a free form jazz odyssey in front of a festival crowd

No posts for a while, then 2 in one day. Thats how it works, get used to it.

Wilco is an unstoppable juggernaut of genius. A furious tweed covered monster barreling down the highway in an 18 wheeler made of solid gold, spewing forth the greatest guitar sound you have ever heard from its surround sound stereo. A Band to End All Bands.

I dont know what that last one means, but it is most certainly true. I saw the band last night for the first time in over a year, my first chance to hear most of the new material live. First of all, Jeff Tweedy is becoming a legendary frontman. His stage antics almost seem to precede him…he punched a dude in the face on stage…there have been 2 movies made highlighting his wonderful delivery…. But still, he never fails to make you smile. They took the stage, backlit in sillouette, and Tweedy gave the slightest wave to the crowd- just a casual little “hey, good to see you” and we frikkin ERUPTED. In that gesture, he showed the love, and 4,000 people ate it up.

He grabs the mic a lot more these days. Where as he always held onto his guitar in the past, he seems to be freed up by the massive army of musicians behind him to give a little more. He is filled with attitude, some might even say “Sass”. Right from the opener of “You Are My Face” Just as it kicks in to that amazing B Section, the guitar is at his side, one hand is in the air, and the other pull the mic stand close…its Freddy Mercury if he had a guitar, and was a married guy with 2 kids. He mocks the people sitting still in the front row. When the crowd doesn’t sing loud enough he goes “Well, I guess you guys dont mind getting showed up by that crowd last night in Atlanta!” He makes the crowd clap along during the bridge to “Spiders”, puts down his guitar, and plays Pattycake with Nels Cline in rhythm. The man can do no wrong.

My 1 complaint is Glen Kotche. Glen, I’m going to speak to you directly now, because I know that you are reading. First off, you know I love you, as only a drummer can. Your recorded work is perfect. Its minimalist, yet still interesting. It serves the song, and is never boring. I understand you held back a lot to do that, and want to let loose a little on stage. That being said, take a step back. maybe listen to a few shows on tape. Your timing is suffering at the hands of your ridiculous chops and showmanship. Do a few less Quadruplet Flam Roll Thingamabobs. Rock out maybe 4% less. Get a few less toms, cymbals, weird effects…..ANYTHING. Just stop speeding up and slowing down at random times.

This band’s instrument selection is also just plain silly. They change guitars literally every song, each emerging axe more beautiful than the next. Tweedy starts with a 60’s SG with the Vibrato tailpiece, moves to what looks like a 70’s tele, another SG, then a frikkin Zematis telecaster- ( http://www.zemaitis.net/zemaitis-gz-3200df.htm )a custom thing played by Keith Richards. Nels Cline has several 60’s jazzmasters, its just ridiculous.

Save for Glen’s weird timing, and the TERRRRIBLE crowd that shows up once a band gets huge (16 year olds getting fucked up and smoking cigarettes to look cool, i’m talking to you), they still have it.

This is my problem:

http://languedocguitars.com/

When I was younger, in my Phish Head days, I had a goal. That goal was to one day play the guitar of Trey Anastasio, a custom built archtop by his sound man, Paul Languedoc. I hoped to one day achieve this, but never thought it would actually come to fruition. Well, last year, rumors started to surface. Paul had retired from the road, Trey got arrested, I stopped listening to phish…..And just like in the days of Willy Wonka, the factory once again opened.

The closest I had come before this, was on ebay. A guitar surfaced from Time Guitars in Vt where Languedoc worked, which was supposedly built by him. It had the signature jagged headstock, but was a weird Explorer type (think Metallica). But now, the whole game has changed. I dont know what made me look there today, but on the site, he claims that eventually a cheaper model will come out….but perhaps i’m getting ahead of myself.

Click the link up there, go ahead, I’ll wait.

Ok. If thats not the most beautiful piece of genius you have ever seen in an instrument, you can go straight to hell, and play an ESP while you’re there. He is asking $10,000 per guitar. Now, while this is a TON of money, its not that unreasonable. Each component is built by hand, including the tailpiece, crazy stuff. It takes him around 100 hrs to build, and 100$ an hour for a master craftsman is not outrageous. My problem is, I’m calculating. As eric tarn said recently in a blog post…When you have a real job, and no kids or family, you can by fun things (not a direct quote but close). So, if I save 500 dollars a month towards this, neglect going out to eat, pack a cheap lunch every day, I could have it in about 2 years.

I mean, I could invest this money, try to buy some real estate or something, or even buy something crazy but which could make me money, like a pro tools HD rig…..but lets be honest. how fun is that? not very. This thing would be one of a kind. It would sound like angels singing “You Enjoy Myself” over a chorus of different angels singing “Holy Diver” by Dio. Imagine that, and get back to me.

But for now, I must be content with my $400 tokai les paul Jr, my Japanese strat, and my Eastwood 12 string. But mark my words Languedoc, one day there will be a showdown. We’ll meet at sunset in the woods of VT, I’ll hand you a golen briefcase containing my soul, and you will hand me an All Koa guitar, with a pearl inlay of me giving the metal sign on the 12th fret. And it will be a glorious day.