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My 12 Favorite Concerts - #9 Uncle Tupelo

Josh Jackson

on July 1, 2008 12:03 PM | Permalink

#9
Uncle Tupelo
Feb. 11, 1994, The 40 Watt (Athens, Ga.)
As with Guadalcanal Diary, Uncle Tupelo became my favorite band just in time for me to catch the farewell tour. Whatever personal problems Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy might have been having offstage, when they started playing, they were in lock-step. Not since Lennon and McCartney had a band been as blessed with two songwriters (#98 and #24 on our list of the 100 Best Living Songwriters), and they took turns at the mic singing some great ones from their entire catalog: "Chickamauga," "Anodyne," "The Long Cut," "Watch Me Fall." Plus old covers that they'd long since made their own like "Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down." The bandmates, of course, have gone on to form Son Volt and Wilco, but it was great to catch them onstage together in a single, wonderful night. I wish I still had the ticket, but some video will have to do. Listen to those guys harmonize:

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My 12 Favorite Concerts - #10 The Hold Steady

Josh Jackson

on July 1, 2008 11:16 AM | Permalink

#10
The Hold Steady
Oct. 25, 2007, The 40 Watt (Athens, Ga.)
Craig Finn really isn't even a singer in the proper sense. He kind of half-drunkenly shouts out stories, and the effect live is like he's talking to the audience all night. There's a shallowness to much of the subject matter—ingesting chemicals and hooking up—but he's still so damn insightful and interesting. He's a little goofy and infectiously happy. And so is the music, sloppy bar rock with big '70s muscular hooks. If you look around the room, everybody has big ol' grins on their faces, including guitarist Tad Kubler and the wonderfully mustachioed keyboardist Franz Nicolay. This was my second time seeing them, but it was part of a road trip to Athens with friends, which makes any show a little better. Plus they played almost every song off Boys and Girls in America, including my favorite, "Stuck Between Stations":