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I assume you meant “intimate.” If so, yeah, that one came to mind as well (though in kind of a different way).

For any avid schedule-watchers who might have wondered why Wilco didn’t add a second show at Chicago’s Salt Shed this weekend when the first one sold out so quickly and there were empty dates before and after, I guess tonight’s semi-secret benefit show at the intimate Old Town School of Folk Music is at least part of the answer. The roughly 400 or so folks who crammed into Maurer Hall for OTS’ annual Blue Jean Gala shelled out $500 apiece for an evening centered around a stripped-down set by our favorite alt-rocking sextet. I had the good fortune of being one of those in the room f

Once again, unfortunately, I had to sit this one out so I'm just doing the usual housekeeping here. Would be interested to hear reports from anyone who might have attended in person. I guess it was a big night for outdoor shows in the Cleveland area as I believe the very popular young jazz-pop singer Laufey also performed a sold-out show with the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls. Not sure if the audiences for the two shows would have much overlap (though I, for one, am a fan of both), but if anything, I bet it brought the average age at the Wilco show even higher t

Hey Paul, I wish I would have known you were gonna be there. Would have loved to say hi in person. It's been too long! I didn't know you were originally from upstate NY! Guess you ended up pretty far from there eventually. Glad you were able to make it make for the show, though. I bet that place must've been pretty amazing as a young music fan back in the day. Sounds like you got to see just about everybody who was touring in those days. I'm jealous! And yeah, glad you mentioned the Live Nation thing too. It's sad (IMHO) that a huge corporate entity like that has taken over so many

Thanks,. Wasn’t quite close enough to see exactly what happened.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to this show, but I know that at least a couple of VCers were in attendance so hopefully at least one of them will chime in and give us a little bit of a report. For now, though, here was the setlist as provided by the fine folks at Wilcoworld (they don't specify where the set break was, but according to Setlist.fm, it came after California Stars; I'm also making a couple of educated assumptions about arrangements, etc.): Set 1 Story To Tell Handshake Drugs Pittsburgh If I Ever Was A Child Cruel Country Forget The

Sorry for the delay in posting — the Philly report is now complete, and I wanted to mention that it was great to see so many familiar faces, or at least to know that so many were in attendance — but I was way too busy losing half my brain to said debauchery...wink, wink.

And so it begins. On the heels of a three-night stint on the Outlaw Music Festival express, Wilco began a month-long series of “An August Evening With…” shows that will span the U.S. (and a bit of Canada) and take the band through the end of its touring schedule for 2025. As Jeff drily outlined near the start of tonight’s performance, these shows will follow the by-now-familiar format of two sets with a short intermission break. That the tour, in earnest, started in Philadelphia was probably fitting since this is apparently the place where Jeff and Co. get the most grievances about

On the third and final show of their brief jaunt aboard this year’s Outlaw Music Festival tour, Jeff and Co. seemed to finally hit their stride as far as fitting into a large amphitheater bill that also featured such luminaries as Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and Lucinda Williams. To me, it was probably the most comfortable that the band looked on stage all weekend and I think its performance, banter and collaborations all reflected that. The Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion is a venue that Wilco had actually headlined not all that long ago — just shy of three years, actually, as part of

Another day, another shed. That could be the tagline for the Outlaw Music Festival tour, to be honest, since each day seems to bring a sense of déja vu in the sense that basically the same schedule takes place in a different — more often than not, Live Nation-run amphitheater. Believe it or not, many of these places even have the same overpriced primary food offerings sold under localized-sounding names such as Mosh Burger, Rebel Hen and Ziggy’s Magic Pizza Shop. Gotta love LiveNation (not). Anyway, of course the lineup of artists changes somewhat between certain Outlaw tour stops

It had been more than a dozen years since Wilco last performed at the Jones Beach Theater not far from the famed beach of the same name on the southern shore of Long Island. Back then, it was as a core element of the successful Bob Dylan-led AmericanaramA tour that traveled from coast to coast that summer. This time, Jeff and his bandmates were reunited with Dylan — both playing before Willie Nelson — as part of the 10th anniversary of the Outlaw Music Festival. However, on this edition of Outlaw, Jeff and Co. are just one of a rotating cast of acts on the bill for the traveling fe

It’s funny, by the time Jeff reached his actual set near the end of the three-day Newport Folk Festival, he had already popped up at so many other sets and collaborated with so many other artists that his own show seemed almost like an afterthought. OK, I’m exaggerating a bit — and when both Mavis Staples and the ladies of Lucius turn up during your set, that alone ensures it will be a special one — but I guess that’s sort of par for the course for Newport. For the record, Jeff’s “official” appearance at Newport came in an hour-long set (that actually clocked in at 53 minutes) feat

[Better late than never, right?] This being Jeff’s first public performance since the announcement of the forthcoming triple album Twilight Override, it wasn’t clear exactly what we were going to get from this one-off summer gig leading up to the Newport Folk Festival. Would it be a solo show, or a full Tweedy band gig? Would it be a de facto practice for Newport, or a chance to preview a number of songs off the soon-to-released record? Would it be more of a quiet acoustic performance, or a rockier concert befitting the outdoor summer setting? As it turned out, it was

I am indeed quite drowsy and quite ready for my daily (sies)ta. Or perhaps it's (horcha)ta time! I suppose my main accomplishment of today will be that I finally finished the recap for this one. Better late than never, right? Right?

Wilc-ki leaks?

Surely 750 between you, me and the former prime minister...

And after four shows in four days, another Wilco tour of Spain is in the books. I think the most enduring memories of this little tour-within-a-tour will center on the oven-like conditions, and tonight was no exception. Even after the unrelenting sun sank below the horizon and gave way to the more-than-welcome darkness, the humidity generated by the seaside setting of this amphitheater made for a pretty sweltering evening. I guess I should start by describing the venue, which I described to some friends as “the Northerly Island of Valencia.” It’s a reference that most Chicagoans wi

Just doing a little housekeeping for this one, since unfortunately I wasn't able (or rather, chose not) to attend in person. I know at least a few people who did make it there, however, so perhaps one of them will chip in someday and give us a little more insight on what this festival was like. I do know that it took place at the Feria de Muestras de Armilla (aka Armilla fairgrounds, more commonly known as Fermasa) south of Granada city center and that Wilco had a 1 hour, 40 minute time slot from 9-10:40 p.m. on the primary Victoria stage, preceded by Leon Benavente and followed by the interes

Once again, I'm going to have to circle back later to fill in the details on this second of two Spanish gigs under the umbrella of the Alma Festival. For now, I will just say that despite the wilting heat all day long, the energy level from both band and audience seemed significantly better than the previous night in Barcelona. It was still not necessarily a show that reached the heights of some previous performances in Spain, IMHO, but definitely still an enjoyable way to spend an evening. OK, where were we? As with the previous night’s gig in Barcelona, the format of these Alma F

Because of travel and the heat, etc., it’s probably gonna take me a minute to come up with something lucid (as if I ever do) about tonight’s show that was not an “Evening With…” performance, as it turned out. This wasn’t a festival in the normal sense of the word, either; more like one in a summer series of concerts at the Montjuïc cultural complex known as the Poble Espanyol. This was the same location of Wilco’s Barcelona tour stop just over three years ago, though the setup was much different this time around on account of being part of the Alma Festival series. Whereas back in

It was so good to see Zoran! And yeah, his images — based on the sample Wilco has shared so far — must be amazing. One thing I will give the RAH, it’s certainly an impressive-looking room.

Yeah, heard Thax moved/drifted up to Wisconsin some years back. He pops up every now and then, usually with acts exactly like The Wacos.

I’ll just have some excellent beef ta(r)ta(re) if it’s all the same to you. Maybe even served by the late, great Joe E. Tata in his guise as the owner of the Peach Pit. If you know, you know…

With the afterglow of a “Big Show” at the Royal Albert Hall still lingering, Jeff and his bandmates stepped onto a slightly less glamorous — but far more familiar — stage in the City of Light about 24 hours later and found themselves instantly more at home. Amazingly, it had been nearly six years since Wilco’s last show in Paris proper and the sold-out crowd at the cozy La Cigale was clearly ready for its fix. And while the setlists between the RAH and La Cigale gigs ended up overlapping quite a bit — of the 23 songs at both shows, by my count, 19 were the same (albeit in a slightl

I shall endeavour to never allow such balouney to colour my flavour of the month ramblings. Let’s see if this makes me a favourite or simply a poseur.