Remember To Remember Me: Wilco Plays Anchorage's Moose's Tooth

There's something to be said for a band that can make the opening line of a concert "I dreamed of killing you again last night, and it felt alright to me" sound beautiful. That's the opening line of "Via Chicago", which Wilco used to open their Anchorage show Saturday night. Anchorage did well filling the parking lot of Moose's Tooth despite the rain. It rained all day and all night Saturday, but it didn't stop people from showing up and showing Wilco much deserved love. Jeff Tweedy made several references to the weather and the hardcore Alaskans who refused to let it affect us. The set was flush with popular tunes with a few new songs mixed in. One of the new songs was ironically "Sunny Feeling." The crowd was into it and stuck it out despite the weather. The mix of beautiful folk based songs overlayed by loud and rowdy bursts from Nels Cline and Glenn Kotche were perfectly executed. Overall, it was pretty surreal to see Wilco playing Anchorage. Local guys The Whipsaws (who've gotten plenty of pub on this blog) opened the show with a high quality set any band in the states would be proud of.

Anchorage Daily News Review (set list is in the comments of the ADN article)

Paste Magazine Mentions Anchorage Pizza

There's a little Anchorage love in the newest issue of Paste Magazine. In the section titled "The Informer" July 26 is owned by a picture of Jeff Tweedy with the copy if you can't read it "7/26 Wilco plays the 12th-anniversary party of some place called The Moose's Tooth in Anchorage, Alaska." I know a handful of people who were hanging around the Moose's Tooth 12 years ago...probably sitting around talking about Wilco's Being There enjoying Pipeline Stout or a Fairweather I.P.A. with Alaska's best pizza. Judging by the response to Son Volt, Third Eye Blind, and even Elton John at least Wilco will walk away from their July 26 show knowing what Anchorage and the Moose's Tooth are all about.

Coming to Anchorage This Summer?

Maybe you are or maybe you aren't, but here are a few people who are:

June 5th Moose's Tooth First Tap (but at Beartooth Theatre) - Son Volt (more info)

June 21st Moose's Tooth Solstice Show - Third Eye Blind (more info)

July 26th Moose's Tooth 12th Anniversary Show - Wilco (more info)

A Word About Wilco

I think it says a lot about the music industry to have Wilco play Saturday Night Live...and apparently from plenty of Google searches landing here, there's some hunger for more info about them. Why Wikipedia isn't your first search for info about a band, is beyond me, but I'll indulge you. I knew of Wilco because I knew of Uncle Tupelo, but didn't really give them much of a chance to enter my collective playlist until the summer of 2001. I spent 3 days in North Carolina, and Virginia, with a quick trip to Brooklyn and Boston and spent much of that time listening to Wilco's Being There which at the time was 5 years old (Disc One if you're keeping score at home). In an age when you might find it hard to name 5 successful American rock bands (I challenge you to list your five in the comments), Wilco consistently proves that Rock and Roll can live when it's chasing the edge of innovation. If you've been holding out it's time you give this Grammy winning band a shot.

(Photo from 2005 Austin City Limits Festival)

Clips of the two songs Wilco performed have been uploaded and taken down from YouTube several times over the last few days, so if you're interested in seeing their performances of "Walken" and "Hate It Here" but I've heard some good things about Hulu.

A post addressing the traffic to this blog looking for Wilco info wouldn't be complete without some recommendations. In the days of digital downloads, it makes more sense to list some tracks that will give you a more complete picture of Wilco. Here are my 20 favorite Wilco tracks, not in order of preference, but rather how they would sound good on a CD. Paring down to 20 was tough and even as I dropped them into a playlist I found myself resigning to the fact that I'm leaving out a lot of great music. So check these tracks out and don't be afraid of anything in the Wilco catalog.

A disclaimer: I think Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is to Wilco what OK Computer is to Radiohead, what Joshua Tree/Achtung Baby is to U2, what Vitalogy is to Pearl Jam, what August and Everything After is to Counting Crows...and that bias may show through in my track selection.

1. "I'm the Man Who Loves You" from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

"All I can be is a busy sea of
spinning wheels and hands that feel
for stones to throw and feet that run but
they come back home, make no difference
ever known, make no difference
ever known to me"

2. "ELT" from Summerteeth
3. "At Least That's What You Said" (Live) from Kicking Television [Nels Cline makes all the difference, though the studio version holds its own]
4. "Hotel Arizona" from Being There
5. "Ashes of American Flags" from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

"All my lies are always wishes"

6. "Hummingbird" from A Ghost is Born

"Remember to remember me
Standing still in your past
Floating fast like a hummingbird"

7. "I Got You(At the End of a Century)" from Being There
Gotta love the tambourine...
8. "Impossible Germany" from Sky Blue Sky
9. "Radio Cure" from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
10. "The Late Greats" from A Ghost is Born
11. "Far, Far Away" from Being There
12. "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
13. "Monday" from Being There
14. "Passenger Side" from A.M.

"Hey, wake up, your eyes weren't open wide
For the last couple of miles you've been swerving from side to side
You're gonna make me spill my beer,
If you don't learn how to steer
Passenger side, passenger side,
I don't like riding on the passenger side"

15. "Via Chicago" from Summerteeth
16. "Kingpin" from Being There
17. "Jesus, etc." from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
18. "The Lonely 1" from Being There
19. "Hell is Chrome" from A Ghost is Born
20. "Misunderstood" from Being There

"There's a fortune inside your head
All you touch turns to lead
You think you might just crawl back in bed
The fortune inside your head"

[Bonus Hidden Track] "Poor Places" from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Vampire Weekend are scheduled to play SNL March 8, which is an even further trip away from the mainstream.

And by the way I can't figure out why, but I giggled the whole way through the SNL Digital Short with Ellen Page waking up from dreams. Don't know why, but it was hilarious.

Stock up on Wilco at iTunes or Amazonmp3.com

Wilco at the Edgefield

Wilco is playing the Edgefield in Troutdale, OR on Aug 22 (a Wednesday) and the Greek Theater in Berkeley on Aug 24 (a Friday)...a whirlwind trip might be in order. Anyone planning to go to either show? Two great venues for Wilco!

New Music Tuesday: Get Yourself Out in the Sky Blue Sky

Today marks the release of one of the most anticipated albums of the year. You could put Neon Bible, Sky Blue Sky, Easy Tiger and a handful of others on a short list together. I've been looking forward to Sky Blue Sky's release since Jeff Tweedy mentioned it in September of 2005 at Stubb's BBQ. It's one of those albums that's been leaked for a while, and the band has been streaming it for weeks, so there was little surprise, but it still got me up early to start it playing. Wilco appeared on Prairie Home Companion over the weekend playing several songs, you can check that out here. It's a solid record, equal parts Being There and A Ghost is Born with a little Summerteeth thrown in for good measure. I say with full confidence, get your hands on a copy of Sky Blue Sky. It's an instant classic.

Sample and Buy Wilco - Sky Blue Sky