I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 4, 2016] Wilco

After Richard Thompson’s half set, I walked a round the grounds a bit and grew to really appreciate the venue.  I also got a  pretzel which was pretty good.

Then Wilco came out and they were even more amazing than I anticipated.  They played for 2 and a half hours–33 songs–two encores.  It was awesome.

When I walked through the gates someone handed me a Wilco baseball card.   How cool!  Turns out that this is a Mann Center tradition during the summer, so I stand to get a few more.

I have to complain about the audience for a moment though.  I sat on an aisle seat and I had to stand up to let people past me not less than 20 times.  Between people coming late (and I can’t complain about that as I was late to the opener), but then going back to get drinks or whatever half a dozen times–and different people each time.  This was made more irritating by the people in front of me who were doing the same thing.  The girl in front of me got there just as the band went on and then left for three songs, came back with a beer for her partner and then left for two more songs.  WTF?  The amount of traffic was infuriating–it was really hard to get into a constant groove.

But the band overcame that (and clearly when I see them again I need to get in a closer section where the real fans are).

There’s just one example of someone walking by as the band is playing.

This was the Star Wars tour.  They had been playing all of Star Wars at the beginning of each show.  I have been cranking Star Wars a lot in anticipation.  The lights dimmed and they played the dissonant opening chords of “EKG” played over the speakers to some wild lights.

The band came out to wild applause and launched into “More…” They played two more songs from Star Wars (including an awesome version of “Random Name Generator”).  And then they broke with the pattern by launching into the first of a dozen or so songs I really hoped they’d play, “I am Trying to Break Your Heart.”

They played songs from all of their albums focusing on A Ghost is Born (7 songs) and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (6).  They even played four from Being There, an album I don’t have but which I know from their live albums.

Wilco started out as an alt-country band and it is amazing to see them morph so much over the years.  The addition of Nels Cline on guitar has really transformed them into a rocking/noisy live experience and the show was an amazing mix of mellow/pretty and really noisy. There was some electronic sections on “Art of Almost.”  The lighting was awesome during this song–a different spotlight shone on their amazing drummer Glenn Kotche for each smack of the snare.  And then Nels Cline played a wild solo while we were visually focusing on Kotche.

There was the garage rock of “Pickled Ginger” from Star Wars.  And then the crowd went nuts for the mellow piano-based “Hummingbird.”  The band sprinkled in a few more songs from Star Wars–the only three they didn’t play from that album were the two middle songs “You Satellite” and “Taste the Ceiling” and the final song, “Magnetized” which I’m a little surprised about since it’s really catchy (but not disappointed that the didn’t play it).

And then they played the song I’ve been waiting for ever since I heard it live on Kicking Television: “Via Chicago.”  On the recorded album, during the second verse, while Tweedy is singing and playing his acoustic guitar, the band plays a bit wildly.  Well in the years since that came out, the band has taken this wild section to unfathomable extremes.  Tweedy was singing and playing his acoustic guitar and then the lights started flashing and Kotche just started going berserk, hitting everything–total chaos.  Cline started making noisy feedback sounds and everyone else went nuts while Tweedy was  still singing and strumming. And then it all stops on a dime and everyone returns to normal.  It was amazing how tight it was (watch an Instagram video of it) (I didn’t even mind that the woman in front of me who had left yet again for another drink came back and blocked my view at the end of the noise.  Okay, yes I did).

They played a cover, “Animated Cat” by Loose Fur which I didn’t know, but which worked perfectly.

When they played, “Company in My Back,” the guy behind me said “Holy shit!” and whether that’s because that line is in the song or because he was really psyched I’m not sure, but it was fantastic.  Then Tweedy said they were going to play as song from their debut album.  They played “Box Full of Letters” which was wonderfully folky.

There was the great pairing of “Heavy Metal Drummer” (the crowd went nuts for this as soon as the electronic drums began the song) and “I’m the Man Who Loves You.” They followed this with “Dawned on Me” one of the catchiest songs ever [Why wasn’t this a huge hit?].  Nels Cline played a white double neck guitar for this song and they even played the crazy noisy section especially loud before the sweet whistle.

Then came the quiet chords of “Impossible Germany.”  Tweedy started in the wrong key and made a joke about that.  He restarted and the song was fabulous.  And then it got even better when Nels Cline played a raging and raucous solo that went on and on and was always interesting–either the melodies he played or the noises he made and they way it always seemed like it was going to end but it kept going (just like the show).  It was fantastic.

They mellowed things out a bit with “The Late Greats” and then Tweedy announced that Richard Thompson would be playing a song with them, “I love this man, he’s my best friend.”  Together they played a super long version of “California Stars” with Richard playing a number of solos throughout.  [That totally mad up for me missing the beginning of his set].

They ended the set with three songs from Being There including an awesome version of “Outtasite (Out of Mind).”

Then they left and I was pretty sure that they’d be doing an encore.

Much to me utter delight they played an awesome ten minute version of “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” a song that has two main parts, a slow staccato beginning that lasts for many many verses and then a hugely catchy “chorus” that’s all instrumental.  I love this song on record and live it’s even more amazing.  With the wild lights going, it was just a great encore.  And they could have easily ended the show there, but then “I’m a Wheel.”

They waved (Tweedy tipped his hat) and they left.  People flooded out of the theater after this song.  But the lights never went up. And we saw some stage hands moving stuff around.  Then lo and behold, the band came out for a second encore –with their instruments arranged in a small “acoustic” circle at the front of the stage.

They began the set with “Misunderstood,” (see an Instagram video) a beautiful song that encouraged a great singalong (and a well sung audience it was).  I was sure they’d do this one classic song and be done, but Tweedy asked if we had time for a few songs.  This meant five more songs in this acoustic format, including “Jesus, Etc.” (watch an Instagram clip).  And while, sure, I might have liked to hear some of these songs rocking out, it was still really cool to hear them in this tiny format.

“War on War” sounded great and the middle section, where Kotche and Cline just make a huge clattering racket was great in this quiet atmosphere.  Cline played a slide guitar through the whole quiet set, and I’ve never seen anyone play a slide guitar quite that way before.  In addition to the proper way of playing, he occasional strummed it really hard (which makes a rather sharp sound) and made some really noisy chaos with it too.

Mikael Jorgensen played keyboards and samples and all kinds of things.  It was also his birthday, so we sang a birthday song to him.  In the tiny set he switched to melodica, which you’d never anticipate seeing in an arena setting.  Bassist John Stirratt is the only other original member besides Tweedy and while he didn’t do a lot of fancy things, he kept the songs solid.  And multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone played all kinds of different things, including doing some really good solos during some of the more mellow songs (if Cline was playing keys or the like).

Right around “Outtasite” the people two rows ahead of us stood up and wouldn’t sit back down.  This meant that I got to stand up and I think that’s what was missing the whole show.  Almost every show I’ve seen lately I’ve been standing.  Once I stood up and was able to move around and not worry about people blocking me, the end of the show was just awesome.  All my bad vibes left and I was super happy.

The show ended with a great sing-along version of “Shot in the Arm” and then lots of bows and tips of the hat.  It was awesome.

I will definitely see Wilco again and I hope they come back soon.

Setlist:

1. EKG (recording)
2. More…
3. Random Name Generator
4. The Joke Explained
5. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
6. Art of Almost
7. Pickled Ginger
8. Hummingbird
9. Handshake Drugs
10. Where Do I Begin
11. Cold Slope
12. King of You
13. Via Chicago
14. Laminated Cat  (Loose Fur cover)
15. Company in My Back
16. Box Full of Letters
17. Heavy Metal Drummer
18. I’m the Man Who Loves You
19. Dawned on Me
20. Impossible Germany
21. The Late Greats
22. California Stars  (Billy Bragg & Wilco cover) (with Richard Thompson)
23. Red-Eyed and Blue
24. I Got You (At the End of the Century)
25. Outtasite (Outta Mind)

    Encore:

26. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
27. I’m a Wheel

    Encore 2: (small acoustic set)

28. Misunderstood
29. Give Back the Key to My Heart (Doug Sahm cover)
30. War on War
31. I’m Always in Love
32. Jesus, Etc.
33. A Shot in the Arm