bböp

1 hour ago, u2roolz said:

If they kept the same exact setlist from Spokane, then I would say that you’re right. The way that I see it is that they’ve been adding and dropping songs at every show which to me makes it unique, even if there are a lot of songs that have been played at every show so far. It’s not anywhere on the same level as say Solid Sound, Sky Blue Sky or the Winterlude shows, but it’s pretty good. 

I’m nitpicking, of course. Heck, I’d even settle for a drastic order shakeup at this point. Not saying I’m issuing a challenge to Jeff, but at this point if they opened with, say, I’m The Man Who Loves You, I would probably lose my shit. (Just don’t do it before I return for the rest of the tour next week in Richmond!  )

1 hour ago, u2roolz said:

Thank you again for the recap!

 

I’m happy with how the setlists have been. There have been 5 shows and 5 unique setlists to my eyes. It looks like last night the order was shuffled around to keep you on your toes. Plus, who would’ve guessed that they’d be playing those songs from Sky Blue Sky again. The representation from that album has been so prominent I was thinking that it was the 15th anniversary already. 

 

I did see a printed setlist over at the other place and 2 songs were dropped: What Light was sandwiched between I’m The Man Who Loves You and Heavy Metal Drummer. California Stars was the last song on there. 

Ok, thanks for the info from that other place which shall not be named. But you really think there have been five unique setlists? I don’t think swapping around the order a bit really counts, although obviously with time constraints and stuff, things get often chopped up from what Jeff’s original plan is anyway.

 

Honestly, I think Box is only played every show because it gives Pat a moment in the spotlight. And that they really could do without Jesus/Man or even God forbid, Impossible — gasp! — every once in a while. I understand it’s appealing to the largest portion of the fanbase, but I bet the rest of the band wouldn’t mind playing something else occasionally. Just my two cents. #BadPennies

Would it be sacrilege to say I thought the opening sets by Nnamdi (although just 20 minutes long) and Sleater-Kinney were both excellent and the headlining set by Wilco was just pretty good? OK, I won't go there and maybe it was just the contact high hitting me harder than usual, but I can't deny that the thought didn't occur to me at least once over the course of the 90 minutes Jeff and his bandmates were on stage before they were forced to end their set somewhat abruptly because of an apparent 11 p.m. curfew.

 

"We're running out of time," Jeff announced to the crowd at the 4,500-capacity Saint Louis Music Park before the final song of the main set, I'm Always In Love. "We'll be back. We always come back. Wilco's like a bad penny." (Note to Wilco management: Maybe that should be the next T-shirt design. Also, on a personal note, maybe don't have the band play venues where they won't let you bring in an empty poster tube to protect the poster that you wanted to GIVE THEM MONEY FOR. So stupid. I guess it's a Live Nation venue, so you know there's gonna be plenty of inane rules, inflexible protocols and overpriced concessions.)

 

At any rate, the SLMP is a pretty new concrete pavilion/amphitheater with several sections of floor seating and, behind that, a large bleacher-like structure with more tiered seating that is located a stone's throw from the Hollywood Casino and adjoins a large ice rink that is apparently the practice facility for the St. Louis Blues hockey team. Apparently it's so new that Jeff mentioned that he looked it up on Google Maps to see where it was situated and the picture was still of a construction site. It's also located a good distance northwest of downtown St. Louis, which sort of led to a running joke throughout the show when Jeff mentioned on several occasions that he "grew up here, or about 18 miles from here" (or some variation of that).

 

Much of Jeff's banter over the course of the show focused on his local roots. "I grew up near here," Jeff quipped at one point. "Even if I can't remember it, I know it's true." After mentioning that he had written Box Full Of Letters in town, he asked John if he remembered practicing the song in Maplewood for the first time. And regarding the increasingly strong cannabis odor that developed as the evening went on, Jeff said he knew that the marijuana situation had changed since he was younger but "it smells like I'm at the Checkerdome. It feels like I'm at a Triumph concert." I'm sure that particular comment conjured up some distinct memories — or lack thereof — for St. Louisians of a certain age.

 

One of the highlights of Wilco's set, for me at least, occurred when the band came back for a quick one-song encore. "We can't leave without playing my dad's favorite song," Jeff said, dedicating Casino Queen to his late father Bob. According to Wilcoworld records, three of the last four times the band has played the song live have come in St. Louis and there probably haven't been too many St. Louis shows it has ever played when it hasn't been performed.

 

For me, the other highlight of Wilco's set was another blistering Art Of Almost. Maybe it's just because it kind of disappeared from the setlist for a while, but I feel like since it has come back during this tour that it has some extra energy, some added juice, especially during Nels' outburst toward the end of the song as it erupts into controlled chaos. Along with his usual creativity during songs such as Impossible Germany, Side With The Seeds and Either Way, it caused Jeff to remark at one point, alluding to a plaid or checkerboard Western-style shirt that Nels doesn't often wear, "Nels is on fire tonight. It's the cowboy shirt."

 

So why would I suggest that maybe I enjoyed the opening sets a tad more than Wilco's tonight? I suppose part of it has to do with Wilco's set sort of following its usual arc for the most part. The middle-to-back half of the set, in particular, just sort of feels a bit inevitable at this point. Is that because I've seen too many Wilco shows? Probably. But you can't tell me that substituting out Box Full Of Letters, Jesus, etc., or I'm The Man Who Loves You for something else every once in a while wouldn't freshen things up a bit for everyone, band included.

 

More than just setlist quibbles, though, I also felt like both Nnamdi and Sleater-Kinney got the crowd involved by encouraging people to come dance in the aisles and urging folks to clap and/or sing along. (S-K also keep adding different songs to their set as the tour goes on, which I didn't necessarily expect either.). By contrast, the Wilco audience — despite standing up from the get-go — didn't seem super energetic. I'm only judging by what I could see in front of me, and I was about 15 rows back in the middle, but it didn't seem like many people were bobbing their heads or moving much at all — even during Casino Queen. The guy next to me asked me what song Art Of Almost was — "you seem like a fan, bro," he told me — and seemed pretty concerned with sparking his joint, while the couple in front of me was respectful enough but seemed kind of bored and wound up leaving early.

 

Could it have been too much weed in the air? Maybe. But when did Wilco become a total stoner band? Maybe just in good ol' St. Louis. I don't know. Am I just lame? Probably. #JustSaying #NoOffense

 

Here was Wilco's complete setlist, as played (didn't get a look at a printed setlist, so can't say if there any changes/omissions):

 

A Shot In The Arm

Random Name Generator

At Least That's What You Said

Love Is Everywhere (Beware)

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart>

Art Of Almost

If I Ever Was A Child

Impossible Germany

Box Full Of Letters

Side With The Seeds

Either Way

Everyone Hides

Dawned On Me

Jesus, etc.

Theologians

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Heavy Metal Drummer

I'm Always In Love

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

Casino Queen

 

And Sleater-Kinney's complete setlist, as played, was as follows (for the couple of people on here who might care):

High In The Grass

Hurry On Home

Price Tag

A New Wave

Shadow Town

Can I Go On

Jumpers

Down The Line

The Fox

Complex Female Characters

Bury Our Friends

Bring Mercy

Worry With You

One More Hour

Tomorrow's Grave

Modern Girl

One Beat>

Entertain

2 minutes ago, Nashwilco said:

Thank you!  I’m new here.  

No worries. I’m sadly not new here. 

6 minutes ago, Nashwilco said:

Does anybody need a PIT ticket to this show?

Might want to try posting in the ticket forum (How To Fight Loneliness), as opposed to the show review/discussion section. 

Since no one but Herr Tatlock and maybe a certain Brazilian ex-pat on here probably cares about this thread any longer, I’ll just continue responding to my own posts. 

 

Basically just a few notes from the S-K set that I meant to throw into my initial post last night after the “show” and forgot:

 

—From the start of S-K’s, we knew it was probably gonna be a tumultuous evening. Carrie came out and told us that “there’s been a lot of changes” and that she and her bandmates only had 30 minutes to play so that there would be enough time for Wilco to also do a set. S-K has been playing about 75 minutes elsewhere on the tour, so it was always going to be a pretty abbreviated set. She joked that “if this show was in Portland, it probably would have been cancelled three days ago,” and complimented the heartiness of the Kansas City crowd. There was also a bit of a funny moment when she initially said something about being in the South and then reconsidered and corrected herself, perhaps, with some prompting from the audience, to say that they were actually in the Midwest. I’ve always thought that KC has that kind of foot in both worlds. It’s an interesting place!

 

—The rain, which had started to fall for a bit about an hour before doors, returned with a vengeance toward the end of S-K’s set, leading to the storm cell that ultimately forced the cancellation of the Wilco set. For their part, it seemed like S-K was really enjoying their time on stage, though. Perhaps because of the conditions and just the WTF-ness of it all, they appeared let loose a bit more than I’d seen them previously on this run and there were a lot of smiles between Carrie and Corin, which was nice to see.

 

—When it came time to play their last song, even though they had promised two more, Carrie sort off glanced over at Corin, shrugged her shoulders and said, “Let’s play a rocker.” Quickly Carrie decided it would be The Fox, the opening track from arguably S-K’s best overall album The Woods. She said it would be the first time they were playing it with this lineup and apologized if they fucked it up.

 

—It was noteworthy to me that a decent amount of the folks in line early were younger women who were clearly there to see S-K first and foremost. I don’t know if this will be the case elsewhere, but it reminded me that it’s been a little while since Wilco has toured with an act that has brought out its own distinct fanbase. Wilco still has a bigger overall fanbase, I would say, and that’s almost certainly why they’re playing last at every show even though it’s technically a co-headlining situation. But you can definitely see the influence S-K has had on a generation (or two) of young women.

 

—I do wonder if we’ll actually start to see any collaborations between the two bands as the tour goes on. Clearly from the IG stream and since they covered the song on the tour split single that is being sold at shows (except KC, apparently), S-K seems most comfortable on A Shot In The Arm. But since Wilco has been opening their sets with that song, it would seem like they would have to switch their set order around to have the S-K ladies come out and join on backing vocals. Or perhaps they all still have something up their sleeves that remains to be seen. I don’t personally see S-K coming out to do backing vox on, like, California Stars, for example. So it’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of weeks…12 shows left!

8 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

Sorry to hear you lost out.

Still, good to know that even after the enforced layoff, Wilco are still more entertaining than a vat of used hot grease (which I have always said so myself).

Ta (kinda)

All I could think of was the Hampton Grease Band’s Music To Eat album, which was said to be the second-lowest selling album ever in Columbia Records history (but I think gets a slightly more favorable reception now).

10 hours ago, Passenger Sid said:

(Hoping Wilco's management sees this)...

 

Tonight's forecast shows heavy rain & storms creeping in from the North around 10:00.

 

It'd be a bummer if Wilco's set got cut in half, so just throwing this out there...maybe the bands' start times can be bumped up?

 

And Then You Cut It In Half...or just cut the whole thing.

Well, that was a first b/w I don't ever have to attend any more Wilco shows in person because I can just watch live streams...

 

Anyway, I don't know where this falls in the pantheon of shows I've attended (or didn't attend, as it were), but I can't remember another instance when Wilco was due to take the stage after the support bands had played and the band was never able to actually take said stage. I know there have been some shows cut short due to weather — a Winnipeg Folk Festival appearance is coming to mind, as well as a show in Lowell, Mass., and I'm sure probably a few others — but as far as a Wilco set being scrapped before it even began, I don't recall one. Yet that was the unfortunate fate that befell the band and its fans tonight in Kansas City.

 

After Nnamdi and Sleater-Kinney both performed abbreviated opening sets, the gathered audience members at the Grinders (neé Crossroads) KC outdoor venue — where the show had been switched at the last minute from the indoor Arvest Bank Theater at the Midland after the recent Delta variant surge — was told to clear the concert area because of a storm cell rolling through and either go out and wait in their cars or seek indoor shelter. At some point, when the likelihood of Wilco actually making it on stage started to seem unlikely, Jeff and his bandmates decided to start performing live on Wilco’s Instagram account from their backstage jam room as a sort of consolation. Like I said before, that's a first.

 

Unfortunately it took a while for a lot of the folks at the actual show to realize what was happening (though understandably the thousands who watched at home were delighted because they didn’t have to get wet or stand around with a bunch of strangers in a bar or restaurant). Still, provided you were actually able to watch on your phone, it was kind of a fun change of pace from the usual — albeit no substitute for the real thing. I personally watched from the adjoining Grinders pizza and sub shop whilst watching vats of used hot grease being carried out the door and grills being cleaned, among other exciting activities. We weren't permitted to even go outside, at least not within the confines of the concert venue.

 

Anyway, the band wound up performing for the better part of an hour on the IG Live with Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker and later Fabi Reyna from Sleater-Kinney joining them in the room — which anyone can go watch and review for themselves! (Why venture off your couch, right?)

 

It was a pretty fun little session, as these things go, and I'm sure Jeff and Co. will get back to KC sooner than later and put on a bonafide live performance. It will be interesting whether the band offer refunds for this show or not, though I think there will be a more than a few annoyed-KCians if they don’t. Either way (maybe the sun will shine today…not), onward!

 

Here was Wilco's IG Live set, as played:

A Shot In The Arm (w/Carrie and Corin from Sleater-Kinney on backing vocals)

Impossible Germany

Either Way

Theologians

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

Everyone Hides

Ashes Of American Flags

I'm Always In Love

 

And for those who care, Sleater-Kinney's real live, on-stage mini-set:

High In The Grass

Hurry On Home

A New Wave

Shadow Town

Jumpers

The Fox

1 minute ago, Passenger Sid said:

(Hoping Wilco's management sees this)...

 

Tonight's forecast shows heavy rain & storms creeping in from the North around 10:00.

 

It'd be a bummer if Wilco's set got cut in half, so just throwing this out there...maybe the band's start times can be bumped up?

Ugh. See this wouldn’t be a problem if they hadn’t moved the show outdoors! Um…uh…oh yeah… #pandemic 

4 hours ago, SleepThinkers said:

What was the reason for the shows being moved outdoors, cases bad in those areas?

I think just out of an abundance of caution for band, crew and audience.

3 hours ago, nalafej said:

Seeing as they are moving shows from indoor venues to outdoor venues for shows taking place this week, it seems likely that the October tour is in flux. I bet they could find some workable outdoor venues in the SW but the NW in October doesn't seem doable.

You going to any of the shows out West? It’ll be interesting to see what happens. It doesn’t seem like they could find a suitable alternate outdoor venue in some of the smaller Pac NW cities like Eugene, Bellingham and Olympia. I would totally understand, but it would still suck if those shows had to be scrapped. Ugh.

Setlist(s) taken from watching the live stream. I know there were likely a bunch of people who at least occasionally frequent these parts who were there in person, so hopefully a few of them will eventually chime in.

 

For record-keeping purposes, here were the complete setlists for Wilco and Sleater-Kinney, as played:

 

Wilco

A Shot In The Arm

Random Name Generator

Side With The Seeds

One And A Half Stars

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart>

Art Of Almost

If I Ever Was A Child

Impossible Germany

Love Is Everywhere (Beware)

[are we counting Row Row Row Your Boat? ]

Box Full Of Letters

Everyone Hides

Dawned On Me

Jesus, etc.

Theologians

I'm The Man Who Loves You

What Light

Heavy Metal Drummer

I'm Always In Love

Outtasite (Outta Mind)

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

Ashes Of American Flags

California Stars

 

Sleater-Kinney

Path Of Wellness

High In The Grass

Hurry On Home

Price Tag

Down The Line

What's Mine Is Yours

Can I Go On

Shadow Town

Worry With You

Reach Out

Jumpers

Bring Mercy

Bury Our Friends

Complex Female Characters

Surface Envy

Modern Girl

A New Wave

One Beat>

Entertain

 

*With the exception of switching the order of a couple songs, Sleater-Kinney’s setlist was nearly identical to the tour opener in Spokane — and presumably the shows in Montana and Utah that I wasn't at.

Setlist taken from Wilcoworld...just so we don't miss one here. Would be interesting to hear from anyone who was there. It looks like a gorgeous spot to see a show...

 

A Shot In The Arm

Random Name Generator

One And A Half Stars

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

Art Of Almost

If I Ever Was A Child

On And On And On

Impossible Germany

Love Is Everywhere (Beware)

Box Full Of Letters

Born Alone

Jesus, etc.

Theologians

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Everyone Hides

Heavy Metal Drummer

I'm Always In Love

Hold Me Anyway

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

Ashes Of American Flags

California Stars

17 hours ago, DragAssSnag said:

• Plenty of small demonization bills to tip your servers

 

Yes, go to the bank before and bring like $100 in dollar bills if you can for tipping. They don't have to be demonic, though!

On 8/8/2021 at 3:00 PM, reverandgroove said:

Thanks @bböp for all these recaps. I’m over in Europe and over the years i have really appreciated the recaps/ reviews. 

 

Cheers! Glad a few people still get something out of them...

Just now, nalafej said:

 

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

Haha! Thanks, man. I'll hold out for at least a little longer, just for you.

5 hours ago, u2roolz said:

FWIW, I woke up last night at 3am on the east coast and I checked WilcoWorld for the setlist and it was there. It’s under the show info where they list the set times. That might be the new norm.

 

Maybe it's just a part of their road management process now (upload setlist to Web site...check!).

 

At any rate, I can feel retirement coming on any day now...

9 hours ago, Beltmann said:

Since I'm not an audio engineer, I enjoyed reading this thread and learning some things from those of you who are more expert. Thank you!

Ditto! Sometimes I feel like half of Wilco’s fanbase are either involved in music production somehow or are musicians themselves…haha. (I am neither, so it’s always interesting to hear the technical aspect of things, even if it usually goes over my head.)

3 minutes ago, TCP said:

Oh also, the Wilco IG page posted the merch booth and there was a different 7" there, captioned with "what's this?". Did @bböp or anyone else there scope out what this was?

Oh, you know what? I did see another 7” at the table and totally glossed over it. Almost sure it was Half Life on one side, not sure what the other side was. It looked so similar to the bonus 7” included with the pre-orders of LITK that I sort of glossed over it in my attempt to get the split single. Oops! D’oh!

 

They were selling the Half Life one and the split as a bundle as well, if memory serves. I’ll have to grab it at another show.

50 minutes ago, imsjry said:

Thank you this wonderful recap. So happy to know they’re back on the road. Did you pick up the 7 inch split single? 

 But of course! Not sure how they’re gonna handle it night to night as the tour rolls along, but it seemed like they had rationed a set number to be sold for this specific show but also imposed no limit on how many you could buy of that rationed amount. Weird.

 

I stopped by the merch stand before the show and asked if there was a limit to how many I could buy. The lady said no, so I bought several because some friends who aren’t able to get to this tour asked me to try and grab one for them if I could. When I went back after the show to try and get one more for another friend who had texted me during the show, they were sold out.

 

Seems like they would have to have a box set aside for the Chicago show, for example, or they’ll never last that long.

Replying to my own post, but in case anybody wanted Sleater-Kinney’s setlist (they played 75 minutes, from 8 to 9:15, with a strong emphasis on their new record Path Of Wellness), here you go:

 

Path Of Wellness

High In The Grass

Hurry On Home

Price Tag

Down The Line

What’s Mine Is Yours

Can I Go On

Bury Our Friends

Shadow Town

Worry With You

Reach Out

Jumpers

Bring Mercy

Complex Female Characters

Surface Envy

Modern Girl

A New Wave

One Beat>

Entertain

Overheard on the way into the first show of Wilco’s much-anticipated, long-delayed It’s Time tour with co-headliners Sleater-Kinney tonight in Spokane: “I’m anxious to see whether Wilco can still rock.” Well, 512 days — just shy of 17 months — since the last time they took the stage together as a band, in Winnipeg, it took all of five songs to confirm that Wilco can indeed still rock.

 

That’s when the band launched into one of the surprises of their first set back — the return of fan-favorite Art Of Almost to the setlist after a lengthy hiatus. And, man, did it sound great to these ears, with Nels letting it absolutely rip as the song exploded into cacophony.

 

Actually, it really took all of one song for Jeff and his bandmates to prove they hadn’t lost a step. The sextet returned to the stage with one of the most apropos songs of these pandemic times, A Shot In The Arm. What else could they play, right? It was a smart choice, along with the subsequent Random Name Generator, to play two upbeat songs to start because it engaged the audience from the outset and got most people on their feet right away in a room that can be stale. It’s one of those cavernous theaters with ultra-long rows and no center aisle, as well as two balconies, that is probably more suited to classical music or opera than a rock concert, IMHO.

 

(Of interest to no one, but I feel compelled to mention that a) this was, I believe, the third time Wilco has played this indoor venue and each time it has had a different name — in 2008, it was apparently called the Spokane Opera House; and in 2012, the INB Performing Arts Center; and b ) I attended the latter and rank it among my bottom five Wilco shows ever, just for a complete lack of energy from the crowd and, I suppose, to a certain extent, the band.)

 

Fortunately, the energy was much better this time around. Jeff’s banter mostly centered, as you would expect, around the return to live performance. Probably the funniest bit came after a beautiful Ashes Of American Flags to kick off the encore when Jeff admitted he “forgot how to keep my mouth closed during that break” in the song when Nels plays his lovely solo. “I caught myself drooling,” Jeff shared with his bandmates and the audience. “That was pretty primal, pretty cool.”

 

Perhaps Jeff was still distracted by said drool during the next and final song of the evening, California Stars, when he flubbed the final verse. He kind of sheepishly glanced over at John and Pat, who were both still singing their parts, but Jeff never recovered on that part of the song. Not that anyone in the crowd seemed to much care.

 

Certainly Jeff seemed to be a great mood. I noticed him playfully looking at Glenn at the end of Theologians, for instance, with his back to the audience. I’m guessing Jeff was sort of messing with him on whether or not he was going to add the “riff ending.” — will I or won’t I? — and I’m sure there were more than a few of those moments between the various bandmates during the set. And Jeff even had time to playfully banter with a couple of different audience members, one of whom just yelled out during one quiet moment between songs, simply, “Music!” which became a little inside joke the rest of the show.

 

In praising Sleater-Kinney for sharing the bill with his band (see subsequent post for complete S-K setlist, btw, and apparently Chicago up-and-comer NNAMDï, who I thought was supposed to open the entire run of 17 It’s Time dates, will miss the first couple of shows), Jeff thanked them for “just being badasses…some of my favorite people — and badasses,” and added that usually he was scared of badasses. Of course one female voice had to yell out, “Then you’d be scared of me!” Jeff gave her a little grimace and simply shot back, “I don’t think so!”

 

All in all, the 93-minute set — Wilco on at 9:45 p.m. and off at 11:18 — proved to be a delightful return for Jeff and Co. and those of us fortunate enough to be there (even though I heard the venue was far from sold out and there were plenty of empty seats in the back and in the balconies). Along with the aforementioned songs, On And On And On was a welcome curveball and I’m Always In Love is also always fun — and, in this case, pretty apropos, too. Happy 26th anniversary, Jeff and Susie!

 

Anyway, I’ll probably think of something else I should add later on. But for now, here was the complete setlist, as played (Hold Me Anyway was on the printed list as the last song of the main set, but wasn’t played):

 

A Shot In The Arm

Random Name Generator

Before Us

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart>
Art Of Almost

If I Ever Was A Child

On And On And On

Impossible Germany

Love Is Everywhere (Beware)

Box Full Of Letters

Born Alone

Jesus, etc.

Theologians

I’m The Man Who Loves You

Everyone Hides

Heavy Metal Drummer

I’m Always In Love

————————————————

Ashes Of American Flags

California Stars

Submitted for your consideration:

 

It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s The Recapper! 

and

 

If I was a bird and you was a fish, what would we do? I guess we’d wish for…Recap Nation! Recap Nation! Wouldn’t it be a sensation? 

 

and

 

Clap on … clap off…The Recapper! 

4 hours ago, u2roolz said:

The Tweedy Show Thursday July 22 Episode 198

Ambulance (new song last played on episode 166.)
-- Jeff says that the song doesn't have a title yet, but that the recapper should call it Ambulance. I Made A Friend In An Ambulance, Blue Light and I'm Busy Dying are the other titles being considered by Jeff. 

Can we all get a shoutout for #TheRecapper ? C’mon, people!