Once again, bitterness raises its ugly head...

Wilco was in town last night and as one might expect I was right there with them. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody as they easily rank in my top five of favorite bands on the planet. That is even though I still like their old stuff (which was a bunch of twangy pop rock songs) to their new stuff (which is the adventurous noise rock). Still, it is Jeff Tweedy and I’m one of the many people who feel that he can do no wrong so it was a great show to catch. The focus was mainly on the new material with a handful of songs from Being There or the Mermaid Avenue discs. It wasn’t the best performance that I’ve seen them give, mainly because this was an end of the tour, I just want to go home, stop on the road but it still is an early contender for a Top Ten show.

The interesting thing is that I found myself maneuvering through the crowd trying to find a place where I wasn’t surrounded by idiots. Actually, that is a good description of my two and a half years in Kansas City, a constant struggle to not be surrounded by idiots. It’s really beginning to bother me at concerts as the last three shows I’ve gone to have included being hassled by people who are drunk out of their minds. You know, the point where they can’t stand so they just stumble into people even if the room is half empty. I’ve been a magnet for these people over the last month and it is really beginning to bug me. I’m accepting of drunks in a bar but at most concerts my focus is entirely on the music and I can’t stand people who have decided to get blasted on five dollar a bottle beer. Just seems like a waste of good money on bad beer and completely missing the entire point you went out in the first place.

(True story: in the background right now is a commercial for The Essential Kenny G. With the tunes hand selected by the man himself. Including his collaboration with Michael Bolton. I’m not making this up. There are a lot of things that worry me in this world. The prediction of an eight degrees Celsius increase in temperature over the next fifty years is one of them. The fact that the people who are right now calling the toll free number and ordering The Essential Kenny G are also allowed to vote is another.)

(Ah, now this is better. They’re playing Allison Krauss, which makes life seem much more enjoyable. Sadly, she will be outsold by Kenny G but such is life.)

Have one other random story that I need to share. When I went to Wakarusa last year that apparently put me on a mailing list for Relix magazine. The magazine that focuses solely on jam bands. A magazine that has no problems doing a cover story on Jerry Garcia. Basically, a magazine that makes me go “Great, even more hippies.” Well, in their latest issue they talk about how to green up your life, which I thought would be a really good read. Of course one of their first suggestions was stop getting junk mail. Yes, the magazine that decided to keep sending me free issues even though I have no interest in what they’re writing about wants me to stop getting junk mail. Looks like Kansas City isn’t the only place that doesn’t grasp the concept of irony.