Can’t figure out what to get your teenage girlfriend, sister, or child for Valentine’s Day next year?  How about taking him/her to John Mayer?  Mayer will bring his Stereogum approved live show to the Alliant Energy Center in Madison on February 14, 2007.

Murmurs.com reports:

R.E.M., Patti Smith, The Stooges and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five top the list of nine nominees for this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Five of the nine, to be announced in January, will be inducted at the annual ceremony on March 12, 2007 at N.Y.’s Waldorf-Astoria after more than 500 voters weigh in with their choices. Also on the ballot: Chic, The Dave Clark Five, The Ronettes, Joe Tex and Van Halen. To be eligible for nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an act must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. This year’s nominees had to release their first single no later than 1981. (10/30a)

Jeff Tweedy’s performance at the Pabst Theater left nothing to be desired, and that’s a pretty strong statement coming from someone who adores the band he fronts. Though the set list was surprisingly lacking of tunes from Wilco’s two most recent albums, A Ghost Is Born and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Tweedy was able to completely hold the crowd in his hand (sans one asshole) as he provided many blasts from the past as well as a couple of new songs.

What I find most enjoyable about a Jeff Tweedy solo performance is no matter how large the venue, he somehow manages to make you feel like he’s playing your living room. Perhaps it’s the onstage banter between himself and the audience, heckling latecomers and responding to questions of “how’s your foot?” You have to completely admire the fact that he singled out the one guy who constantly feels the need to yell “whoooo” during every single song which earned him one of the many standing ovations of the evening. It could also be his willingness to play whatever he wants to play and if the audience request falls into that then he goes right ahead and plays the song. Being one day before Halloween seemed to play into the song selection and between song conversations with songs like “Laminated Cats” and “Theologians” offering lines of “candy left over from Halloween” and “yeah, I’m a cherry ghost” that may or may not intentionally been placed due to the date of the performance. Jeff did mention that his son was going as Abraham Bling-coln, a bling bling version of the nations 16th President.

While this show and set list was drastically different from his last swing through Madison, it was equally, if not more satisfying. It’s hard to put in perspective which solo Tweedy show I’ve enjoyed most, because much like children, they each are different and unique. For those of you unable to attend last night’s performance I strongly urge you to pick up Jeff’s most recent and first ever live album/DVD, Sunken Treasure: Live in the Pacific Northwest, which was released last week.

Wilco will play two shows in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre Thanksgiving weekend on the 24th and 25th, both performances are sold out.

Jeff Tweedy – Pabst Theater – Setlist

Someone Else’s Song
Sunken Treasure
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Lost Love
Lullaby for Rafters and Dreams
The Ruling Class
(Was I) In Your Dreams
Box Full of Letters
Blasting Fonda
Bob Dylan’s Beard
We’ve Been Had
Someday Soon
Be Patient With Me
Radio King
Laminated Cat

Dreamer In My Dreams
Jesus, Etc.
What Light
ELT
Screen Door

Theologians
Walken
I’m the Man Who Loves You

Related:

The Thanks I Get [YouTube video]
Summerfect: A recap through photo
I’ve Got 5 Dollars We Can Put In The Tank – Jeff Tweedy @ Northwestern (5/23/05)
Jeff Tweedy – The Vic Theater (3/4/05)

MP3:

Wilco – Let’s Fight (live)
Wilco – Impossible Germany (live)
Wilco – Is This The Thanks I Get? (live)
Wilco – There’s A Light (live)
Wilco – The Good Part (live)

Secretly Canadian has the new Catfish Haven video for the song “Tell Me.” The video is fantastic and you can check it out for yourself right here.

Related:

Catfish Haven – Tell Me [MoB Review]
Catfish Haven – Lollapalooza Review & Video
Catfish Haven & Pink Mountaintops in Philadelphia
MoB Interview with Catfish Haven [Jan.19, 2006]

We’ve got a full plate of activity this week at Muzzle of Bees. Tonight we’re heading south to catch Jeff Tweedy and The Autumn Defense at the Pabst Theater. Tomorrow night Bob Dylan performs here in Madison with the acoustic Foo Fighters getting things started in a special Halloween performace. Thursday night we’re very excited to welcome Frank Black to Madison for his performance at the High Noon Saloon. Friday brings Lucero to the Metro in Chicago and Saturday, Alejandro Escovedo makes his return to the High Noon Saloon with his trio.

We’ve got a lot to cover so keep us on your radar this week and next as we offer up our thoughts, photos, and reviews.

What shows are you guys looking forward to this week?

I recently listened to Canasta for the very first time, and I make no reservations about the following: This may be the best pop album I’ve listened to all year! The songs on We Were Set Up are long and beautiful, I simply cannot get enough of the song “Shadowcat.” The band hails from Chicago and has completely mastered the ability to keep my attention (where the Decemberists fail) with songs that last over the five minute mark.

Please, Please, Please check these guys out, I would go on and on about this band if I didn’t have a football game to get to. Check out the two songs below that the band has made available on their website. If you listen to anything this weekend, make it these guys. Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Myspace: Canasta
MP3: Shadowcat
MP3: Slow Down Chicago

I don’t live in NYC. Sometimes that makes me very sad, other times it makes me very happy. Today, I am sad because I would love to check out Apples In Stereo, Cities, Heavy Trash, and American Princess as part of the YepRock showcase at Piano’s on November 2nd.

My misfourtune could be your reward, first to leave a comment will get our two passes. Thanks to Dodge for the image above.

For every great band name there are about a hundred that I think are absolutely awful. While I won’t go as far as to say their name is awful (sorry), I do think the music that Middle Distance Runner is putting out is definitely worth you taking the time to listen to. Hailing from Washington, DC, Middle Distance Runner is quickly amassing a following and garnering some great interest with the release of their record Planes In Flames. Making a name for themselves by playing shows and leaving free CD’s around the city, things are just starting to pick up for this foursome.

I really dig the fuzzed out sound that is present on songs like “That’s A Lie,” and could really see this album growing on me. While REM is not listed as one of their influences on their myspace site, I can definitely hear a lot of Monster-era influence on this record not necessarily assuming that was intentional. Either way this album works from start to finish. With frequent trips to the DC area, I’m looking forward to the chance of catching these guys in concert.

MP3: That’s A Lie
Myspace: Middle Distance Runner

While they’ve been making the rounds in music circles for some time we are relatively just getting exposed to the greatness that is iForward, Russia! For those of you not that familiar with the band I suggest you check out their myspace site for some songs and tourdates. You can check out an interview we did with drummer Katie below.

Q. What music is going to be keeping you guys company on the road? Any albums that you guys have been listening to a lot that you care to recommend?

If we want to listen to music we really like on the road, we all have our iPod’s or whatever – if we listen to stuff together in the van its has to be something we agree on! so It usually ends up being really cheesy stuff like Meatloaf and Phil Collins. I think we all really like the new Muse album, and we’ve been listening to Snowden a lot recently too.

Q. The Internet has dramatically altered the way bandís can reach an audience. With things like blogs/myspace/etc, what are your thoughts on the power of the internet in terms of helping your music reach a larger audience?

It’s pretty cool, especially for reaching people all over the world. It’s definitely a modern day necessity now, bands without Myspace are loosing out really. Even journalists and record company A&R use things like Myspace to find out about new bands.

Q. We just got ourselves a copy of “Give Me A Wall,” can you describe the recording process and what if anything you learned and will do diferently on your follow-up?

We had a time limit of just over 3 weeks to record the album, and then another 5 days to mix it. We record the instruments track by track – it’s easier to get 1 person to play it right than 3 people to play it right together! We had a load of fun doing it, but we didn’t really have a massive ambition for the album, except to make it as best as we could. Next time we record a bunch of songs, I think we’ll all be a lot more focused and have a better idea of what we want the end product to be like,

Q. You’ve played quite a few US shows by now. What’s the biggest difference between a US audience and those in England/Europe?

Not a lot, its mainly the fact that people who come to see us in the UK know who we are, know our songs and have had the opportunity to see us hundreds of times before. Its cool playing the US because you’re always playing to new people who don’t necessarily know what you do on stage or sound like live, so it’s cool to see their reactions.

Q. Of the bands you’ve been on tour with so far, do you have a favorite? That being said, is there anyone you’d like to tour with in the future?

We’ve been really lucky to tour with some awesome bands, I think our favourites would be Editors, We Are Scientists, The Automatic and The Scare – It’s important to be on tour with people you can have a good laugh with!

Here are a few shows we just added to the MoB shows page:

11/4 – Dosh – Cactus Club, Milwaukee
11/13 – My Brightest Diamond/Pedestrian – Stonefly, Milwaukee
11/20 – The Slip/The Lovely Feathers – Shank Hall, Milwaukee
11/28 – The Black Keys/Dr. Dog – The Rave, Milwaukee