Wilco — 9/26/12, Redding, CA (Cascade Theatre)

[bböp]

Well, that was an interesting one. Combine the fact that Wilco was making its live debut in Redding with a very nice seated auditorium — that was far from sold out — and a decidedly older crowd that (mostly) seemed to prefer to use those seats and this had the makings for, if not exactly a disaster, then at least a subpar show in the grand scheme of things.

 

Indeed, things seemed to be headed down that path even before the band came on. About 10 minutes before show time, the crew had to switch out Jeff's guitar amp for some reason.

 

But that was a minor issue compared with what happened when Wilco actually took the stage. A guy who may or may not have been under the influence of something almost singlehandedly derailed the show in the first few songs. [EDIT: I should mention that he was in the front row. The aisle seat of the orchestra left section, so right on the aisle between the orchestra left and center sections. A perfect place to be very distracting, if that was one's intention.]

 

Anyway, he would stand up and violently thrash around under the guise of dancing (incurring the wrath of those around him as well as the elderly usher stationed between him and the stage). Worse, however, was when he started to yell things out really loudly, both between and during songs. He repeatedly screamed a request for Moonshiner, as well as belting out random things like "Thank you, Wilco!" during the quietest parts of Black Moon.

 

You could tell Jeff was somewhat distracted for the first part of the show, and finally he just came out and asked him, "What is your problem?" The guy said something about imploring people to stand up -- which he was also yelling about — and Jeff shook his head and said, in part, "We don't tell people what to do. ... We'll entertain all kinds, sitters and standers." Not long after, the guy either left or was asked to leave and things settled down a bit.

 

Jeff even asked after him later in the show, saying "Did that gentleman find a place where he could be himself?" But apparently he was long gone by that point.

 

The band, to its credit, rolled through the rest of the set without too many other snafus, unless you count Nels' new Nashguitars Jazzmaster (I'm pretty sure it's a Jazzmaster; at any rate, he also used it on Impossible Germany tonight for possibly the first time) going bonkers during War On War and him having to quickly change guitars mid-song.

 

With a couple of exceptions, there weren't too many surprises setlist-wise, which was probably to be expected in a place the band has never played. Be Not So Fearful kind of came out of nowhere, but was a definite highlight. Too Far Apart was also a nice choice, getting the crowd's energy going probably as much as possible at that point

 

Two songs were on the printed setlist, but weren't played — I Am Trying To Break Your Heart to start the first encore and Kingpin (natch...I was all set for "livin' in...Redding") as the sole song in a planned second encore. The band finished at 10:54, so there was theoretically time for at least Kingpin even with a presumptive 11 p.m., curfew. But for whatever reason, it didn't happen. Guess Redding will just have to wait until next time, if there is a next time...

 

Anyway, here was the complete setlist as played:

 

Poor Places>

Art Of Almost

I Might

Sunken Treasure (Jeff on acoustic; no harmonica)

Black Moon

Spiders (Kidsmoke) (acoustic arrangement)

Impossible Germany

Born Alone

Side With The Seeds

War On War

Radio Cure

Too Far Apart

Whole Love

I'm Always In Love

Hummingbird

Jesus, etc.

Hate It Here

Dawned On Me

Heavy Metal Drummer>

I'm The Man Who Loves You

--------------------------------

Handshake Drugs

Be Not So Fearful [bill Fay]

California Stars

Walken

A Shot in the Arm

[sonnyfeeling]

I await Paul's comments, but for now let's just say that this show was Exhibit 437 in the "OMG standing versus sitting" debate. This audience came down pretty decisively on the "siddown shaddup" side.

 

The thoroughly lackluster crowd (with a handful of noteworthy exceptions, including one guy in the first row wearing a suit who danced exuberantly at every opportunity) seemed like they might have confused Wilco for George Thorogood, who had played the same venue the night before.

 

The band soldiered on in the face of massive indifference, with Jeff alternating between grumpy and bemused. The combo of "Hate It Here" and "Be Not So Fearful" seem downright prescient under the circumstances.

 

I doubt whether this one will make it into the Roadcase.

[Preferred B]

I've been methodically requesting "Be Not So Fearful" for Solid Sound, which I also decided to do pretty much out of the blue. Maybe it's in the air? I'm sure that song was better suited to a theater, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop. Thanks for the detailed report. Always interesting to read.

[bböp]

I've been methodically requesting "Be Not So Fearful" for Solid Sound, which I also decided to do pretty much out of the blue. Maybe it's in the air? I'm sure that song was better suited to a theater, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop. Thanks for the detailed report. Always interesting to read.

 

Glad someone's interested! P.S. I slightly edited my post above to add the detail that "bad form guy" was in prime distraction position, which I somehow forgot to mention last night.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Actually, a lot of us are interested. I don't often comment, but I read just about every one of these review threads, and they are always appreciated.

[Magnetized]

Ditto. I'm always interested in the after the show threads, and I always appreciate bbop's impeccable setlist reporting plus any comments he chooses to post. Plus everyone else's input of course.

[RichM752]

I for one was satisfied and would welcome them back to the area with open arms. When the show as announced I purchased a number of tickets knowing that it would be sold out in less than a week.(1001 seats). Undercutting all scalper sales on ebay and Craigslist offering them fo cost, I couldn't sell 1/2 the tickets I bought and returned them to the venue two days prior to the show for credit on acts to follow in the future. Go figure that one. I even offered less than my cost to folks who were short on the cash and still couldn't unload them. Gave my last 2nd row seat away at the door to a lady who was most grateful. Redding is a strange town sometimes. I'm glad I made the trek to Berkeley last weekend for the two shows at the Greek.

[indy81]

Actually, a lot of us are interested. I don't often comment, but I read just about every one of these review threads, and they are always appreciated.

 

Yep, bbop's reviews are my favorite thing about this board, period.

[suites]

Yeah bbop is the best. Keep em coming

[bböp]

 

 

Yep, bbop's reviews are my favorite thing about this board, period.

 

Oh man, I really appreciate the kind words. I wasn't angling for praise or anything, believe me. It's really no trouble to post accurate setlists for shows I get to, and it's fun to try and come up with a few words when I can and pretend to be a music scribe...:-)

 

If anyone's a Springsteen fan and has seen the show recaps on the Backstreets.com site, I really admire those. And if I can help provide even a fraction of that for Wilco, then I'm happy to do it.

[JAK2112]

If anyone's a Springsteen fan and has seen the show recaps on the Backstreets.com site, I really admire those. And if I can help provide even a fraction of that for Wilco, then I'm happy to do it.

 

As a hardcore springsteen fan, I can safely say Paul that you are my Backstreets. Let's get Wilco to do Incident on 57th!

[Sandy in SFCA]

Thanks for the setlist, Paul. Glad I got to say thank you in person after the show.

 

I really enjoyed this show. Wed was the night before my birthday and I decided very early on Wed morning to make the 4 hour drive from SF to Redding to see this show. I walked into the box office 2 hours before show time and scored a front row seat in the center section on the right aisle. Then I took a drive over to the Sundial Bridge and ran into John (my first Wilco sighting "in the wild). I was essentially on cloud nine upon arrival and it would've taken something drastic to spoil my night. Being in a beautiful, small theater was a nice treat as well.

 

While the set list was an Intro to Wilco type setlist, they played well. I agree that this was more of a sit down and shut up crowd I felt like the audience enjoyed the show and was, with the exception of the "chemically altered' man that Paul mentioned, extremely respectful of the band and their fellow audience members. I didn't hear any talking during the show, see any cell phones out of any cameras being used. I'd rather seated and attentive than standing people talking over the music or hollering out during the quiet moments.

It was a bit of a tense start and you could see Jeff's irritation clearly on his face as chemically altered man was yelling at him. Once that guy left the mood improved significantly. I thought Glenn's use of laugh track while Jeff was talking to the crowd was funny. Sorry Kingpin was skipped but I doubt there would have been much call and response so maybe it was for the best.

[samuel70]

Glad someone's interested!

 

+1 !

I'm always looking forward to read your gig reports Paul (especially the long and detailed ones :-)

Your writing skills make for an enjoyable read.

Keep it up.

[bböp]

+1 !

I'm always looking forward to read your gig reports Paul (especially the long and detailed ones :-)

Your writing skills make for an enjoyable read.

Keep it up.

 

Thanks, man! Appreciate it.

[RichM752]

For a good laugh, this weekend at the Cascade in Redding Weird Al Yankoviech has sold more tics than Wilco. Redding is a strange town indeed.