Jeff Tweedy 1/30/07 The Bijou Knoxville, TN

Last night was the Jeff Tweedy show in Knoxville. Saying that it was great would be a sever understatement. This show was a Christmas gift from my Dad, and I have been looking forward to it since the second week of December.

We left the house at about 4:30, and Dad thought it would be smart to go up through Dayton and on highway 30 instead of going down-or rather up- I-75. We ended up getting to Knoxville at about 6:00 or so.

Becca and Dad wanted to get something to eat, so we went to this nice little bistro that was attached to the venue. The food smelled great, but I was too excited and too full (went out to lunch with my Nana late in the afternoon).


(the photo is of my sister in the resurant)

I was anxious sitting at the table though, because I almost always anxious until I am in the venue in my spot or my seat. We ended up going in the venue at about 7:15 (not with out a trip to the bus to try to speak to Jeff, where we talked to Jason, the most awesome road manager ever(seriously, if you read this Jason, you are AWESOME)!) and Becca and I both got these nifty Wilco tote bags from the merch table, and I got a poster. The poster couldn't be any more perfect. I noticed this morning that I got #3 out of 100.

The warm-up band, or opener, or whatever you want to call them were called Tincup Prophett, and I thought they were very good. They instantly reminded me of Andrew Bird. Violin loops, anyone? And the lead singer was a lady. She was very down to earth on stage, and equally humble after the show. I think Becca enjoyed their set a lot more than I did. One song of theirs, inparticular, was really cool. It was called "Poster" and the singer said she wrote it based on how her grandfather was an artist, and how she was the only other one in the family with artistic ability. It reminded me of me and Papaw, how there's this really great understanding between us that nobody else in our family seems to understand.

After about a 15 minute intermission to let the road crew tune all of Jeff's guitars and set up the moniters and whatnot, Jeff came out.

I was honestly excepting the worst from the crowd given some of the hit-and-miss reviews from the Wilco show that happened in the same theatre back in March of the last year. Thankfully, everybody was pretty well behaved, and I ended up sitting next to some nice men from Illinois or Wisconsin, I can't remember, and a very nice couple. My sister was lucky enough to sit in the front row. I was so happy she managed to do that, because I knew the show was going to be extra special. I really wanted her to have an experiance she remembered for a long time.

Jeff came out about 9:15 or so, and he opened with a new song called "Pacient With Me", which is a really nice song, at least to me, about 2 people learning to deal with each others quirks and flaws. It was a nice opener, and the crowd was sucked in immediately. I was holding back the tears at seeing Jeff on stage. It's really dumb, but in a way I imagaine what some of the girls felt when the saw the Beatles back in the 60's, but my heart is with the music. The music just overwhelmed me.

Next was "Remember the Mountain Bed", and it was stunning. I'd argue that it's up there with some of the most epic songs of all time. "Spiders(kidsmoke)" followed, and I was very excited to see Jeff play this song, because the guitar work is a bit intricate, and I was hoping to glean some insight on how to play the damn thing. Didn't really happen, because it's just to complicated. The real highlights of the entire show for me came back to back with "Wishful Thinking" and "Pieholden Suite". There's a pretty long complicated story concerning my relationship with "Wishful Thinking", and I feel very happy to have been able to hear it live. That song just means so much to me and has helped me get through ver difficult situations. I know it's dumb, and really cheesey, but for those 3 minutes I felt like he was singing directly at me. "Pieholden Suite"--dang, first I want to thank those people from Birmingham for requesting it, and secondly, the first thing I though when he launched into it was "holy shit, he's actually gonna play it!". I was shocked that the people around me weren't singing along, and I even sang some of the backup parts (ooooh's and whatnot), really softly. I was pretty much floating on a cloud of acoustic-y goodness at that point, because "Pieholden Suite" was the song that I had on my wishlist over on Via Chiacgo that was my "definately not going to hear" song. Jeff's banter between the songs was very funny, and the majority of the crowd interaction was polite. The beers in the venue had pop-tops, and Jeff made some comments on how we all should go get one and pop them at the same time. It's been almost a week, and I can't hear a pop-top being opened without giggling just a little.

My sister's highlight came in the encore, when she got to ask Jeff (well, I helped, because the girl just doesn't have a yelling voice) to play "How To Fight Lonliness". She was so happy to hear that song, because a few weeks prior she'd dubbed it the greatest song ever written. After the show she just smiled this big smile from being able to hear her favorite song, and actaully gave me a hug (this is really really rare of my sister to do). I was so happy to be able to share the experiance with her.

Jeff played an encore of about 6 songs, and came out yet again for the "unplugged"portion of the show. He played "Someone Else's Song" and "Acuff-Rose", both of which were stunning. I remember the first time I saw Jeff do the unplugged "Acuff-Rose" in Nashville the last time I saw Wilco, and it was fabulous. I got chills. The same was true for this time. There is something to be said about 300 people coming together in song all at the same time. In interviews and stuff, Jeff says that he believes that's what church should be like, and I agree with him 110%. It really is a spritiual thing to be connected by sound with other human beings.

After the show, we ran around to the bus to talk to Jeff, and only had to wait about 10 minutes or so. Thanks to some really polite guys, Becca and I were first in line, and when Jeff came out he said "I had a feeling you guys would be first!" and we talked to him for a few minutes, about the show and general stuff. I felt a little awkward being first, because I felt like the people behind me were listening to what we were saying. Beccan and I got our picture with him, and I gave him a hug and said thank-you one last time. Becca was sort of in shock when we were talking to him (this was only her 5th concert I think), and she didn't say a whole lot.

In all, the show was absolutely amazing, and I feel so lucky to have been there with my sister to see a great show put on by a very special person.

Here's the whole set list:


Jeff Tweedy
2007-01-30
Bijou TheatreKnoxville, TN
1. new song (Be Patient With Me)
2. Remember The Mountain Bed
3. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
4. Wait Up
5. Chinese Apple
6. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
7. New Madrid
8. Radio King
9. Wishful Thinking
10. Pieholden Suite
11. The Ruling Class
12. A Shot In The Arm
13. Airline To Heaven
14. Theologians

Encore 1:
15. Heavy Metal Drummer
16. Hesitating Beauty
17. Immigrant Song (Intro - with singing from the crowd)
18. How To Fight Loneliness
19. Jesus, Etc.
20. Cars Can't Escape
21. I'm The Man Who Loves You

Encore 2:
22. Someone Else's Song (without PA)
23. Acuff-Rose (without PA)