Penny Lane

He played in B'ham tonight at Zydeco and I went to listen to him after my class was over (9:30). I thought the concert was pretty boring as concerts go, because most of his songs are slow and fairly similar. I was satisfied by the end of the show, though, because he played two songs I really like: "Barstow" and "Windfall."

After the concert, though, he went backstage and wouldn't come out(it was a very small venue and there were only about 10 people waiting around to get his autograph). Instead of coming out himself to sign autographs and meet the very few people who were standing out there, he had some other guy come out and collect papers from people and take them to the back for him to sign. I thought that he might come back out after even more people left, so I waited around with my friend to see if he would come back out to help move guitars and stuff. My friend eventually spotted him, and we walked up there pretty slowly in hopes of meeting him. As soon as he saw us, though, he went and stood right behind the door (on the other side of it, of course), and watched through the crack of the door. I had finally had enough, so I asked the guy who played with Jay if I could shake his hand "since he isn't coming back out. That way, I can kindof indirectly shake his hand." (j/k, of course). He looked at me mirthlessly, shook my hand, and said "okay, I'll shake his hand for you."

I guess I shouldn't have waited around for him to come out, because now I feel pretty stupid and I also feel bad for liking him. Since there were all of seven people in the room (including the ones who were serving drinks at the bar), I don't see why he couldn't come out and meet a few of his fans.

ziggy

jeez, penny, when did you become such a loser?!?

Frank TJ Mackey

hey that's UNCLE f***in TUPELO you're criticizing there.

maybe there will be a reunion and then you can meet him, Tweedy and the whole band.

also, there are releasing an anthology of sorts in March (Tupelo i'm taling about) and the three albums remastered with bonus cuts I imagine.

Yancey

Son Volt has always been boring live. No charisma. Just terrible.

And don't be offended by Farrar. He's always been an a$$hole. Always. Hates his fans. Hates journalists. I interviewed him and he just wouldn't talk. The only thing he would talk about is the fact that I met him when I was 12 when UT played at my father's bar. He remembered the show and he loved the venue. So we talked about that. But, of course, that wasn't good for quotes because who cares what some rock star has to say about some small bar that some journalist's dad owns. In short, Jay's a jerk.

Tweedy, on the other hand, can be a real sweetheart. And a jerk. But mostly a sweetheart.

Penny Lane

No, that's Jay Farrar I'm criticizing there. He's on his solo tour, you know?

I very seriously doubt it. But I think you missed the point. I could've met him last night if he would have quit hiding behind the skirts of the stage. It would have taken him one minute to come out, say hi, and shake my hand, and I was the ONLY person waiting to meet him anyway.
If Jeff Tweedy treated me like that I'd be much more upset. He's my favorite singer/songwriter.

Hmm, I hadn't heard that.

Penny Lane

If he hates his fans, why does he even bother to tour? Acting like he did last night is a surefire way to lose fans.

Yancey

Because touring is the only way he makes any money. Farrar's antics (or lack thereof) are infamous and most folks already know about them. So I think that:

a) Lots of folks just don't go see him
and
b) They're used to his bull$hit and ignore it

It really sucks. Sorry you had such a bad time.

Penny Lane

It's okay, it really shouldn't be such a big deal to me. Jay Farrar and Sonvolt have never been even close to my favorite, but I do like a couple of their songs and thought it would be neat to hear Jay since he was playing a few blocks away from where I go to school.
Thanks for the empathy. At least I had a good drink, huh?

Gdrlv

I'm really doubting an Uncle Tupelo reunion. From what I understand, Farrar has already said that he wants to reunite with Tweedy but that Tweedy has no interest in reuniting with Farrar. Who could blame him? I love UT, but Farrar has virtually stood still since UT broke up. Every album (actually, every song)sounds exactly the same. On the other hand, Tweedy and Wilco have grown by leaps and bounds since the end of UT. Why would Tweedy want to go backwards to a sound he basically gave up when Wilco released Being There?

That being said, I do love both Tweedy's and Farrar's work with UT (have just grown increasingly less enamoured with Farrar since then) and would love to see some reissues with bonus cuts. Hopefully, this bit o' info is true...