Wilco Played Jazz Fest 2009: Pictures, Review, Setlist

Seeing Wilco live is always a bit of a revelation: the band definitely offers something up in the live environment that simply isn't present on their records, and last week's show at Jazz Fest was certainly no exception. Despite the absence of any new material, the band delivered a diversified show that traversed their entire catalog, including some of our faves.

The show was a strong one on many counts. Similar to Spoon's set, is was nice and long for a festival set. More importantly, it was a pleasantly upbeat set, and it touched upon some of our most cherished Wilco material. We were particularly stoked to hear "Company In My Back" and "Pot Kettle Black". Additionally, the Sky Blue Sky material continues to transcend its recorded counterparts, and really go over the top in the live environment.

In addition to really delivering musically, the band was unquestionably invested in the set at a physical level. While at times it bordered on a tad gimmicky, it's always good to see a band having so much fun with the material and clearly enjoying themselves. Whether it was the extended guitar jams, Tweedy mussing his hair, or the band climbing atop their gear, the whole set was clearly filled with good cheer.

At the end of the day, we're never exactly surprised to see Wilco deliver a killer live show. Much of the band's well deserved legacy is built upon their live shows, and to some extent we expect the awesomeness. That being said, we're always glad to see just how well Tweedy & Co. pull us back in and renew our interest in a band that we've been loving for a long time.

The show left us not only psyched for the band's Greek Theater date in June, but also more than a little enthused for the new record. They've clearly established just how tight of a musical unit they've become, and they seem ready to deliver on that promise with a record of equal goodness. Frankly, we can't wait.

More pictures at the HAD Archive

Setlist
--
Walken
Handshake Drugs
Company in my Back
You are my Face
Pot Kettle Black
A Shot in the Arm
Side with the Seeds
Jesus, etc
Impossible Germany
California Stars
Forget the Flowers
Box Full of Letters
The Late Greats
Hate it Here
Heavy Metal Drummer
I’m the Man who Loves You
Hoodoo Voodoo
--
Casino Queen
Outta Sight (Outta Mind)

Spoon Played Jazz Fest 2009 - Pictures, Review, Setlist

If you're even a sometimes-reader here at HAD, you probably still know that we're head over heels for Spoon. As such, we were more than a little psyched that the band was headlining on Saturday during our weekend at Jazz Fest. It was great to see the band outside and enjoying themselves, and they unquestionably delivered. A long set (for a festival), some scorching new material, and a killer cover all came together to make for a killer set.

The set (like many of the band's recent shows) focused prominently on Gimme Fiction and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. There were only a handful of older tracks, and we have to say that we continually find ourselves wishing the band would pull in a bit more older material. That being said, "Small Stakes" and "Everything Hits At Once" are two of our faves, and it was really nice to hear "Me And The Bean" back in the mix.

As always, the band's current material was delivered in top notch fashion. These guys have become so tight as a touring unit that there performance is all but bulletproof. That being said, this show had a little bit of extra oomph to it's delivery: The band was backed for a good portion of the set by a chunk of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Similar to when they brought along a brass section for The Fillmore shows last year, the brass served to strengthen the arrangements across the board.

In addition to the material from their catalog, the band also broke out three new tunes, and their cover of Paul Simon's "Peace Like A River". We've mentioned it before, but we'll say it again: the new material is tightening up to a point where we couldn't be more excited about the new record. If we have to wait til 2010, so be it: everything points to it being completely unbelieveable.

The band wrapped up with an encore of classics, culminating in "Small Stakes", which is no better than in a live setting. It was an awesome way to wrap up a set from one of our favorite bands, while at the same time living it up in the Big Easy.

More pictures over at the HAD Archive

Setlist:
Writing In Reverse
Don’t You Evah
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine
The Ghost of You Lingers
Trouble
The Beast and Dragon, Adored
Me and the Bean
Peace Like a River
Black Like Me
Got ‘Nuffin’
My Mathematical Mind
I Turn my Camera on
Rhythm & Soul
The Underdog
Don’t Make Me a Target
--
I Summon You
Everything Hits at Once
Small Stakes

Jazz Fest 2009: Musical Moments

Jazz Fest is, after all, about the music. The long and short of it is that there is simply so much music that it's nearly impossible to be without something you want to take in. It's also quite different from other festivals, because it really runs a far wider gamut of genres than anything else we know of. While many festivals will have a loose genre or theme, most still stay reasonably safely planted in the world of pop and rock music. Jazz Fest, by contrast, truly reaches into the city's diversified culture and offers up a selection of tunage to match. Here's a taste of what we saw.

Best way to cool down while you heat up: a beer and a dozen raw oysters at the raw bar on Saturday afternoon while Ingrid Lucia jazzes it up on the Lagniappe stage wearing a leopard print dress and gardenias in her hair

Best Grandstand History Twofer: Friday morning, Upstairs, Leroy Jones on the interview stage remembering Danny Barker and the beginnings of the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band, Downstairs, in the Jazz Fest 1970-74 exhibit, 1971 Jim Messina photo of the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band with the then 13 year old Leroy Jones struttin’ his stuff

Best Old School Fashion Moment: Saturday, the Dixie Cups being so very girl group and matching their outfits to the turquoise blue of the Jazz Fest Strutters featured on the backdrop of the Acura Stage

Best Solution to Exhaustion on a Hot Louisiana Afternoon: The wall of human energy in the Gospel Tent generated Saturday by Dwight and Connie Fitch with the St Raymond - St Leo Great Choir fronted by the awesome sound of Sister Stephanie; and Sunday by the Voices of St Peter Claver

Best Crowd Dives, Crowd Surfing: Galactic, Saturday evening at the Gentilly Stage

Best Funky Music Shakedown: Guitar Slim, jr. and his crew, Sunday afternoon at the Blues Tent

Best Bump and Grind: 91 year old Chris Owens doing her burlesque act on the stage at Economy Hall Saturday

Best Breath Control With Attitude: Troy “trombone shorty” Andrews Friday afternoon at the Gentilly Stage

Best Hair: Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire, Sunday evening at Congo Square

HAD Went To Jazz Fest - Pictures, Review

Early arrivals at the Gentilly Stage

Last weekend H.A.D. seized the moment and headed southeast for the 40th anniversary of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. We’ve had friends hassling us to go for years, now seemed like the moment; you have to believe we came for rock and roll, and we found that, but so much more.

Festival founder George Wein

Jazz Fest, as it’s familiarly known, was originally designed and produced by George Wein. Wein is the father of the festival concept, and started it all with Newport Jazz in 1954. We have to admit, when we made our way into the fest before the crowds in the early morning on Friday, we were overwhelmed. Jazz Fest is physically HUGE; it covers 145 acres inside the Fair Grounds Race Track in New Orleans. This is partially because it's not only a music festival: It celebrates Louisiana’s multicultural roots presenting history, crafts, food of startling diversity. Three crafts marketplaces offer contemporary, traditional and African wares, while the Folklife and Native American Villages allow you to see and hear first hand skills passed down for generations in the Louisiana mix of cultures.

Food stalls: not healthy, super tasty!

And then there is the food. We really did come to listen, but we did eat: pecan catfish meuniere for breakfast, alligator pie and fried green tomatoes for lunch and crawfish boiled, stuffed and puffed for dinner. Between times we snacked on beignets and raw oysters by the dozen, and recaffeinated with café au lait and the ubiquitous southern iced tea. After a few pralines we couldn’t even find room for a po-boy or a muffuletta. The wonder about the food booths is that they are all, even the ones selling canned sodas and beer, manned by volunteers and sponsored by community groups, churches and local restaurants and bakeries. Jazz Fest really is about the community. Everything was fresh and too, too tasty and we rediscovered a weakness for all things fried and sauced.

Leroy Jones

When the afternoon got a little too hot we stepped inside the grandstand for a history lesson; we were able to listen to icons of music and culture at the Alison Miner Interview Stage and then wander through this year’s special exhibits on Jazz Fest 1970-75, the King and Queen of Zulu, and Backstreet New Orleans. IT turns out Jazz Fest is actually owned by the nonprofit New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc., and that money spent here goes back to the community. Visiting Jazz Fest is helping to rebuild New Orleans; indeed, this week the foundation has turned nine musicians into new homeowners.

Ready to party?

What's more, We discovered that the spirit of Jazz Fest doesn’t stop when the Fair Grounds closes. New Orleans parties on every night ‘til morning in the streets and in the clubs; transportation is easy, with only a bit of time spent waiting in line you can grab a taxi or a shuttle, hop on the local bus or just walk the mile and a half down Esplanade to the Vieux Carre.

Weekend one winds down...

At the end of our three days we were exhausted but happy, wishing we could stay just a little bit longer. The party at the Fair Grounds is only half done, with a four day weekend from Thursday April 30 to Sunday May 3 still to come. It's definitely a more classic weekend, featuring Emmy Lou Harris, Tony Bennett, Dr John and Neil Young. Headliners include Bon Jovi, the Neville Brothers, the O’Jays and Kings of Leon you’re bound to find something that suits your ears - even if you're into late 80's New Jersey hair-rock. And if you can’t get there, you can still listen at the voice of the Jazz and Heritage Festival WWOZ, or stream video over at the AT&T Webcast.

Keep an eye out: we're going to be running a few stories relating to the music of Jazz Fest in the coming days!