i went to see a free wilco show last night. it was freaking hot and freaking good. de novo dahl kicked things off as an acoustic duo. i love the acoustic duo but i gotta admit it sucks that they get roped into playing as the duo so often. i thought i was being original when i asked them to open for us as the duo back in march. now it sounds like it's a common occurrence. luckily the rest of the band is all really cool and they show up to cheer on their front men. anyway, they are a good "band" so i'd encourage people to go to their shows or at least check out their website.

after de novo dahl was preston school of industry. for those of you that don't know, psoi is the new band fronted by pavement's scott kannberg, a.k.a "spiral stairs". i never had the chance to see pavement so i felt like i was fulfilling a dream in some ways. from the first note i totally recognized the noodley guitar solos. the band played with the same nonchalant attitude that i loved so much about pavement. plus they screwed up a couple times so that was great to see and just what i'd expect from a guy that used to be in pavement. he even played an old pavement song that i didn't know. some song called 'now it's time' i think. i gave spiral stairs the rock fist and he just smiled back at me kinda confused.

wilco took forever to come out on stage. i counted the roadie tuning up over twenty guitars. that seemed a bit ridiculous to me. they finally hit the stage as a song from willy wonka was playing. that was pretty cool. for those of you keeping score, jeff tweedy wore a jean jacket the enitre show. totally buttoned up and everything. they played just about every song from yankee hotel foxtrot so the overall mood was kind of "snoozer" as jeff put it. all of the new songs sounded pretty cool and the quiet/loud dynamics were extra emphasized in a good way. they played several songs from being there and summerteeth but they didn't play any songs from A.M. we got to hear the california stars song and a new experimental "skronk" song featuring ALL of PSOI on percussion. they closed the set with a punk cover that i wasn't familiar with. maybe the buzzcocks?

okay here's the part you've been waiting for. let me just say that i love ken coomer. he's one of my favorite drummers in a world and a foxymorons fan to boot. that said, i'm glad tweedy kicked him out of the band. i totally understand. this glen guy is a amazing on drums. he was playing a zillion things at once. he'd be playing a beat then somehow pick up a mallet and start playing vibes, chimes, xylophone, wood blocks, and strange electro percussion. it was just really cool. he made the concert and the songs much more interesting for me. verde brian and i were loving looking at each other in disbelief when he'd do a new trick. the leroy guy on keys looked just like my dad so that was kinda strange to see. my dad and jeff tweedy rocking out together. wild. all in all i liked the new band. it did seem kinda empty sometimes though. but i understand the "let it breathe" mentality. i was also impressed by jeff tweedy's lead guitar skills. he was jamming out on some songs. oh yea, the bass player was good as usual.

so i guess that's my report. tonight i'm headed down to the river to see jetpack play with their favorite band sister hazel. he he ha ha.