That should be enough to describe tonight's concert, but I'm kind of a blabber mouth when it comes to typing/writing/blogging. That, of course, means that I am going to tell you way more than you need to know about it.
Seriously though, it was the most amazing show I have ever seen in my life--better than HFSTival in Baltimore, better than Coldplay in St. Louis, better than DMB in Bonner Springs, better than Ben Harper in KC, better than Guster in Tulsa, and better than Son Volt at George's. No lie, this was the best show I have ever seen. There's a good chance (a real good chance) that Death Cab won't top it in two weeks. There's a good chance that no one (except maybe Wilco) will ever top it.
Now, on to the narrative of tonight's events...
After a delicious dinner at Kosmos, we walked over the Walton Arts Center (by way of a Bank of Fayetteville ATM). Inside, I bought a sweet new Wilco tour t-shirt. I was getting really antsy in the lobby. Finally, we went in and found our seats. I was so unbelievably close. Dead center of row H of the WAC offered such an amazing view of the concert. Probably the best seats I have ever gotten for a concert--excluding general admission concerts where I've weaseled my way to the guard rail.
The Latebirds took the stage a little after 8. This band is an alt-country band from Finland. They were definitely Wilco-influenced. Their show progressed very much like Wilco's career. It started off with some pretty good country-influenced songs. The later into the set--the more the songs rocked. By the last three songs--the band was going crazy. Their guitarist was doing some crazy stuff with the knobs on his delay. They got pretty experimental and crazy. It was really cool. To be from Finland, they sounded very much like a good southern/Midwest American rock band. They must (and I can confirm this--see details later) stick out like a sore thumb in the Finnish music scene. I highly suggest you check this band out.
Well, finally (anticipation was really mounting), Wilco took the stage a little after 9 o'clock. The lights were out entirely, and the openeing riff to "At Least That's What You Said" made it's way from Jeff Tweedy's AC-30. A spotlight shined down on Tweedy singing the first few verses. Then it all kicked in mid-song. This was an awesome performance.
Honestly, I hate thinking in advance what songs should be played--namely because a band like Wilco has too many good songs. I tried not to. In hindsight, there were some cool songs that they didn't play--especially thinking through the live album. However, I am so grateful to the band that they didn't rehash the Kicking Televsion live album for the Kicking Television tour. I'm glad that it wasn't just a visual version of that CD.
There were so many "ups" to this concert. I couldn't stand this one guy in the front row who kept looking back and pointing to people and drawing attention to himself. I guess he kept yelling at Tweedy during "Muzzle of Bees." Finally, Tweedy called him out--sort of. He told him how much he loved the enthusiasm, but he asked him to maybe save screaming "TWEEDY!!!" for between songs--or to move down by John Stirratt and yell at him. Jeff had some funny moments in talking with the crowd. One guy looked disappointed with that start of an acoustic driven song. Jeff stopped the intro and asked him why he was unhappy. He told him that he promised to rock out again later in the show. Also, he confessed to calling us "those 'SOB's' down in Fayetteville" last night in Nashville. He said he meant no harm, and he kept apologizing for it. He broke two strings and one of his amps cut out, which he blamed on bad karma for the misunderstood comments on Fayetteville. Also, before starting "I'm the Man Who Loves You," he stopped. He said that he'd normally go straight into this "loud" song, but he was worried about waking the sleeping little girl in the third row. He asked the mom to cover her ears so that she wouldn't get woken up. First off, I hope I'm cool enough to take my kids to see Wilco some day. Second off, that's pretty funny.
This show was amazing (I know, I mentioned that already). I'm still blown away. They rocked so hard. Nels Cline was one of the most amazing guitarists I have ever seen. Glen Klotche blew my mind with his drumming. Stirratt was a sweet bassist that hit some killer harmonies. I really enjoyed Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen on the keyboars as well--although Pat also tore it up on the guitar and harmonies too. It was breathtaking several times.
After the show, my loser friends decided to run up to the stage to see if anyone would come out to sign stuff. This is where I mentioned that it would be better to walk outside where the bus was--they scoffed and mocked me. I bumped into my old World Lit prof who was working as an attendant for the WAC. Eventually, we moved our waiting to the lobby. We were the last to leave when a security guard asked if we were waiting for the band. We said yes, and he said we should go out by the tour bus. That sounds familiar. We went to the tour bus...
There he was...Jeff Tweedy. After a prompt "I told you so" by me, we met Tweedy--he signed my Famous in May (my band) shirt, which I was wearing. Yes, I'm the kind of tool that wears his own band's shirt. Also, we met Glen Kotche and Nels Cline. We got group pictures with each of the three of them. We also got a picture with 3 of the 5 members of the Latebirds--although, we got to eventually meet and converse with all five. Those guys were really cool. By the way, that's how I know that they stick out like a sore thumb in Finland--they told me so. Seriously, those guys were awesome.
Basically, I've spent the rest of my night really giddy that I met Jeff Tweedy. I've never met a rock star that I respected before (I met Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue in an airport). I mean, I've met some Christian bands I like--Jars of Clay, Caedmon's, Crowder band, and Derek Webb. It's just different, though. Those are bands that I like, but none of those are bands that shearly mesmerize me with their music. I respect those bands, because they use their talent to bring glory to God. I'm babbling. Let's just leave it at this--Jeff Tweedy is one of the artists I most admire. It was really freaking cool to meet him, shake his hand, and tell him how awesome I think his music is. Enough said.
To sum it all up...this night was freaking cool.
By the way...more pictures to come...but for now...
Here's Jeff Tweedy's signature on my shirt.
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