i'll be out on the town

During my self-imposed blogging siesta from October through January, I went to a lot of great gigs, including an awesome Wilco west coast run in November. I don't think it'd be worth it to post about them now, but I gotta get two of them on the record before I forget.

Britt Daniel, Swedish American Hall, October 29, 2004: The setlist 'cos that's how I roll.

1. Lines in the Suit
2. Beast & Dragon (new song)
3. Mr. Valentin (new song)
4. new song (Delicate Place? it was my favorite of the new tunes--very melodic, great chorus)
5. I Could See the Dude
6. Stay Don't Go
7. They Never Got You (new song)
8. Sister Jack (new song)
9. The Way We Get By
10. new song
11. Minor Tough
12. I Am the Key (La's cover)
13. Metal Detektor
14. Anything You Want
15. I Summon You (new song)
16. Paper Tigers

***encore***
17. Everything Hits at Once
18. Me & the Bean
19. Waiting for the Kid to Come Out

Nothing too surprising here in terms of the setlist, but it was a very solid show, and the admiration flowed from both the audience and the performer. It's hard to say anything about the new songs. I mean, they all sound pretty solid, but they may take on whole new dimensions when the rest of the band is through. My only observation is that they don't sound as spare as the tunes on Kill the Moonlight, and I think Britt may have relied less on his backing tracks for them. Now that I've seen Britt solo a few times, I can say that I'm even more raring to see/hear Spoon live again.

Jon Brion + friends, Largo, November 19, 2004: My awesome cousin Annie volunteered to pick us up from the Wiltern and take us to Largo after the Wilco show. We were pretty tired after 6 days of rock tourism, but I'm so glad my friends decided to humor me and check out this Largo thing for themselves. We made it in time for the second set. The club wasn't too crowded when we got in, and most of us managed to find seats shortly after Jon started playing. Here's my attempt at a setlist:

**Jon Brion solo**
--Summertime
--Get What It's About
--Didn't Think It Would Turn Out Bad
--Let's Stay Together/Running Up That Hill
--I Was Happy with You

**with Glenn Kotche**
--All I Have to Do Is Dream/punk version/Wipeout/God Save the Queen/Just What I Needed/Controversy/Flagpole Sitta/Star Spangled Banner (Hendrix version, with lots of encouragment from Jon for Glenn to extend the drum jam)

**with Glenn, Benmont Tench, Nickel Creek**
--Aqualung (snippet)
--Taxman
--Ain't Misbehaving

Jon started with a wildly distorted one-man version of "Summertime," then proceeded with two songs from the Huckabees soundtrack. The Al Green song was a request from the audience, but the segue into "Running Up That Hill" took us all by complete surprise. "I Was Happy with You" is an unreleased song that Jon has been playing for a while.

During the initial portion of the set, Sam Jones came in with Glenn and Miiri Kotche. They ended up taking the table right in front of us, i.e., the best seats in the house. Glenn was obviously enjoying the set, and I recall very clearly hearing a resounding "Oh shit!" from him as he watched Jon doing the one-man-band thing during "Let's Stay Together." Mind you, my friends and I were in shock too, and I kept telling everyone that they got Jon on a great night.

Not long after, Jon invited Glenn up to the stage. Glenn, ever so modest, didn't realize that Jon was asking for his presence, even as he was calling him by name. At first, they both stood sheepishly on the tiny stage, and Jon informed Glenn that he should take an instrument. Definitely surprised by this development, Glenn opted to go with the drums--a wise choice. Jon stuck to guitar and vocals. Glenn looked very confused at first but managed to keep up with Jon's hairpin turns. Best of all, he got a drum solo during "Wipeout!"

While we were still in shock, Jon invited Benmont Tench and the members of Nickel Creek to form an insta-group. They finished with a couple of great covers. I don't think I stopped smiling for the entire hour. And I haven't even mentioned how a stuffed dolphin toy became a percussive element during at least two points of the set.

Afterward, Glenn told us that he had met Jon at a party at Sam Jones's house just a couple of days earlier and that they had jammed together that night. Still, he had no idea that he would be called upon to play. I hope it won't be the last time he graces Largo with his presence.

See also:
» turn to crystal form
» top 5 Largo memories
» get a load of the lengths I go to