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(More customer reviews)I am a big Wilco and Jeff Tweedy fan. Those who are familiar with Jeff know he's been doing brief acoustic tours throughout his career with Wilco. It offers him an opportunity to revisit old Wilco and Uncle Tupelo tunes that the current Wilco line-up doesn't perform, or offer up different musical versions of Wilco songs (i.e., Sunken Treasure acoustically is more of a folk finger picking ditty with harmonica included).
The song selection is pretty standard for a Jeff Tweedy acoustic show. Having said that, I wish the songlist was more expansive. Often, at a Tweedy solo acoustic show, you will hear older songs that are played only once or twice even on an acoustic tour (Say You Miss Me, Box Full of Letters), and sometimes you'll hear a cover song or two (Moot the Hoople's Henry & the H-Bombs, Neil Young's Walk On). I wish that was captured as part of the DVD.
As for the DVD itself, it tries to capture the environment and mood of a acoustic tour on the West Coast - i.e., lots of rain, somber feel, etc. The DVD covers several stops on the West Coast and depicts Jeff and the audience/fans attempting to connect in such an intimate setting. At times you can see that Jeff draws some fans/audience members that just aren't suited for a solo acoustic show. Many of these fans are better suited for a loud, rockin' Wilco show versus just Jeff and a guitar where everyone can hear it when an audience member talks over Jeff performing.
If you have seen the Wilco documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, you may already know that Jeff can at times appear to come across as grumpy or as a pill (I've met him once, and he was anything but). I think more than anything, it captures the unpredictable results when Jeff opens his mouth and talks with the audience. He tends to let the music speak for itself (Wilco shows included), and when often he has to remind himself to speak to the audience at Wilco shows. When he does try to talk and build rapport with his audience, he'll either include an amusing story or somehow insult (unintentional perhaps) an audience member. But the sincerity of his singing and performances are never in question. It's that contrast (Jeff's sincerity while singing versus the audience's disrespect and/or ambivelance to his singing) that makes this DVD more than just a concert document. Jeff and Wilco are not megastars, but they are successful musicians (both critically and commercially), and with that comes new fans and/or audience members that come because it's the hip or in thing to do versus wanting to genuinely listen to him perform his songs in a stripped down version.
As for the music, Theologians to me is one of the highlights. It works great as a solo acoustic number versus the equally stunning piano-led rockin' version. In A Future Age is a summerteeth cut that is brilliant when reduced to Jeff's soft vocals and his eastern-influenced pickin'. Airline to Heaven is a solo acoustic favorite of Jeff's fans, here accompanied by Nels Cline on a dobro or lap-steel (I may be mistaken on the instrument). He also accompanies Jeff on War on War along with Glen Kotche on drums.
Bonus - for those that purchase the DVD, there is a link provided that offer audio downloads of the all the songs included on the DVD, along with two bonus songs not included in the DVD, Please Tell My Brother and She's A Jar. Please Tell My Brother is all the more poignant considering Jeff's mother recently passed away and she is the crescendo of the song's lyrics. She's A Jar is simply stunning, and for those who have only come to Wilco's music through Summerteeth, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and A Ghost Is Born may be surprised by how well these songs hold up (or in some ways exceed) to the more musically complex, layered, and sonically textured album versions or the renditions found on Wilco's Kicking Television (their recent live CD, also worth a purchase).
You don't want to miss out on this.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Jeff Tweedy - Sunken Treasure - Live in the Pacific Northwest (2006)
Sunken Treasure was recorded over five nights of Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy's February 2006 solo acoustic tour and includes footage from concerts at Seattle's Moore Theater, Portland's Crystal Ballroom, Eugene's McDonald Theater, Arcata's Humboldt State University, and The Fillmore in San Francisco. The songs featured on the DVD are culled from Tweedy's expansive discography, and feature music from all three of his bands: Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, and Loose Fur, plus one previously unreleased track, "The Thanks I Get." The film is directed by Burn to Shine documentarians Christoph Green and Brendan Canty (Fugazi). In the package for the DVD, a link is provided that offers audio downloads of the all the songs included on the DVD, along with two bonus songs not included in the DVD.
Track Listings: Intro [Seattle] Sunken Treasure [Seattle] Theologians [Seattle] The Ruling Class [Seattle] Intro [Portland] How To Fight Loneliness [Portland] Summerteeth [Portland] The Thanks I Get [Portland] Intro [Eugene] I Am Trying To Break Your Heart [Eugene] ELT [Eugene] Shot In The Arm [Eugene] Intro [Arcata] Black Eye [Arcata] In A Future Age [Arcata] Laminated Cat [Arcata] Intro [San Francisco] (Was I) in Your Dreams [San Francisco] Airline to Heaven [San Francisco] Heavy Metal Drummer [San Francisco] War On War [San Francisco] Acuff-Rose [San Francisco]
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