unifiedtheory

Heads up that the poster is now available in the Wilco store:

http://wilco.kungfustore.com/posters/firefly-poster-wilp438.html

Two (I think?) new songs were played, but I'm not 100% certain on the titles so will let someone else fill those in. On one, Jeff seemed to be purposely backing away from the mic. Not sure if that was for effect or because of a "lyrical malfunction"? Afterward he said, "That was pretty close." Ha!

Sounds like Locator. In Moorhead Jeff sang parts of it backed away from the mic.

Thanks so much, bböp. As a longtime admirer of your gold standard reviews, your kind words mean a lot!

Thanks for the set list, Patrick. I'm sorry for the late report, but here are a few notes from Sunday night:

My wife and I made a mini road trip to Moorhead, 180 miles there and back again, a longer version of our drive to Dekalb to see the lineup’s first show at Otto’s in 2004. (Their first date, our first date.)

The Bluestem Center for the Performing Arts is a lovely venue, surrounded by miles of farmland with no city in sight. The arch of the amphitheater has a line of trees and sky for a backdrop, perfect for the pristine summer evening we got. It was a very different kind of grandeur from the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, where we last caught the band.

We sat twelfth row center. The show wasn’t sold out -- there were pockets of empty seats in the reserved section -- but there was a warm, raucous, constant energy from the crowd, many of whom were on their feet from beginning to end. Jeff told us, "you're not acting like it's a Sunday night." And the band responded in kind, rocking the place like it was Saturday.

As Patrick said, the banter was fairly limited, as seems to be typical of recent Wilco shows. Early on Jeff remarked on the beauty of the night. Later he asked how many people were from Moorhead, how many from Fargo, how many from Minnesota, from Minneapolis. When people started shouting out other places of origin, he waved his hand and said “Okay, it was an unscientific survey” before turning to Glenn to start the next song. The venue had small sections of fenced-in lawn flanking both sides of the reserved section, prompting Jeff to ask the lawngoers what they'd done to land themselves there. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it was bad," he joked.

Thirteen songs in, Jeff asked if we wanted to hear some new songs and got an enthusiastic response before launching into the one-two punch of If I Ever Was a Child and Locator. After Locator he noted that it was the North American debut of that song. "We played it once in Japan," he said almost sheepishly. He announced the new record, calling it Wilco Schmilco, and said “it’s been called that for a year.” Locator featured both John and Pat on bass, which I don’t ever remember seeing. Anyone know if that’s something they’ve done before? If I Ever Was a Child was a particular treat to hear live, with its quality of bright mournfulness, its gentle twang lilting over Glenn’s stutter-step beat.

Someone shouted "Turn it up!" before Handshake Drugs. "Turn it up? Okay…" Jeff replied in a pleasantly sarcastic way, before making a very minor tweak to his volume knob. “There. It’s up.”

We’ve Been Had was an unexpected treat during the acoustic encore. I’ve only heard it played live once before, at last year’s Solid Sound. During the encore Jeff addressed someone near the foot of the stage, saying “I’m so glad you came back.” When the show ended he made a point of grabbing a pick to give to this person, who turned out to be a young kid. (I wonder if he and his family had moved farther back during the louder portion of the concert.) It was a sweet, heartfelt moment and brought to mind the days when Jeff’s own young kids would sit in the wings to hear their dad play.

Jeff seemed to be basking in the enthusiasm of the crowd, often smiling in a way that seemed appreciative and almost surprised. The sun didn’t set until halfway through the show, and the venue was particularly intimate for an outdoor space, which made for a sweet sense of connection. The show rocked hard. Highlights that are “normal” for a Wilco show were there in abundance: the three-guitar onslaught of Star Wars, Nels melting faces with his solo on Impossible Germany, the fraternity of John and Jeff’s harmonies on a shared mic during the encore, the brilliance of six musicians in total sync and on the verge of releasing a new record to eager fans. These constant truths of Wilco never cease to amaze me, and I felt especially grateful to experience them in such an inviting place far from home.

We’ll be catching Saturday’s show in Minneapolis -- and bringing a bunch of local family with us for their first live Wilco experiences -- before heading back to New York. Hope to see some of you there!

Roadcases are now up for both Brooklyn shows! Which means, among other awesome things, that we now have two Roadcase versions of Space Oddity. Very grateful they did an official release of these.

Another stellar night at the Kings. The guys seem to really love this place, as shown by their various comments and photos on social media the past couple days. Both nights Jeff remarked about the beauty of the theater. On Friday he said something to the effect of: "Isn't this place beautiful? It's almost too pretty." And last night he expressed gratitude that "someone cared enough to make a place like this beautiful again," then joked that a rock show wasn't quite as cool as seeing Smokey and the Bandit there, a nod to the theater's movie palace days. That was pretty much the extent of Banter Corner on Saturday, other than Jeff telling a fan up front that he or she was "louder than Nels Cline."

Through the presale, my wife and I managed to get the exact same pair of seats for both nights -- 19th row, dead center. The crowd around us stood the whole time and was really into the show. I was prepared for people to sit, given the plush theater setting, but like Friday night the crowd was on its feet from the band's entrance and stayed that way for the rest of the show.

The crew on lights really, um, shined during these shows. The Matrix-style effects of the backdrop gave the stage a sometimes otherworldly feel, a great complement to the Star Wars tunes. I particularly loved the alternating spotlights on Glenn during Art Of Almost, the angled lights switching back and forth in time with his beat.

It was a treat to see Star Wars live. As others have said, the band really storms through the new material -- very fitting for the sound of the material and the happy ambush of its release. The Space Oddity closer was a thing of wistful beauty. So many elements -- the obvious love these brilliant musicians feel for Bowie, the grand old NYC theater given a vibrant, Lazarus-style return, the rousing crowd sing-along, made for a transcendent experience. For those going to future shows, I hope they play it for you. And I hope they release a Roadcase of one or both of these shows.

Did anyone happen to see any tapers at either show? I wonder if the venue has a no-taping policy? I'll also second the comment from the Friday thread that the staff at the Kings are wonderful -- they really take care to give a joyful, effusive welcome to this grand venue.

Thanks to everyone who's been recapping during this tour. It's been a pleasure to read your posts and count the days until the Brooklyn shows (numbers 24 and 25 for me).

More...
Random Name Generator
The Joke Explained
You Satellite
Taste The Ceiling
Pickled Ginger
Where Do I Begin
Cold Slope
King Of You
Magnetized

Spiders (Kidsmoke)
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Art of Almost
Hummingbird
Box Full Of Letters
Heavy Metal Drummer
I'm The Man Who Loves You
Dawned On Me
Impossible Germany
Red-Eyed And Blue
I Got You (At The End Of The Century)
Outtasite (Outta Mind)

---------------------------
Misunderstood*
It's Just That Simple*
War On War*
Shot In The Arm*
Space Oddity (David Bowie)*

* — performed hootenanny style with Jeff and John on acoustic guitars, Nels on dobro, Glenn on percussion, Mikael on melodica/acoustic guitar and Pat on banjitar/glockenspiel

Before your question gets completely lost, it kind of depends on the venue and how tight its curfew is. Tonight (and last), it seemed like the show had to be over by 11 so everyone's sets got moved up a bit.

 

So that meant that Ryan Bingham played from about 5:15-5:45, MMJ from 6-7:15, Wilco from 7:40-8:55 and Dylan from 9:20-11.

 

If the curfew isn't as tight, then I would say the show would start as scheduled at 5:30 and you can go from there. The changeovers between sets for this tour have been pretty quick, fwiw.

 

Hope that helps...

Thank you so much! This is extremely helpful.  

Apologies if this has been covered in other posts, but does anyone know what time Wilco has been taking the stage? And the ballpark start times of the other sets? We're going to the Hoboken show, and want to catch all the bands. But if that's not possible, we don't want to miss a second of Wilco. Thanks!

I hear Warsaw holds about 700, though I've never been there (and sadly I'm not going tonight). If you google Warsaw capacity you'll get some good info on where to stand (not near the cafe, apparently it's loud), etc....

Enjoy the show.

Set list in order, from the board: Throw in Acuff...where? I forget, and this is correct:

 

Seeds

Face

Heart

Kamera

Shot

Germany

SBSky

Shake It Off

War

Jesus

Theologians

Hate It Here

Walken

I'm The Man

Hummingbird

Ashes

Spiders

 

======

 

CA Stars

HMD

Late Greats

Always

Wheel

And also a Handshake somewhere in there. Great show!