Groovylou8

My fifth show Wilco show. Thought the show was good, not great.

I will preface by saying I had floor seats, and the floor was PACKED. I am only 5'8'' and with it being so crowded, it was difficult for my brother and I to find a decent sightline to the stage. After moving around a couple times, we settled in the middle by the soundboard, and were able to get an OK view of the stage. This hadn't been a problem for me in previous concerts and definetely hampered my experience a little bit.

As for the performance, thought it was good. I thought the tempo was a little disjointed, with a lot of instances where upbeat songs would be immediately followed by a slower song. Don't get me wrong, I don't need every song to be upbeat, but the ordering did seem a little wierd. Great to hear Misunderstood and Pot Kettle Black (cross them off the list). I agree with the comments that the band is playing extremely tight together and the new album will be great to hear live for years to come. That's one thing that is so great about this band - they have SO many good songs to choose from. I got a copy of the setlist from the sound guy walking out so that made my night.

One last thing: did anyone else think the volume was turned a little too low? During most songs, I could easily talk to the person next to me without having to raise my voice. I don't need my eardrums blown out, but I think the music becomes a little more enveloping when it's turned up a little loud.

Anywho, I probably sound like a complainer here, but it's just my experience.

Awesome show last night... my ears are still ringing this morning.

A couple of random notes:

- Wilco (The Song) through A Shot in the Arm was a rocking 5-song run to start the show. Band was really into it with intense white noise endings.

- The concert was practically two sets. The 1st encore started around 10:40pm, so they essentially played for another hour after the original set was over.

- Someone tried to go stage diving TWICE during Spiders, hitting the floor both times. Jeff, nonetheless, had a field day on the guy, saying stage diving was "so 1993" and "for 12-year olds".

- The guesting girls were good and knew every word of California Stars, so I have to imagine there was a little more to it than just pulling them up on stage. Then, two more girls jumped on stage who I don't think were supposed to.

- Saw Glen after the show going to the bus, and someone was talking with him about how they hadn't played one of the songs in the set in 5 years. Anyone know which song this was? Summer Teeth? Reservations?

Another good show for Detroit by this band though... can't thank them enough. Poor Places --> Reservations --> Spiders was the highlight for me. Can't Stand It and Summer Teeth were also very good as well. Wilco (The Song) was my favorite live song from the new alubm.

my first wilco show so i don't have anything to compare it to. But for my first show, i was fortunate enough to see pot kettle black (probably my favorite wilco song which i've heard is a rarity), a shot in the arm, spiders, impossible germany, and the entire second encore.

the set was under two hours, but considering they breaked for literally 20 seconds between songs, i wasn't complaining. like my brother was saying, they really didn't allow any time for the crowd to take a breather during the entire show.

the fox was a beautiful venue, and andrew bird was awesome.

also, did anyone else think the sound was kinda fucked up for the first couple of songs?.. i thought jeff was turned up way louder than everyone else. they fixed it about half way through the show, and near the end, turned the volume up big time, as my ears were ringing after show.

anyway, great first show, and thank you wilco for giving props to, as jeff said it, "detroit rock city"