harmonica…..said to self… “it’s Bob Dylan”!……and like Dylan, the song is about trying to get back home…this time “via Chicago”
It’s weird to look at a setlist of a concert you’ve gone to and realize that you can easily recognize only 8 of the 22 songs. The concert itself was intimate, well-played and really moving in a lot of ways. I dunno…is it the song titles, my personal lack of familiarity? What is it that makes it hard to place song with title? My notepad is scrawled not with a list of titles but a string of caught phrases and lyric runs. Those are my hints as I string back like greek mythology to the opening, to where the wandered run began.
So……my home run songs of the evening.

Jesus Etc…….a beautifully written song about the difficulties of relationships and why the hell do we bother with….I heard it with full Wilco and solo….both great, but I lean toward the solo acoustic just because intimacy has its rewards. Perfect for the transition in lyrics from “each star is a setting sun” to “our love is a burning sun”….cool

One Wing ……. A couple breaking up at KFC ? Perhaps but I don’t think so. A fun metaphor, not hugely deep but still filled with neat lyric content like “you were a blessing and I was a curse”….one of his icy/honest works, reflective in an accusatory way. “How we grow” etc etc ….

“Shot In the Arm”….. really worked acoustically …. A good set of riffs and excellent voice.

I really appreciated his final song “Acuff Rose”, which he performed not only solo acoustic but un-amped as well…..not even a microphone. Jeff Tweedy walks to the edge of the stage and, well, plays an old white acoustic guitar, no amp, and sings “Acuff Rose” …no mic….how intimate is that? The song is from the old Uncle Tupelo years, a nod to what drew him then and what draws him now. Great story-telling and songwriting that strides over the years and speaks to everyone decade after decade. And it shifted the rowdiness into a quiet way to leave the space…..

“Via Chicago”…the opener. Not familiar with the song until concert. Drawn immediately to the concept of trying to get home “somehow” as soon as possible. The sense of distance and desire. “I’m not where I want to be”

“I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”….given that the band version has all sorts of studio/audio tricks, a huge palette of sound structures and conflicts that emphasize the decay within his desire, Tweedy’s acoustic version has a rawer, direct edge.

“I’ll Fight”……not necessarily due to the performance but more the discussion that Lu, Frank and I had over breakfast the following morning. It’s a song that can fold and reveal, hide and reflect ideas on adolescent relationships, cultural imprimaturs and the bestowing of honors to the dead, no matter how they got there. “why do we do what we do and can we change that”?

“THE UNKNOWN NEW SONG”…..I wrote down quickly a lyric “middle of the mind of mystery”…..it seemed like an opening for Jeff Tweedy…..creativity being cracked open, just for a line or two….the process….the process…..like Woody Allen about the creative process “ 90% of Life is showing up”

the woulda/coulda/shoulda’s

Songs I feel Jeff Tweedy could have pulled from the catalog and it would have worked (for me anyway….and given my sense of Tweedy’s audience…it IS about them)

“Deeper Down”

“You Are My Face”

“Impossible Germany”

“Kamera”

that’s my early observations…..????

ernie