Brian F.

On Jeff's list, "Love My Country" was listed as "Choir USA."  "Still My Mother" was listed as "I Am My Mother."  Other unfamiliar (to me) titles included "Story to Tell," "Hints," "All Across" and "Tired of Taking It."

The complete list is below, including "Charlie," which is presumably "Drawing from Memory (Charlie)."  Credit to Eric for the photo, and for thinking to ask to take a photo.  I asked to see it but, not being a picture-taker, it didn't occur to me to take a photo.

A fun moment for me last night was asking Jeff to play "The Ruling Class" and Jeff responding, "I forgot about that song!"

It was also good to confirm that "Laminated Cat" was just a title that made Jim O'Rourke laugh.  No actual cats were laminated in the making of the song.  I've always worried about this but now I can sleep easy.

I ran into Jeff on the street before a show in August 1999 in Vermont and I asked him if they were going to play "Pieholden Suite."  He said they couldn't play it without the trumpet.  Liar.

Kudos to James W., whose shouted request for "Lou Reed Was My Babysitter" might have been accepted faster than any shouted request in history.  It was like, James: "PLAY LOU REED IS MY BABYSIT.." Jeff: "O.K., I'll give it a try."

I was amused that the printed set list said "Tonight (Dylan)" as if, but for the parenthetical note, the band might have broken out into, say, "Tonight" from West Side Story.

"Ultra Orange Room" was sound-checked, but not played.

Excellent writeup, Paul.  I'll just note, for the sake of completeness, that I was the person who inquired as to the traditional gift for a two-year anal fissure anniversary, and the full inquiry was, "What's the traditional gift for that anniversary, paper or wood?"

Roy could give you more specifics about this couple's behavior.  But, yes, you kind of hope that it was some kind of babysitting emergency or something-- not that I wish for a child to be in harm's way, just that it would explain this otherwise unfathomable choice.

I was a little surprised Jeff didn't comment on it, especially when he brought up the guy who left in an apparent huff the night before, but I think he was probably focused on the 99 percent of the crowd that was into it.

What a night.  By halfway through the main set, there was no need for face coverings for those of us sitting on Nels' side because our faces had been completely melted between "Art of Almost" and "Impossible Germany."  And it was really nice of Jeff to clarify that it's N-E-L-S, not N-I-L-S.  Here I've been thinking that was Nils Lofgren all this time...

I tried to get a P-A-T chant going for Mr. Sansone after "Box Full of Letters," I think, but I think the crowd preferred to go for a two-point conversion.

I have had the privilege of seeing Wilco from the front row more than 30 times over the years.  Sometimes, this has been the result of commitment-- i.e., the willingness and ability to get in line early in the day to secure a spot at a GA show.  Sometimes, as in the years circa 1995-99, this has been the result of there just not being many other people there for the shows, especially when doors first opened.  Sometimes, this has been a combination of luck and savvy, like walking up to the box office on the day of a seated show, inquiring, and finding out that front-row seats were available.  This time, however-- and possibly for the first time-- it was pure luck; I went through the regular Ticketmaster onsale and these were the tickets that popped up.  After last night, I kind of wonder whether the great Wilco Fan in the Sky might have had a hand in things, because almost the entire front row was populated with some of the band's most passionate and dedicated fans*, and I really think that was a big reason why the energy level for this show was so high.  Unlike the previous night, or Santa Barbara last Wednesday, people were on their feet from start to finish last night, and I really do believe that the fact that the Row A crowd was on its feet from the moment the band took the stage kind of forced the issue.  So kudos to Roy, Jenny, James, Allan, Eric, Paul and everyone else across Row A who set the tone for everyone by bringing such energy and passion.  It was clear that the band was feeding off that energy.  When Jeff said, as he had the night before, "Do you remember how to do this?," he was able to answer in the affirmative this time.  There was no need to encourage people not to postpone their happiness.  The happiness was there from the start; with so many people in the moment together, it was "loneliness postponed," not happiness postponed.

* There was a notable exception.  The couple in Seats 1 and 3 of Row A-- literally the best seats in the entire house-- bailed after about 6-8 songs.  Whatever they came for, they apparently were not getting it.  When I saw that they clearly weren't coming back right as "Impossible Germany" was starting, I turned to Roy and Jenny, who were in the seats next to them, and said, "Who leaves now?!!"

10 minutes ago, kidsmoke said:

Although I have to say, we had a guy directly behind me who opted for the first option, to sing along. He seemed determined to get his voice up & over Jeff's own!  It took some dedicated glaring by my husband & I to get him to mute it a bit. 

Still better than that couple behind you, Brian!

I should clarify that when I say "sing along," it is meant to imply "on key, in sync and at an appropriate volume" although that is a lot to assume/expect.

I should also mention that the couple were quite possibly oblivious to the volume of their chat due to alcohol consumption.  On the other hand, the two ladies in Row F who chatted loudly throughout Faye Webster's set did not appear to have any such excuse.  (We moved up to Row A for Faye's set because the first ten rows were mostly empty when she and her band went on and we wanted them to have some engaged faces to look out at.  The aforementioned conversation was clearly audible even from five rows away.  I just hope it wasn't audible on stage.)

57 minutes ago, bböp said:

 

I'll be there with you. Hopefully we can just take the standing/sitting quandary off the table from the start tonight. Thanks for chiming in here.

No problem.  I figured 26.5 years after my first Wilco show was enough time to finally register here.  Maybe for the 50th anniversary, I'll join Facebook.

Another thought on sitting/standing: I like to imagine some of the more recalcitrant sitters at Shea Stadium in 1964, yelling at all the Beatles fans to "Please sit down!" 

On the topic of sitting-vs.-standing, I knew we were in for a challenge when they opened with "Bright Leaves," which put a lot of asses in seats, but not in the way that phrase usually suggests.  We just held our ground, with support from the Phish fans in Row M to whom a shout-out is owed, secure in the knowledge that people would end up standing and be glad that they did-- and also secure in the knowledge that Jeff would weigh in, albeit obliquely.  He asked if people "remember[ed] how to do this" (implying that some clearly didn't), said we've waited a year-and-a-half for this, encouraged people to get "wild" and, once again, not to postpone their happiness.  Tonight, we're in Row A and will do our best to lead from ahead in the War for Standing.

On "Monday," I was really hoping for a switch from "Get me out of T.L.A." to "Get me out of DTLA."

And the opposite of a shout-out goes to the couple in Row N who decided to just have a full-on conversation in their outside voices throughout the entire set.  Even during "Reservations," when you could otherwise hear a pin drop, these two kept yammering away.  Either sing along or shut the F up.

15 hours ago, unifiedtheory said:

Relieved to hear for all who attended that Wilco were able to 86 the bowling during the show.

Waiting in line for the Palladium show on Saturday, Pat came by and told us, "Some bands have the power to get them to shut down the bowling, and we're one of those bands," which I thought was hilarious coming from him.  He also exaggeratedly mimed bowling which, again, just slayed us.  We told him they should have let people bowl and just integrate the noise into some of the more cacophonous tracks in the set.

The printed set list had "Poor Places" and "Reservations" at the end of the main set.  Jeff audibled to the band before "I'm The Man Who Loves You" that they would end the main set with that song.