My friend Bill G. called me in mid-January and said "Guess who is coming to New Orleans?" Bill is kinda vague like that. I mean honestly, it could be anyone. My first guess was Englebert Humperdink, but I didnt know why I was supposed to be excited by that. I mean, Bill is a fan, but I've always found Englebert Humperdink to be more of a tedious Tom Jones than attention grabbing Wayne Newton.
Anyway, I couldn't guess.
Bill finally told me. "WILCO~!"
To which I responded, "When do we leave?"
Bill said, "That's not the only thing..."
"What more is there? What more could there possibly be?"
"John Doe is opening."
When I woke up I was looking at the underside of my kitchen table.
Ok, so that was maybe a bit exaggerated, but the point of the story is that in January, Bill and I procured tickets to see Wilco and John Doe on back-to-back nights at Tipitina's in New Orleans in early March. Well, those days in March have come and gone and I'm finally getting around to writing about it.
Wilco is a band that is really hard to categorize. So hard to categorize that when they came to my neck of the woods (Meridian, MS), Bill and I went on whim. Neither of us new much about them, but I mean, really, not much goes on around here and, hey, a show's a show, right? That was 2006 and I left that show a changed man.
Bill and I have seen some form of Wilco every year since, but enough backstory - let's blog in the now!
Bill and I had a pretty uneventful trip to New Orleans. He grew up there so there wasn't much chance of getting lost or anything. Well scratch that, he did tell me at one point "I don't really know where we are" but we got to the hotel unscathed.
Tipitina's in small, but really cool. I stuck to my concert M.O. of finding a spot in the middle of the floor in the middle of the building and not moving. I wasn't there to drink. I wasn't there to chase skirts. I was there to see Wilco.
John Doe took the stage at exactly 10:00 pm and put on an awesome show. I wasn't a huge fan of John Doe before this night, but now I am. At one point, he even called Nels Cline on stage to play lap steel. That was kind of amazing.
Wilco took the stage at 11:00. Their setlists never cease to amaze me. Most bands want to blast out of the gates with an upbeat number. Wilco started with "Was I in Your Dreams?" a slow, almost waltz-ish song. Somehow they can pull stuff like that off.
I'm not even going to pretend like I remember every song they played. I will say that I knew every song they played and every song they played was awesome. "At Least That's What You Said" and "Impossible Germany" really stand out in my mind, but I really think the highlight was seeing bassist John Stiratt's father sitting in the balcony not just smiling, but beaming as his son played.
I think that is what is so special about Wilco. They have a "human quality" that other bands don't. Sure there music is amazing. Sure there live shows are beyond comparison. But when you get right down to it, what makes Wilco so special is Wilco. I don't know any of them, but they seem like a personable bunch of guys. After you see them live, you feel kinda like they are your friends.
The show wrapped up 1:00 am that morning with my single favorite Wilco song, "Monday". Oh, and did I mention that they had a horn section? I think this show made me smarter and I'm pretty sure my soul left my body at one point.
Bill and I waited outside in the cold for one of the three cabs that was working the neighborhood, but we finally got back to our room. I had bought a Wilco at Tipitina's poster, a Tshirt, and a Wilco Now. bumper sticker. Maybe I went a little overboard. Who cares?
We went back to Tip's the next night and caught the show again. This time John Doe not only called Nels Cline on stage to play lap steel, he also called him to play lead on a fret melting version of The Stones' 'Gimmie Shelter'. "OH MY GOD! NELS CLINE AND JOHN DOE ARE PLAYING A ROLLING STONES SONG!" Bill said.
Both band put on pretty much the same show so Bill and I decided to be a little more relaxed. We found a nice spot near the door (and near the bar). I think Bill might have been a little too close to the bar though. He kept disappearing and reappearing with a beer in each hand.
A guy standing next to me said with a little disdain, "They are playing the same shit they played last night." I looked at him and said "I don't mind at all".
Wilco ended with "Monday" again and we went back into the cold the wait on a cab. While we stood on the curb, Pat Sansone (Wilco's multi-instrumentalist) stepped out the front door right next to us. Bill and I both yelled "Pat!" He turned and waved. "I yelled Stretch Armstrong!" and he gave me a grin.
So it wasn't much conversation, we still kinda met someone famous!
Oh the way home, it became obvious how much beer Bill had had that night. I looked over at him just in time to see him vomiting on his shirt. I kept watching him from the corner of my eye as he tried to play it off, leaning against the door of the cab, his shirt glistening with puke. It was somehow gross and funny at the same time.
All in all it was a good show and a good trip and I would do it again in a minute. Well, except for the puke part. That part I would not do again.
Obscure babe time -
Jacky Reres plays Lynn Blodgett in
Kevin Kangas's Fear of Clowns I and II. The movies are alright. Ok, well actually the first one is awful, but the second is pretty entertaining. Jacky has that special something. I can't really describe it, but I think she's pretty gorgeous.