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Now that’s not entirely true…they play Cruel Country (preceded by I Am My Mother) at almost every gig.* *tongue firmly in cheek

Wilco’s second of three Japanese shows on this brief run, and its final one in Tokyo, looks to have been the barnburner of the two nights, as expected. Thanks to the folks at Wilcoworld, we once again have the setlist to tide us over as we await reports from our correspondent on the ground: Hell Is Chrome Handshake Drugs Pittsburgh I Am My Mother Cruel Country I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Kamera Side With The Seeds Random Name Generator At Least That’s What You Said Hummingbird Evicted Box Full Of Letters Jesus, Etc.

Unfortunately I’m not able to be in Japan for Wilco’s once-in-a-decade run of shows in that special land, but I know we have at least one correspondent on the ground there, so I’m just going to start this thread and let him go take the reportage reins for a few days… For now, thanks to the good folks at Wilcoworld, here was the complete setlist for the band’s first show in Japan on this short run: Infinite Surprise Pittsburgh Handshake Drugs I Am My Mother Cruel Country I Am Trying To Break Your Heart One Wing If I Ever Was A Child

Originally Wilco's final show of 2023 was scheduled to be held at the Teatro Angela Peralta, a charming outdoor amphitheatre tucked into México City's Polanco neighborhood, but less than a week ago, ticketholders were notified that the concert would be changing venues due to "determinations made during a neighborhood assembly which have made impossible the carrying out of the event at the place previously designated" (if Google Translate is to be believed). Instead, the show would now take place at the Frontón México, an indoor multi-purpose facility about three miles away that hosts everythin

It was about a 15-minute walk from the Centro Historico. I wouldn't say it was the suburbs by any stretch, but I wouldn't say it was exactly near the old Spanish architecture either. Sort of in a non-descript commerical area adjacent to the historic district.

It was the third complete performance of Many Worlds by the full band, I believe. They played it the second night in Iceland to start the encore, but not since then. I hadn’t realized it was quite that rare. Thanks for making me go back and check.

It's almost always fun to see Wilco in a place the band has never played before, at least it is for me (and I assume it is for the guys). Especially in a foreign country, there's a different kind of energy in the audience and it's interesting to see what people respond to and how they respond. With a band that's been around as long as Wilco has, you don't often get to experience being in an audience anymore where you get the sense that the vast majority of those around you are truly seeing it all with fresh eyes. Certainly that was a marked contrast from how the band had spent the

She must have started recording slightly late because the first song of the set was the new one, Cry Baby Cry. And they did play A Robin Or A Wren in its entirety. Just FYI.

This is the kind of content people come to Via Chicago to be mystified by. Certainly not any of my idiotic ramblings… I never upload photos, but I shall try to add one of our Stan from last night since I am indeed a Stan stan:

If that was indeed the last time Wilco participates in the Sky Blue Sky Festival in its current location and/or format, as some rumors have suggested, then the band certainly left the Hard Rock Hotel with a performance that touched on just about every corner of its catalog and showed why it has such wide-ranging appeal. And not only that, but a familiar face for so long at the front of house/sound desk console at Wilco shows made an appearance on stage to receive an award and some long-overdue public recognition, allowing me to finally use the line that I've been wanting to deploy for a long t

Typically the third day of Wilco's four-day Sky Blue Sky Festival has been an "off night" for the headlining band, so that means another act — this year it was Father John Misty — takes the featured slot on the Main Stage and gives the members of Wilco the flexibility to do some other things (mezcal tasting with Nels and John, anyone?). In Jeff's case, that has primarily meant playing a set with his solo band, and this year was no exception. And just like she did at the last SBS, beloved cinnamontoastographer Susie R. Miller Tweedy gave those unable to get to Mexico a glimpse at wh

Re: the ruggers, yes, I'm sure that's it. Have I ever mentioned I love the Welsh accent? As to your more serious question, I'm not sure what it is. I've been trying to put my finger on it. I mean, the event definitely feels undersold...no matter what the room tallies on the event and/or resort sites might indicate. It also just seems to me that there are a lot of people here who I might categorize as a certain type of middle-aged music fan, to whom Wilco might be a band they would categorize as one of their favorites (or even their "favorite") but to whom the idea of a music vacati

Someone asked me after tonight's second of three Wilco sets at this year's edition of the Sky Blue Sky Festival whether I liked the previous night's performance or tonight's better, and obviously it's difficult to argue against the latter. Jeff seemingly felt much better after having to cut Night 1's set short due to some symptoms of heat exhaustion. And while both night's setlists were filled with more than a few deeper cuts and/or songs that don't get played as often these days, Night 2 just felt more like a typical Wilco show in terms of pacing, antics and the like. Just as a po

Some 23 months since the last edition of Wilco's Sky Blue Sky Festival at the Hard Rock Hotel in Mexico's Riviera Maya corridor, it's hard to express the different feelings conjured by being back here. On one hand, there's some sense of déja vu with the familiar layout of the resort and the different concert stages (though a few changes have been made to some of the restaurants and buildings). But awaiting Wilco's set on the opening night of this year's event, you also couldn't help but think about all that had happened in both Wilcoworld and the world at large since the band last performed on

Well, since this one was filmed live from Wrigleyville, beamed via fiber-optic cable to laptops all over the world (?) and probably then chromecast — or whatever you call it — to people's big-screen plasma TVs in their man caves or patios, I think I only need provide recapping for one Albert Tatlock, who surely doesn't engage in any of this live-streaming nonsense (but might if it involved a far-off Welsh rugby match). At any rate, Tatlock, I only have limited minutes currently to recount what transpired inside the walls of Metro tonight, where Los Wilcos played the final show of a

They put the St. Louis setlist in for Bentonville, it looks like. And haven't corrected it. Oof.

As the appointed 8:30 p.m. hour for Wilco to take the stage approached tonight, on what was technically the final night of a grueling period of touring over the past couple of months, I couldn't help but get one more strong feeling of déja vu on this run. First of all, we were standing outdoors on a large lawn area outside of a contemporary art museum. And it was lightly raining. And then suddenly, there was Joe Thompson (the eponym of Joe's Field at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass.) on stage introducing — and gushing over — Jeff and his bandmates. Wait, had the time/space continuum

Ah, St. Louis...always a date to circle on the calendar whenever Jeff and/or Wilco decided to swing through town and play a show. I mean, it is another one of those homes away from home for our leading man — in fact, it is pretty much literally that — even if he has often had a kind of tumultuous relationship with the city. Certainly there's a ton of personal history here for the Belleville, Ill., native, and I think that history has become even more intense in some ways as he has gotten older and he has gone through the sorts of life changes that we all experience. Particularly si

Well, Kansas City certainly seems to be having a moment, doesn't it? At least that's how it seems to this out-of-towner. Obviously there's the Taylor-and-Travis soap opera that has captivated the nation, but apart from that, as someone who's been visiting fairly regularly for years now, I've been impressed by the continuing revitalization of downtown, the gleaming new airport that makes the dumpy old MCI seem like a distant memory and just the general sense of a city on the upswing. Heck, Wilco's show on a Wednesday night was just a blip on a cultural landscape that featured an even bigger con

Mostly they haven’t been. They did it twice in LA, the second of three nights at the Ace and then Night 2 at the Bellwether. Before that it had been since the end of the spring tour in April. They only even played Via once in Europe this summer, at the very last show in Ireland before coming home (nudge, nudge). Anyway I wouldn’t count on the Many Worlds coda at Metro since I think the intent is to showcase Cousin, but it always could happen…

I acknowledged it! I am easily pleased...

Funny, I'm currently reading The Devil and Sherlock Holmes by David Grann for a book club and that quotation just came up. And you are absolutely correct, my dear Tatlock, that this is indeed a possibility. However, in the context of the recounting of a rock concert, it is a possibility (pissability?) that I simply prefer not to discuss...

One night after Jeff admitted to struggling a bit with his voice, I'm happy to report that he returned to his usual tendency of not taking a sip of any liquid on stage — which I can only assume meant that he was feeling better in that regard. Not that he didn't have at least one case of vocal difficulties on a lovely Monday night in Nebraska, but at least that was caused by something mental and not physical. What I'm referring to is Jeff's mind getting ahead of himself during Hummingbird when he came to the lyric, "A fixed bayonet through the great southwest..." I'm not sure if som

I mean, that's rock 'n' roll, right? At least for a mid-tier working band...

Hopefully someone got a good picture of Jeff taking a sip of water on stage tonight because it rarely ever happens. Better yet, maybe someone was quick enough to grab a shot of Jeff doing his best Michael Anthony impression as the show was winding down. More on that later. What's this, Jeff actually consuming liquid on stage during a show? You knew something was amiss when he asked his guitar tech Cash to bring him a bottle of Topo Chico sparkling water early in the set and then sipped from it between songs three separate times within the first nine tunes. Indeed, as we subsequentl