Customer Reviews

Jeff Tweedy - Sunken Treasure - Live in the Pacific Northwest

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

The bar is probably high for a Tweedy DVD; after all, "I am trying to break your heart" is one of the best Rock films of all times. "Sunken Treasure" is a moody, cranky journey thru the Pacific Northwest that while lacking momentum, tweeks at just what makes Jeff Tweedy so darned compelling in the first place.

At times, Tweedy is either endearing or annoying when before his audiences. (The same can be said for the audiences themselves. One fool cries out "Black Eye Sucks" clearly throwing Tweedy into a downward spin.)
He tells one woman in the crowd that she would be "miserable" in a relationship with him. You don't really doubt him.

But the solo shows generously picks from what is becoming a prodigius back catalouge of material. The highlight here is "Laminated Cat". But, "The Thanks I Get", "ELT", "Acuff-Rose" and yes, "Black Eye" rankle at the edges of soulfulness. Credit some of the in-concert cimeatography. Tweedy doesn't bother dressing up rock star style, but some of the dark, intimate shooting frames a rock mythos.

Jeff Tweedy will never reach the same level of fame that Neil Young has. but, he may be just as mecurial, just as talented and just as important for this generation.

ps: Some of the best songs are uncredited and feature Tweedy just playing and making the time go by.

I felt like I was watching the concert I saw again. The fact they offer the MP3s thru a secret download if you own the dvd is also making this a worthwhile purchase. My roommates and I replayed this dvd for 3 days straight.

I've watched any number of Live In Concert DVD's over the years, however, this is one of the first videos I've seen that truly captures the feel of the kind of solo show that Tweedy puts on. The cameras (which provide some great angles; above and beyond the standard pit-level rock cams, by the way) keep rolling through witty dialouge that Tweedy mixes into his act, including, but not limited to his own forgetfulness. I for one, can say that when I go to a concert, I expect to feel like the musician(s) aren't just sitting on stage playing music, and this movie seems to capture what it is that I look for in a concert. So if Jeff Tweedy isn't coming to town anytime soon, I would highly suggest purchasing this DVD. Fans will be excited to find that the set-lists draw from any number of different projects he has done over the years, from Wilco to The Minus Five to Loose Fur. A very nice and well produced movie.

If you need further proof that Jeff Tweedy is one of today's great songwriters, here it is. All of the songs included on these performances translate very well into a bare bones acoustic setting, making this DVD a must for Wilco/Tweedy fans. And great music aside, the other thing that is striking about the solo shows captured in this set is Jeff's rapport with his audience. He seems to hear everything that is said, both during and between songs, and makes some really funny observations. Even when he's trying to quiet down some "talkers" he comes across as likeable and charismatic. Great stuff - highly recommended!

This movie is amazing, and shows the happy and anoyed side of Tweedy. I have seen Wilco live 5-6 times and Tweedy puts his heart into every show. Anyone who has seen Tweedy/Wilco live knows how easily he can get upset with the crowd when they are not paying attention to the stage. This documentry follows Tweedy accross the US while he is on his solo tour. The selection of live songs is very good. The best part of the movie though is the interviews and camra work shown inbetween the live shows. It was also fun to watch Tweedy joke around with the crowd, even though from my experiences that is kinda rare in real life. I have watched this movie over and over agin while enjoying a cup of hot coffee and recomend all Tweedy/Wilco fans do the same. Do yourself a favor and pic this up asap!

Watching and listening to Jeff play his music alone accoustically completed the circle for me. I have all the Albums (not just Wilco but Uncle Tupelo and collaborations like Golden Smog) and I have a great appreciation of his songwriting and musical abilities. While his group versions are obviously enhanced by the talents of the other musicians he is associated with in his various ventures, I felt the DVD gave me a much better idea of how some of these great songs evolved, and more importantly, how Jeff perceives them in his own mind.
There's no question that Jeff Tweedy is a very special talent, one who I hope will continue to evolve and perform in all mediums for many years. This is a very special DVD -Great job Jeff -

One of my favorite live show dvds. His performances are amazing!!

It was a chilly night in Seattle on Feb. 2nd 2006. With a bottle of absinthe in by backpack and a woolly cap around my head, I passed beggers asking for change and crazy street workers, up all night because their life depended on it. It was a time in my life I'll never forget. In a month I'd be living in Hawaii, unsure of what I'd do when I got there or when exactly I'd return. There were fumes in the air, office building lights that never shut off, but the sky was starless. Trudging toward the Moore, I saw the line where I'd meet by brother..and along the way I passed the Neptune theatre. "The New World" was listed boldly on its marquee. The line ended..and suddenly I felt warmth.
Once we were in we were greeted and escorted to our seats by the instrumental musings of Glenn Kotche paying his darndest homage to Steve Reich. Then after a while..the stage was vacant except for an ancient mothball-strewn rug dragged in from Chicago and a collection of acoustic guitars..some newly polished, the wood sheening off the stage lamps..some beaten, cracked, as old as Woody Guthrie, left for dead and resurrected in 1959.
Half drunk, I loudly burped out "Where's Jeff?" And at that very second, a figure emerged from the corner of the stage, grizzled, froppy, unshaven. He picked up the old guitar and without saying a word, let his harmonica perform the introduction. Then he spoke, in a whine marked by Alex Chilton, recesses spent in poetry books, and too much nicotine: "There's rows and rows of houses..With windows painted blue..With the light from a TV..Running parallel to you....But there is no sunken treasure..Rumored to be..Wrapped inside my ribs..In a sea black with ink.."
After the song some beligerent old cogger screamed out "I Love U Jeff!!!" Tweedy remarked: "Thank You. But was that real or just a voice in my head?" He was wrong. I heard the voice too. It was my own.

I am a very big Wilco/Tweedy fan and really enjoyed this opportunity to watch one of my favorite singer/songwriters perform in such an intimate setting. Jeff is such a talented songwriter, and what proves it is that the songs completely stand on their own when stripped to their most basic form. For anyone who enjoys watching an artist connect with his audience and lay his cards on the table, I definitely recommend this DVD.

One last note: I get tired of people talking about the merits--or purist value-- of the "Old Wilco," and the pretentiousness of the "new Wilco." it's just such a narrow-minded perspective passed of as an implicit reference; lest we forget our fickle nature. Stating your opinion is fine, I'm just over the subversive--or not so much so--undercurrent of the comments as, "well it's not my thing, I like their old stuff, because now they're popular and therefore I'm not into them." Also, I was at the SF show where he ended with Acuff Rose "sans" amplification, and I thought it was beautiful exclamation point to a fantastic show. What was even better was the silence of the crowd.