Jeff Tweedy: Solo on the Western Slope

Jeff Tweedy and his simple setup

Jeff Tweedy. Solo show. Grand Junction. Count me in. 

When I eagerly bought a ticket as an excuse to go to Grand Junction, I ignored an inconvenient fact – the concert fell in Grand Junction …. in summer. I probably wouldn’t have ventured to the Western Slope for a Tweedy concert had I known about the triple-digit days ahead. Grand Junction crested at 105 the evening of Tweedy’s show. 

But I made the drive. Aside from concertgoers, downtown was essentially deserted. The Avalon had been completely gutted and modernized a decade ago. 

Trumbo goes Heisenberg

A statue of Grand Junction native Dalton Trumbo writing in his bathtub sits in front of the theater. I caught Trumbo at the golden hour, sun in his eyes. I reluctantly asked a couple if they could vacate the shade for 10 seconds while I photographed the screenwriter’s statue. They told me not the apologize, moved during my shot, and went back to the comfort of shade in seconds flat. 

Inside the Avalon is completely modern, especially its wonderful powerful air conditioning. Even better – I was the only person seated in the side row of the lower level. 

People were packed into the central section. I don't think they minded; we were indoors on a hot day, and I bet everyone inside felt thanks that Tweedy had not booked an outside show. I know I did. 

After a short opening set from La Ren, Tweedy picked up an acoustic and powered through The Universe, a poignant track from Cruel Country, Wilco’s 2022 double album. As is the case with his solo shows, he touched on songs across his entire history. Band boundaries no longer mattered. 

Of course, some interpreted the solo swing ominously – a radio DJ in Idaho asked Tweedy if his solo tour meant Wilco was done. Tweedy has done many solo swings over the years. He just hit some new places on this run, including three Colorado shows – Boulder, Dillon, then Grand Junction. 

 During the set, it was nothing for the Wilco frontman to jump back a few decades from song to song. He shifted back to Via Chicago and I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, longtime Wilco concert regulars. Newer songs filtered in and sometimes I struggled to keep up. 

Then the surprises started, as he jumped to a version of Box Full of Letters based on his original demo, which feels more like a folk song than a power ballad (to paraphrase Tweedy). 

There was not the same volume of surprises in past Tweedy solo shows, as his discography includes another half-dozen Wilco albums and several solo records to go along with Uncle Tupelo and earlier side projects Golden Smog and Loose Fur. 

Warding off song requests with a song

Tweedy tuned his acoustic guitars after every song, conceding that the dry air was not kind to guitars. After an audience made a comment from the front row, he deadpanned, “Welcome to Grand Junction, home of the dry guitar.” 

Tweedy’s attempts to banter met with a barrage of futile song requests. One guy asked him to name all his side projects, and Tweedy recommended the people from Bellville, Illinois try “the Google machine.” 

A woman kept yelling “Handshake” – as in Handshake Drugs from A Ghost is Born. It was not subtle, more a demand than a request. Tweedy asked if she attended the Boulder concert two nights earlier, since someone kept yelling it from the darkness there. Then he shut down the requests with the simple line - “I didn’t play it in Boulder. And I’m not playing it tonight.” 

Eventually he just played, chalking up the chatty audience to psychosis induced by the intense heat of the day. As for the guy who yelled “cheesecake,” I’m not sure that man's crazy had anything to do with the heat. 

 After the upbeat I’m the Man who Loves You, he shifted to the always-delightful California Stars, a Woody Guthrie lyric to which Tweedy set a perfect melody. I never tire of that song. Nor should anyone. 

In two solid hours, Tweedy delivered the Grand Junction audience from the heat, hitting a lot of high points while barely scratching the surface of his four decades in music. He pushed past 20 songs, told stories, shot down obnoxious audience requests, and generally seemed like a guy happy to spend a few hours onstage on Colorado’s western edge. 

I skipped out to the empty streets of Grand Junction, Trumbo in his bathtub, staring down Main Street to the western horizon. His bathwater probably felt better at that late hour. 

Trumbo stares westward

Setlist (That I could gather)
The Universe
Via Chicago
I Am Trying to Break your Heart
Box Full of Letters
Taking It Out on You
New Madrid
Having Been is No Way to Be
Gwendolyn Hummingbird
Oh Death
Country Song Upside Down
Jesus Etc.
Passengerside
Evergreen
You and I (duet with Le Ren)
I Am My Mother
I’m the Man Who Loves You
California Stars