Not until he played his first few songs in the cavernous gym of a Christian liberal arts college did I realize how many of Jeff Tweedy’s songs mention Jesus, Satan, the church, heaven, and other topics which might seem either very appropriate or very off-color for that particular venue. But that’s where we found ourselves on Saturday night, a five-hour drive from Rochester in Grantham, PA, for our second Tweedy solo show. He doesn’t do many tours, and if you’re not living in the Chicago area, the chance to see him doesn’t come along too often. Back in February 2001, we saw him at the late, great Lilli’s in Somerville, MA, and that concert was legendary enough in our minds to make it a given we’d catch him wherever we could the next time around. Albany and Northampton are closer, sure, but why pass up the chance to spend the weekend exploring somewhere new, staying at a Holiday Inn where you could eat your continental breakfast in the unearthly glow of 150 television screens?

We passed through lovely Lewisburg on our way, working off the ‘college town’ assumption when looking for a nice place to eat lunch, and we were rewarded by the charming main street, a great old movie theater, and a terrific restaurant.

We drove around the Messiah campus for awhile before finding the auditorium, which was actually the gym, complete with “2001-2002 Division III GPA Champs” banners on the walls, and half of the collapsible stands pulled out so those less inclined to stand bunched near the stage could enjoy the show in comfort; or, as Aimee put it, it felt like half of us were watching the show, and the other half in the back were watching us watching the show.

And the show was great. As the setlist attests, he played pretty much every old classic anyone could have hoped for. Not only did he play only one new song, he also stayed away, for the most part, from even recent songs. All of the old albums were covered, and he brough out some real gems like “Not for the Season,” “Acuff-Rose,” “Black Eye,” and “New Madrid.” The crowd was very respectful, with only a few isolated yelps disturbing the quieter songs. He was very chatty onstage, a far cry from the guy we used to see who wouldn’t talk until after the sixth or seventh song, who always seemed like he’d rather be somewhere else, or at least wished everyone would stop shouting at him. He seemed relaxed and in good spirits, and took the time to work out his thoughts on playing this particular venue, hoping people in the audience wouldn’t be offended by the many references in his songs. A terrific night, well worth the drive – even if we did get a ticket on the way down… Oh well.