» old 97s lilledeshan bose

Rhett Miller is HOT. Even when he is sweaty and trying to get drunk, he is so cute you want to fold him up and tuck him into your back pocket. And maybe pet him once in a while.

What makes him even cuter? He sings the sweetest songs, can do that little elbow-windmill guitar thing, AND is a Packers fan! (Evidenced by his emerald green shirt and the yellow and green stage lights at Shank Hall on Sunday.) He said it himself: a few friends took him to Lambeau Field to watch the Packers win (hence the green shirt, maybe). Go Farve!

It was that kind of night, one where Miller talked to the intimate crowd about between drinking ~~whiskey~~ something Irish that he called wine (“so I can drink more of it,” he said), and rocking out to a crowd at a sit-down venue wasn’t insanely weird.

He sang “Question” partly in French (“the women love it”) he said, and there were more stories told — about his wife’s Lasik surgery, about being on tour. There were also updates about the Old 97s.

Apparently the Old 97s are going into the studio soon; he sang a few new songs that he hopes will be in the new album (if the “ornery bastards” in his band like them, he said, laughing. “They used to be hornery, but now they’re just ornery.”).

The new album will be out by spring, during which Miller will be back in Milwaukee with everyone in the Old 97s. Maybe then, everyone will get on their feet and dance.

Set List
(Note: I copied this list off the girl who asked Miller for his set list, but it may not be wholly accurate because I remember him singing “Four Eyed Girl” and it’s not in here, and I’m pretty sure “Big Brown Eyes” came out earlier in the set. So here Miller’s set list in spirit.)

Opp
Melt Show
My Valentine
The El
My Two Feet
Rollerskate Skinny
Singular Girl
No Baby I
This Is What I Do
Barrier
Doreen
Question
Fireflies
Indefinitely
Help Me, Suzanne
The New Kid
King Of All The World
Hey Ed

Encore
Come Around
Designs
Our Love
Timebomb
Big Brown Eyes

There’s a reason my Summerfest blog took so long to post. In fact, I am still processing the whole experience right now.

I got to see John Mayer in the rain, fireworks, Built to Spill, Son Volt and the Old 97s. I drank a lot of $4.50 beer and paid $15 for parking MORE THAN ONCE. (Yes, we had parking passes. Yes, I may have left them more than once.) I got drunk dudes asking me to take photos and stuff.

Did I like it? It was OK. It was a lot of good music, great weather and walking. But there was also overpriced food, crowds (I’m semi-claustrophobic), lots of drunk people and rain. It was great because it gave me an understanding of what Milwaukee is really about. It also was impetus for the ultra-strict diet my mom put me on because she saw a lot of horizontally-challenged folks.

Apparently, Summerfest makes locals severly emo as well. See Joe’s, Adam’s and Justin’s posts. Each one made me want to grab a sniffle-tissue — for them!

Me, I just walked around aimlessly for a couple of days. Days later I can tell you what I discovered at Summerfest:

1. Water Street, a Peoria, Ill. band. They may have no idea how stupid their name sounds to Milwaukeeans, but their music sounds pretty Phish-y. Here is a photo of the two guitarists playing lead with their guitars behind their backs.