Summer Teething (was Wilco @ Pearl Street)
In all fairness I should give Summer Teeth a good listening before passing judgement BUT many of the songs Monday night in concert seem to be mere exercises in pop song writing. New material is hard enough to get across to an audience but IMO when pop doesn't rock it can easily flat. And this audience wanted badly to rock. Beyond the unfamiliarity factor, the audience simply wanted the old Wilco back. Even the Mermaid Avenue constitutes as old Wilco these days. Not to say that the crowd didn't respond positively to some of ST but when the band dished out the old, the audience responded. And ONLY THEN did the band seem loose. Maybe they're still trying to feel their way around the new material. Unfortunately the Canadians hecklers was just the excuse Tweedy need to unleash his "tude" for the evening. After letting these guys get away with this shit a whole night it seemed inappropriate for security to come down on them so late in the evening. I didn't see any recording equipment as was suggested. The sad part is that these hecklers will remember this concert quite differently.
RE: Summer Teething
[Matt Benz] Ok, but how is this different from how audiences typically respond to an act that has several albums to its credit? Isn't the history of rock music littered with stories of bands trying to do something they find artistically different and pleasing, only to have the audience scream for "Satisfaction!" "You Really Got Me!" "Radio Free Europe!" "Chickamauga!" "What's with this opera shit? Play fuckin' My Generation!" etc..] Matt- You're right, it's no different. But "My Generation" was 100 times better than that opera shit! ;-) Listen, time may prove me wrong but the lack of strength of the new material coupled with Tweedy's disinterest on Monday night only intensified the cries for the old material. As previously mentioned the most engaged Tweedy was all night was during his outburst; the audience was most engaged during the old songs. That's all. Hey it's starting to sound like Postcard (P1) around here! I'm getting out before I start talking about kind of guitar stringsTweedy uses. Jeff
Kelly Willis Tour Dates
Kelly's web site kellywillis.com currently has dates for March and April. She will be touring w/ a new band (Amy Farris, Rafael Goyel and Jerry Holmes) and all April dates have Bruce Robison opening (how convenient). A bunch of us NY P2'ers are already warming up the car for our April 22 road trip to see her play Northampton Mass. Jeff
Phil Connor's Clips
Lately I've tried to stay on the side lines but Mr. Costello's comment is inexcusable. With over 700 P2 members I think we should each send Mr. Costello a personal email message and give him some practice using that delete key. That should quite him down for awhile. Phil, keep up the good work. Jeff Sohn in Albany NY
WHISKEYTOM T. HALL
This came to me by way of WHISKEYTOWNAVENEUS, the Whiskeytown list. And now for your reading enjoyment ... From: Melissa Seibold [EMAIL PROTECTED] Howdy all y'all in WTAland~ It's been kinda quiet out there for a bit. But here's something to dig into. NOT *just* because WT is a contributor, but because it is a damn fine piece of work and tribute to a much over-looked and under-appreciated singer and songwriter. . .Tom T. Hall. An "indie" friend of mine produced and managed the project right here in the Midwest. . . And I'd like to share some of his info on the project. . . with a few of my inserted comments, etc. Here goes. . . Dear fans of Whiskeytown, I'll make this short and sweet. Just a heads-up to let y'all know about a relatively new record on which Whiskeytown performs a really great Tom T. Hall anthem. . . Oh. . .about 7-ish minutes long. . . This project has been in the works for the last, well, many moons, and is now out on Sire/Delmore/Kickstand. It's called *REAL: The Tom T. Hall Project* and the following artists all contribute one song apiece: Johnny Cash [solo acoustic] * Kelly Willis * Richard Buckner * R.B. Morris * Freedy Johnston * Jonny Polonsky * Ron Sexsmith * Iris DeMent * Calexico * Syd Straw The Skeletons * Joel R.L. Phelps * Joe Henry * Ralph Stanley featuring Ralph Stanley II * The Mary Janes * Mary Cutrufello * Whiskeytown * Mark Olson with Victoria Williams Whiskeytown recorded their track for us a couple years ago. It is called "I Hope it Rains at my Funeral." It's a pre-Stranger's Almanac studio recording (I believe, Mel). It's somewhat raw-ish with a real basic, but sincere performance quality. (Enter Mel's comment) I had a really great conversation with Mr. Justin Bass regarding the project. He's put alot of heart, soul, passion and time into this. . . as well as a lot of blood, sweat tears, it seems. . . And in the end (Mel's editorial) Justin has had to jump through many, many hoops to get this damn thing out. . .and for not a lot of financial rewards. . . So run out and buy this great effort and support the grass roots cause. . . (Enter Justin again ;-) Anyway, I figured that folks with exceptional taste like you have would like to know about our record. It was released nationwide this past December 8th and should be in most stores, but getting it over our website (www.TTHProject.com) is the best way to do so. I've been told that some browsers do not support our order form (e.g. the AOL 3.0 browser), so if you're having difficulty, or if you'd rather not use a credit card, please email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks very much for your support. Now back to your regularly scheduled program. Yours Truly, Justin Bass ( Melissa Seibold :-) The Tom T. Hall Project P.S. Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested! http://www.sugarfoot.net GMR Marketing Melissa Seibold - Events Manager 2725 S. Moorland Rd. New Berlin, WI 53151 P: (414) 814-0551 Ext. 3168
Jokes' On Me (was Burn Down the Library)
Touche Jeff Wall ! Good piece. It doesn't take much to get the crowd going when it comes to the Garthman. I still stand by my comments especially the one about roasting the Anti-Hank. Hmmm ... you know we having had a good record burning in awhile ... Jeff Sohn The red-in-the-face Bass Playing Librarian in Albany NY
