Wilco report
So I'm looking at the new Star Trek: The Next Generation Complete Series boxed set to see how much Amazon is selling it for even though I'm SO not buying it yet ($297.99, if you care). What's interesting is that the customer reviews are scathing. Some are bitching about the lack of extras which, frankly, is not remotely a surprise so I think is hardly worth bitching about, but one reviewer bitched about the chintziness of the packaging, which is a concern I'd listen to. Apparently the disc are in flip-style trays, which I prefer to the huge fold-outs, but instead of being affixed to some common backing or groups into books of trays, all of the multitudes of trays are simply stuck together with tape that will inevitably fall apart, and the trays aren't labeled, and there are no liner notes to tell you which episodes are on which disc, so you have to physically look at the disc to see which eps are on it, which is problematic.
One reviewer made the point that eventually either a) the price will go down or b) it'll be reissued on HD (if that's even possible,which doubtful given the source material) so it'd be better to wait. I think I'll take his advice.
Now, about my Wilco concert experience.
I enjoy many things in life. Good movies, outdoor festivals, taking photographs of random things, new restaurants, road trips. One thing I have never particularly enjoyed is live music. I've never been much of a concert-goer, in fact before this year, I could count the number of live concerts I'd been to on the fingers of one hand and that's even counting county-fair kind of concerts. I can't say why that is, exactly. I mean, I love music. It's just never been something I've actively pursued, although I'm not exactly averse to it.
That may change.
It doesn't mean much for me to say that the Wilco concert I attended last night was the most fantastic concert I'd ever been to since I've been to about five, so I'll just have to say that not only was it the most fantastic concert I've ever been to, but it was the most fantastic concert I can ever imagine going to.
First, the venue. Mershon Auditorium, which is part of the Wexner Center for the Arts here on the scenic Ohio State University campus, is a smallish (2500 seat) venue that usually hosts things like chamber music and tribal dancers and odd harp ensembles. This setting informed the tone of the show. Clearly, Wilco aren't a stadium/arena band, but that they chose this venue as opposed to the similarly-sized LC Pavilion (which would seem better suited...their upcoming shows include Queens of the Stone Age, the Decemberists and Ryan Adams to give an idea of their typical act) is indicative of the kind of show they wanted to do. The stage was bare, the band's equipment and road crates stacked everywhere, the rear wall of the stage unobscured, minimal lighting set up on tripods and that obligatory tattered oriental rug in front of the drum kit.
I also lucked into awesome seats. I bought my tickets a few weeks ago and was told they were top-tier...there aren't really any bad seats in this size venue but I'd be up pretty high and far. I went with my friend Dayna, who got her ticket from a scalper when we arrived...her seat was much better, of course. After the opening act (more about that in a minute) I called her on my phone to see where she was, and she told me that the three seats next to her were still empty. So I went down and joined her, in the second row center of the first balcony. Awesome. I sat there the entire concert. Thanks, scalpers who didn't sell all the seats they bought!
Oh yeah, and there was a band.
I only discovered Wilco a year ago (although I'd heard of them, of course). I know there are a not-insignificant number of music enthusiasts and critics who really believe that Wilco will someday be considered, if they are not so already, one of the all-time great American bands. a lot of people already call them "the American Radiohead," which is kind of an apt description, actually. I know that when I heard my first song of theirs ("Jesus, Etc") it was in the midst of a playlist of newly-recommended tunes (thanks to y'all, natch), and I was getting tired of borderline-amateurish sounding songstresses and emo indie bands...then that song came on, and I literally paused, sighed, and went "Ahhhh. Professionals! Yay!"
You know a band is good when they sound better live than recorded. I'd heard the Wilco was a great live band, and that is 100% true. They sounded cohesive, well-balanced and...well, organic is the best word I can come up with. They didn't sound like six musicians playing instruments but like one unit generating music. Awesome music. Kick-ass music. I didn't even know half the songs they played (still working through the catalog) but that didn't affect my enjoyment. And they played "Jesus, Etc." Yay! In fact, the set list was drawn from a variety of albums, not just the new one.
A word about the opening act, an incredible guy named Andrew Bird. He's a one-man act but sounds like a full band with an orchestra. He plays the violin (sometimes with a bow as is usual, sometimes he plays it like a guitar), guitar, glockenspiel (yeah, when'd you last see one of those at a rock concert?) and he whistles so well that it sounds like some kind of woodwind instrument.
He played all these instruments simultaneously. How? As he plays live, he tapes and loops his own performance so he ends up accompanying himself. The music was ethereal, somewhat non-melodic, but his singing voice is amazing. He sounded like he'd right at home in a David Lynch film. The thing is, I'd be very surprised if his studio recordings sound anything like what I heard last night.
Anyway. Awesome show. And long. They played two encores of twenty minutes EACH.
One reviewer made the point that eventually either a) the price will go down or b) it'll be reissued on HD (if that's even possible,which doubtful given the source material) so it'd be better to wait. I think I'll take his advice.
Now, about my Wilco concert experience.
I enjoy many things in life. Good movies, outdoor festivals, taking photographs of random things, new restaurants, road trips. One thing I have never particularly enjoyed is live music. I've never been much of a concert-goer, in fact before this year, I could count the number of live concerts I'd been to on the fingers of one hand and that's even counting county-fair kind of concerts. I can't say why that is, exactly. I mean, I love music. It's just never been something I've actively pursued, although I'm not exactly averse to it.
That may change.
It doesn't mean much for me to say that the Wilco concert I attended last night was the most fantastic concert I'd ever been to since I've been to about five, so I'll just have to say that not only was it the most fantastic concert I've ever been to, but it was the most fantastic concert I can ever imagine going to.
First, the venue. Mershon Auditorium, which is part of the Wexner Center for the Arts here on the scenic Ohio State University campus, is a smallish (2500 seat) venue that usually hosts things like chamber music and tribal dancers and odd harp ensembles. This setting informed the tone of the show. Clearly, Wilco aren't a stadium/arena band, but that they chose this venue as opposed to the similarly-sized LC Pavilion (which would seem better suited...their upcoming shows include Queens of the Stone Age, the Decemberists and Ryan Adams to give an idea of their typical act) is indicative of the kind of show they wanted to do. The stage was bare, the band's equipment and road crates stacked everywhere, the rear wall of the stage unobscured, minimal lighting set up on tripods and that obligatory tattered oriental rug in front of the drum kit.
I also lucked into awesome seats. I bought my tickets a few weeks ago and was told they were top-tier...there aren't really any bad seats in this size venue but I'd be up pretty high and far. I went with my friend Dayna, who got her ticket from a scalper when we arrived...her seat was much better, of course. After the opening act (more about that in a minute) I called her on my phone to see where she was, and she told me that the three seats next to her were still empty. So I went down and joined her, in the second row center of the first balcony. Awesome. I sat there the entire concert. Thanks, scalpers who didn't sell all the seats they bought!
Oh yeah, and there was a band.
I only discovered Wilco a year ago (although I'd heard of them, of course). I know there are a not-insignificant number of music enthusiasts and critics who really believe that Wilco will someday be considered, if they are not so already, one of the all-time great American bands. a lot of people already call them "the American Radiohead," which is kind of an apt description, actually. I know that when I heard my first song of theirs ("Jesus, Etc") it was in the midst of a playlist of newly-recommended tunes (thanks to y'all, natch), and I was getting tired of borderline-amateurish sounding songstresses and emo indie bands...then that song came on, and I literally paused, sighed, and went "Ahhhh. Professionals! Yay!"
You know a band is good when they sound better live than recorded. I'd heard the Wilco was a great live band, and that is 100% true. They sounded cohesive, well-balanced and...well, organic is the best word I can come up with. They didn't sound like six musicians playing instruments but like one unit generating music. Awesome music. Kick-ass music. I didn't even know half the songs they played (still working through the catalog) but that didn't affect my enjoyment. And they played "Jesus, Etc." Yay! In fact, the set list was drawn from a variety of albums, not just the new one.
A word about the opening act, an incredible guy named Andrew Bird. He's a one-man act but sounds like a full band with an orchestra. He plays the violin (sometimes with a bow as is usual, sometimes he plays it like a guitar), guitar, glockenspiel (yeah, when'd you last see one of those at a rock concert?) and he whistles so well that it sounds like some kind of woodwind instrument.
He played all these instruments simultaneously. How? As he plays live, he tapes and loops his own performance so he ends up accompanying himself. The music was ethereal, somewhat non-melodic, but his singing voice is amazing. He sounded like he'd right at home in a David Lynch film. The thing is, I'd be very surprised if his studio recordings sound anything like what I heard last night.
Anyway. Awesome show. And long. They played two encores of twenty minutes EACH.