january 2003

secret show setlist, lesrocks.com article, and johnny mar's mix

thanks to hightower for posting this on the yahoo mailing list and sweet addy! its the setlist to the secret show in nyc at the lit :)

plainclothes man (one line), fond farewell, memory lane, strung out again, happiness, i figured you out, long long long (beatles), can't make a sound (aborted), st. ides heaven, rose parade, don't go down, pretty (ugly before), clouds (quasi), see you later, speed trials, ballad of big nothing

(encore) a distorted reality is now a necessity to be free, say yes

thanks to pyrite for posting this on sweet addy. i know sadly not everyone got in :( but here is their story how they did get in and how it went: 2 hours of sitting in an increasingly crowded bar and then as if on some instinctive cue peeps lined up in front of a door so danny, anne and i mashed our way into the line to see if we'd get denied or not. after like 20 minutes the door opened and we shoved on in. okay. the whole 40 people guestlist only thing? yeah. a dude was at the door and as we walked by he asked if we were on the list or not. "no." but we got to go on through anyway and ended up like 10 feet from the little stool elliott would soon sit on.

after like 20 minutes in this crowded little basement that brought to mind the cavern club, elliott took the stage. he had written "mroe PRICKS than KICKS" on his arm -- the typo is his, not mine -- and he said hi, and how y'all doing, and went right into plainclothes man. halfway through the second line he decided he didn't want to do that song and he looked at his setlist and realized he didn't actually want to do most of the songs on it.

he talked a whole lot -- in between every song. and aside from the aborted plainclothes man, he finished pretty much everything. a few times he forgot parts but he played through until he remembered what went next, and a few times he stumbled towards the end of the song but did his best to finish the song rather than just quit. his playing was amazing and his voice was spectacular. he was in a really fantastic mood, too. so talkative. he kept thinking aloud and then he'd shake his head and say he was "just trying to crack myself up."

thanks to baptiste for sending this about an interesting article at the les inrockuptibles website. personally i think 'from a basement on a hill' songs will eventually come out and it hasn't been announced when the new record will be out official but this is what the site is saying: from what i've read on les inrockuptibles web site (and this magazine, as you may nor may not know have always been very supportive to elliott), it looks like the album from a basement on a hill won't be released. it is said to be very dark...but, it seems that a double album is due for this summer. check out www1.lesinrocks.com for the complete news (sorry i couldn't find a direct link to the article!)

finally, thanks to tina for sending this message about how johnny marr included elliott in his recent johnny's ideal party tape :). elliott's song of xo, 'amity' was number 9! to see the whole list, go to http://www.jmarr.com. (1.30.03)

ny secret show, the official site, l.a. benefit, mp3s, and a little help?

oh wow :) what an awesome day! a lot of great stuff happening in this update. i hope nothing gets lost! but the first great thing is that elliott is playing a secret show on wednesday night (1.29.03) at lit in new york, ny! lit is at 93 2nd ave. and the show starts at 10pm with just elliott. lit is a small place (holds about 70-100 people) so get there super early if you want to get in. it also looks like it is 21 and over venue too. for direction and a little info about lit, please go here. good luck everyone!

the other great awesome and great thing is...... :) sweet adeline is now the official elliott smith website!!!! yay! elliott asked if i was interested in making sweet adeline the official site and without having to think about, it was a big yes :) so now sweet adeline is an elliott smith official site by fans. so a big thank you to all of you for helping this site something special. elliott had some really nice things to say about it all and its because of us. i hope you all will continue to contribute to the site because your contributions make the site fun and infomative, so keep sending them in. so yeah there is soo many people to thank but you know who you are i hope, so thanks. i feel so bad not being specific but some of them are here. thanks and love to my mom of course (she rocks) and thank you so much and love to elliott and those close to him for letting me do this. i really hope i do good :) anyway im so speechless, happy, excited and smiling. i dont know what else to say so here is some more elliott news...thanks again to you all and elliott :)

thanks to to paula for sending this info about a possible benefit show in los angeles on feb. 16th. well on the echo website, it originally said this: a 'love not war' benefit w/ performances by quazar and the bamboozled, wiskey biscuit, gwendolyn and our favorite sensitive singer-songwriter who "everybody knows, everybody understands." that info has since changed to this:" the neighborhood chanteuse who could easily be the love child between joni mitchell and nick drake." makes you wonder! so please keep your eyes out for this show, because there is a good chance that it might elliott! go to the echo website for more info!

yay! lido posted mp3s of the recent show in los angeles at spaceland on his site! please go elliott smith mini repository and you can download the 1.12.03 show for free! big thanks to him for taking the time to do that for us to download! lido also posted some pictures from that show. check those out by going here.

finally, can you please help a fan out concerning the upcoming l.a. shows? here is her email and any help would be great: hi, first let me start off by saying i, too am an avid elliott smith fan and i would LOVE to see him in conert..BUT i bought my ticket for the wrong day... i was so dissapointed that the 31st show had been sold out, that when i came back to the site and saw "buy tix here" i got so excited i thought they had released more tickets and i quickly snatched a ticket up (for the wrong nite) not even taking a breath to check the date... see the thing is february 1st, is my grandma's 90th birthday celebration it's a big shabang sort of deal, relatives flying in and such... now i know elliott smith is a BRILLIANT man, but i can't be missing the grams' 90th... so if you can help.. maybe post a little note if anyone's interested in swapping nights ( i only have one ticket though, i was going to go by myself) and i'll be willing to drive to them anywhere in the greater la or orange counties, because i still really want to see him... and if no ones' interested, sadly, then i have an elliott smith ticket for sale for february 1st at the ford theatre for $18.00 (i rounded down the amount i was charged). please email her here!

anyway there is so much more i need to post :P sorry but i don't want anything to get buried. i promise more stuff up soon! anyway thanks again. xo (1.29.03)

nyc shows!

a lot of stuff coming out of new york including some really cool stuff about the first public performance of 'brand new game' which you might of seen elliott recording in the film strange parallel and the new song 'a distorted reality is now a necessity to be free.' first if you want to see how elliott was looking on both nights, thanks to lippe, then please go to his site here! now here are some setlists and info about the shows, starting with the saturday show:

thanks hightower for posting this on the yahoo list:

happiness, strung out again, i figured you out, memory lane, fond farewell, a distorted reality is now a necessity to be free. no confidence man. pretty (ugly before) [with three female singers backing him up, all supercute], ballad of big nothing, speed trials, independance day [with russell simins of jsbx on drums]

with jsbx: tore up & broke (back up vocals), brand new game, yer blues (beatles cover)...played bass too.

folks, he played really well. he played everything straight
through, with a few hitches...and, right, no aborts at all.

elliott joined them (jsbx) for their first and only encore, doing bass on a couple blooz vamps that I didn't recognize. then, i believe, came "tore up and broke" on which elliott sang the back up vocals. then spencer introduced "brand new game" himself and elliott took the mic. hard driving performance of that song and it sounded pretty cool, guys. elliott used judah bauer's tele and judah pounded the fat strings. after that..."yer blues." i liked that elliott sang back up vocals, including the part where lennon sings away from the mic (ie, elliott reproduced this admirably by singing to the floor of the stage...did anyone else notice that?).

i have it from a reliable source that elliott did some recording with jsbx when he was out here in gotham. i have no idea if anything will come of it.

thanks to christa for this about friday's show:

miss misery, memory lane (stopped after 3/4 of the way through), a passing feeling, the enemy is you, plainclothes man, don't go now, fond farewell, happiness, something to lose (stopped because of a hand cramp while playing), angeles, the biggest lie, i better be quiet now

with jsbx: tore up & broke (backing vocals), brand new game, yer blues (beatles)..played bass too.

elliott came on and pretty much got it all going. most of the people i spoke with were really there all for elliott. the terrible is that it doesn't really sink in until about 2-3 songs in, that elliott is there and singing these beautiful songs that i've only either known from bootlegs, or never had the chance to see them performed live. wow - towards the end of the jon spencer blues explosion's set, elliott came out and did a few songs with them. yes, i got to see elliott do tore up & broke, but not until after elliott rocked out and performed brand new game with jsbx backing.

even though ive read a lot of positive reviews, thanks to the person who sent this and who had a different point of view:

all acoustic show. no more than 45 minutes i don't think. elliott seemed out of it in a way. very sloppy guitar playing. he flubbed a lot of notes. aborted a few songs. but as my friend said, "a bad show by elliott is way better than a great show by most artists". having seen him 8 or so times, i don't think i've ever heard him play so poorly. i'm sure when the time comes he'll get his chops back into tour shape. was cool to hear the new songs though....he mentioned the new album is almost done. someone shouted a request for "enter sandman". elliott laughed and said we'd be bummed if he actually played it. probably true. (1.26.03)

l.a. tickets update, press and a little help?

thanks to mike for sending this little update that there might be tickets for the 31st at the henry ford in los angeles. also there are tickets still available for feb. 1! go to ticketweb.com, sea level records, or aron's to get yours:

i'm an elliott smith fan out in la, and i just thought I'd point out that aron's records in hollywood (which is selling tickets for his shows)...also, went i went there today they still had tickets for the 1/31 show ($17 with service charge). for directions, please go here.

also elliott got more press about the recent news/shows. here are a couple links:

thanks to lou and for sending this from pitchfork!

and also check out silentuproar.com (wonderful site by the way) for a little update too!

finally i got this email from a fan who is coming to los angeles for the show on the 31st. hopefully someone can help him out: i have an extra ticket to the first fonda show i'm flying down to cali from milwaukee and i was wondering If you could put my situation on the site or if you know anyone, i would happily give someone the ticket If they could show me around. if you are interested in helping him out and getting a ticket, email him here (1.19.03)

2 nyc shows added and 1 more l.a. show too (updated)

:) elliott will be playing 3 more shows in the upcoming weeks! 2 shows in new york have been added and an additional show at the henry fonda in los angeles. here is an email i received from eve and vin:

hey! do you know elliott is scheduled to play bowery ballroom nyc jan. 24 & 25??

check it out at boweryballroom.com

also elliott has added another show at the henry fonda theatre on 2.1.03! if you want to get tickets, please go to ticketweb.com! they will also be available at sea level records on sunset blvd. in echo park and aron's records on la brea @ santa monica in hollywood. the first show is now sold out! thanks to mitchell

the updated part: i've been forgetting to mention that sadly the elliottsmith.net name has been taken by cyber squatters! that means someone has able to buy elliottsmith.net url for their own means and they are not using it in any way for elliott's gain :( for a while now the site has been down.

also thanks to fred for posting that billboard.com recently added a little piece about elliott's upcoming shows in nyc and l.a. plus info about what elliott said about the new record at this past weekend! go here to check it out! (1.15.03)

spaceland setlist, double album and info about 1.31.03 tickets

elliott returned to the stage at spaceland on monday and i was lucky to see the show. :) i loved it and a lot of new and rare songs were played. here is the setlist and some comments from other fans who were at the show to help give you an idea how it went and that the next record could be a double record! but first here are some pics from the show to show you how elliott is looking :) thanks to justin wagner!

setlist: memory lane, passing feeling, happiness, plainclothes man, shooting star, a distorted reality is a necesity to be free (i think! its a brand new song and not completed), st. ides heaven, fond farewell, strung out again, the enemy is you, i better be quiet now, no name #1, long long long (beatles cover), rose parade (stopped but completed), between the bars, i don't think i'm ever gonna figure it out, waltz #2 (xo), and come to me.

from courtney: he looked well, sang great, got out most of his songs without a hitch, smile-y, and best of all-- discussed a possible DOUBLE ALBUM...

from oolong: KALI THE DESTROYER link 2 (thanks tina for the link)

it covers his entire left forearm...i woud have thought it was a giant, new tattoo if i hadn't read earlier in this thread that someone saw him drawing it on his arm before the show. it was the first thing you noticed last night when elliott walked on stage...second thing, he looked good!

the show was amazing. he took a few pauses when people started requesting songs (someone yelled out satellite and elliott said "i can't play that one again yet.") his voice, as already has been mentioned here, did sound better than maybe i have ever heard it sound live. i have seen elliott a lotta lotta lotta times over the past 3 or so years and last night's elliott had a voice that wouldn't deny a note.

he did say it is going to be a DOUBLE ALBUM! he said it will probably be "one regular cd" and then one cd that will be labeled "bonus" but it will actually be the "2nd cd" (the quotes are as i remember him referring to this stuff) and that he will "make some liner notes explaining that it is the 2nd cd, not really a bonus" and that way it can still be released for a "cheap price" to us.

it was a great show :)

finally, some fans are wondering if the 1.31.03 show at the henry ford theatre in los angeles, ca is sold out since ticketweb is no longer selling tickets. you can go to aron's records in hollywood and sea level records in echo park. get them as soon as you can, because it's looking this show is going to sell out! good luck (1.13.03)

elliott to play another l.a. show plus more (updated)

thanks to jennifer for sending this little note about elliott playing on the 31st!

elliott smith will be playing at the henry fonda theatre in hollywood on friday, january 31. tickets are $15 and available now at www.ticketweb.com. the show is all ages.

the updated part: just a short note to let you know that goldenboy, with shon sullivan (elliott's guitarist on the last tour), david mcconnell (he is recording elliott's new record) and brian bos (seems like a really nice guy), will be on kcrw's morning becomes eclectic on jan. 10th. the show will broadcast live at 11 a.m. pacific time and will be archived on kcrw.com. please check them out :) thanks to silke for the info!

also thanks to james for sending this recent article on elliott that collects past information about elliott's next record. please go to drowned in sound for the article! (1.3.03)