Golden Smog- Live At The First Avenue, April 2, 2022: Night 1

When Golden Smog opened their two-night stand at the First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis with Looking Forward To Seeing You, you knew the feeling was mutual for fans that have been waiting a long time to see the band. The band was to perform two years ago for the First Avenue's 50th birthday celebrations, but...you know what happened. The pandemic prevented plenty of live concerts from taking place and the First Avenue was no exception, but the hope was that Golden Smog would eventually comeback to  perform. I remember a few months ago, when this show was announced, I desperately wanted to travel stateside, but common sense told me it wasn't a good idea. The restrictions of travel to the US had loosened, but for how long I wasn't sure. I didn't want to risk buying a ticket with the possibility I couldn't travel to Minnesota (or the concert was cancelled), so I hoped for the best. I didn't have a chance anyways because the demand for tickets was high and it sold out quickly with a show added the next day. As luck would have it, Nugs.net would live stream the concert so I could watch the show in the comfort of my living room. You could purchase tickets for one or both shows, I opted to watch both shows because I didn't want to miss anything. I couldn't decide which night would be better, the first night would be the first reunion of the group in years and that would be cool to see or the second night could have different songs, a longer set or maybe a special guest. Well, it turned out the set structure was similar both nights with a couple different songs switched out, the second night had one more song and there were no special guests besides Jeff Tweedy's son, both nights (more on that later).

Highlights

• This was Jeff Tweedy's first show with the band in 15 years. You don't realize how many great songs Jeff contributed to the Smog, but his contribution is sorely missed from the set when he doesn't perform with them. He was relaxed and in great spirits both nights and it looked like he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. When he mentioned numerous times he was happy to see them and he missed these guys, I truly think he did, which hopefully translates to more possible appearances with Golden Smog. He's a busy man with numerous projects and arguably has been the most successful outside of the Smog, but he was gracious and really funny.

• The line-up was "Weird Tales"-era with Jody Stephens on drums, Tweedy and the addition of Jessy Greene on violin and backing vocals. Nice to see Dan Murphy since he's not with Soul Asylum any longer (I can't listen to Soul Asylum since he left) and he sounds good. I always thought Kraig Johnson's best work is in Golden Smog and Jayhawk-ers, Gary Louris and Marc Perlman are the heart and soul of the group.
• Gary and Jeff did a couple mini acoustic duets together and they sounded wonderful together. Their harmonies and guitar interplay was beautiful and I'm wondering about the possibility of a collaboration together on record or shows. They're interaction throughout the shows was definitely a highlight.

• They played some familiar live covers (Signed D.C., Glad & Sorry, Love and Mercy, Starman) and during the encore, Jeff Tweedy's son, Sammy Tweedy did lead vocals on the Neil Young classic, Helpless. The youngest Tweedy son did a very commendable job in a special moment that must have made dad proud. Definite WOW moment!

• They closed the show with "Until You Came Along", which I consider their best song. A warm comfy, feel-good moment that ended as triumphantly as it started. Welcome back!
  

The recording is audio-only and the sound quality is amazing! I don't know if anyone recorded the show from the crowd, but it would be interesting to compare, as sometimes on the floor it captures the ambiance differently. There are a couple of glitches (towards the end of the first song and especially the last song), that appear on the replay of the video, so it is what it is. A thoroughly enjoyable concert that I still wish I was there to witness live, but this will do just fine!

Enjoy!

 

Please do NOT sell or profit from the recording!

Please do NOT convert to lossy formats

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*I will respect any requests from the band (please let me know) if they don't want the audio shared.* 

The Current has a real review of the show!

 

GOLDEN SMOG
First Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
April 2, 2022
SBD> livestream
Night 1

01. Looking Forward To Seeing You
02. Lost Love
03. To Call My Own
04. V
05. Yesterday Cried
06. Glad & Sorry
07. Red-Headed Stepchild
08. Starman
09. Walk Where He Walked
10. He's A Dick
11. Pecan Pie
12. Ill Fated
13. Long Time Ago
14. Signed D.C.
15. I Can't Keep From Talking
16. Won't Be Coming Home
17. You Make It Easy
18. Love And Mercy
19. If I Only Had A Car
20. Corvette

Encore
21. Radio King
22. Listen Joe
23. Helpless
24. Until You Came Along

Jeff & Gary (acoustic)- tracks 13, 21, 22
Sammy Tweedy (lead vocals)- track 23

GOLDEN SMOG- 2022-04-02 First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN FLAC. rar

 

 (note: Having problems with OneDrive, so I've reverted back to Adrive for the download. Please let me know if there any problems downloading, opening and playing...thanks!)