Both Some Dude and I couldn’t be more pumped to see Wilco perform tonight at Brooklyn’s McCarren Pool. Jeff Tweedy and the boys have been on fire lately, and the Total Pros horn section seem to be along for the entire tour. Recently, I stumbled across an amazing tale of the night Wilco came to tiny Camden, Maine during the summer of 2000 written by Brian Robbins. Robbins raised his daughters on the music of that early Wilco lineup and was so excited to bring his two offspring to share the experience of attending a home state show with him.
[Ticket Stub from via Wilco Base courtesy of Tim Flynn]
In this heart-warming remembrance that he wrote up Jambands.com, Robbins does an incredible job conveying the emotions that both he and his brood felt throughout the spectacular concert. As a blogger I’ve read thousands of pieces so far this year about music, but I’ve never been as moved by an article as I was by this tender tale. Here’s a taste:
The girls had grown up to Wilco’s first album, A.M. – the perfect soundtrack for a single Dad. Maybe they’d grown up too much to it; I began to wonder about that when I heard Cassie one time matter-of-factly say, “Oh, Dad and Mom had some issues” which, with a waggle of her then-6-year-old fingers was meant to explain the dissolution of our marriage. That would be the first song on side two of your cassette of A.M., Dad: “That’s Not The Issue”, whose joyful banjo breaks and bouncy chicken picking help to ease the sting of the lyrics’ tale of breakup. Is it a good thing that a 6-year-old’s understanding of her parents divorce can be summed up in a song? Featuring a banjo?
I can’t answer that question; but it does help to show that the girls knew A.M. pretty well. And it does help to explain why my daughter, caught up in the spirit of things that night at the Camden Opera House, joined the rest of the crowd in shouting out requests. There’s a moment lodged in my memory forever: Cassie leaning out over the rail of the balcony and yelling, “I Must Be High!” Scarred for life? I don’t think so.
For some reason this article slipped under my radar when I was paruseing this month’s Jambands.com articles, so don’t make the same mistake I did. Since reading Robbins’ piece I’ve downloaded a few classic Wilco shows from that time period and I’m even more eager to see the alt-country sextet in action tonight.
6 Responses
that was an awesome tale. thanks for sharing the link!
have fun at the show — they were SO good in st. louis last may.
Scott –
Thanks for the kind words. I guess if you know the Wilco catalog, it helps, but if I did what I intended to, the story’s there regardless.
By the way – Mr. Bennett’s coming back … stay tuned.
Thnaks again,
Brian
Now that I am famous I would just like everyone to know that when you’re six years old “I must be high” sounds a lot different then when you’re 18. 🙂
I stumbled upon that same article a few days ago, and I was moved the same way you were. I immediately told Cereal to give it a read. It helps that I feel the same way about Wilco as that writer does.
-Eggs