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Although Pittsburgh has historically been a preferred place for Wilco to play, I would have to say that a group of pretty passive patrons — not to mention some possible potty problems on Jeff's part — probably played into tonight's performance being the closest to a professional one thus far on the Ode To Joy tour. And in this case, "professional" did not necessarily produce a positive payoff. Picture a relatively perfunctory production...if you please? In other words, if you don’t do alliteration, the band always enjoys playing in Pittsburgh but the audience didn’t really bring it this tim

And then there was one...songs from Ode To Joy left to be performed live, that is, after Wilco finally debuted Citizens tonight before a crowd that probably didn't deserve that honor — or, frankly, as good a show as it got. But c'est la vie, I guess. And you could also make the point that this was the first OTJ audience, I believe, to miss out on Everyone Hides... One does wonder why Jeff decided this would be the night to finally play a song I heard the band has been soundchecking since at least the Boston shows nearly a month ago. I guess I’m just glad I was there to hear it, since you ne

yeesh indeed

People seem to dig them. They should be right up my alley, but they've never really done it for me for some reason. They definitely do all the things an indie band should, though. Like playing hard and seeming to care. Like paying attention to their stage presentation (i.e. the lit sign with their band name on it and their frontwoman standing atop it for her guitar hero moment). Like hanging out at the merch table afterward. I'm sure they're very nice. It's just that none of their songs really grab me.

I like how you can sort of date when they taped this by Jeff's facial hair growth. Not quite carbon dating, but still... (If I had to guess, they did it Oct. 14 — the day after the Brooklyn Steel show — though that seems like an awful long time for the Late Night show to sit on it. I just don't see when else they would have taped it unless it was the actual day of one of the NYC shows.)

Just realized that no one ever posted a thread for this show. I wasn't there, unfortunately. But just for record keeping's sake, here was the setlist from Wilcoworld: Bright Leaves Before Us Company In My Back War On War One and a Half Stars If I Ever Was A Child Handshake Drugs At Least That's What You Said Hummingbird White Wooden Cross Via Chicago Bull Black Nova Random Name Generator On And On And On We Were Lucky Love Is Everywhere (Beware) Impossible Germany Box Full Of Letters Everyone Hides Jesus, etc. Theologians I'm The Man Who Loves You Hold Me Anyway Misunderstood ---------------

Named and checked, even. That's what happens when you go to Godot!

Can't even get a free made-up cocktail...story of my life.

Through the magic of automotive transport (not to mention Eastern Standard Time), I am currently typing in the setlist for tonight's Wilco show whilst watching the band perform Love Is Everywhere (Beware) on Late Night With Seth Meyers...whoa. Mind blown. Anyway, as for the show that happened in real time, I guess a Monday night in Grand Rapids wasn’t the worst place in the world to kick off this next leg of the Ode To Joy tour. It certainly wasn’t dull. Jeff even remarked of the quality of the crowd singalong to I’m Always In Love that it “was Wednesday night singing.” High praise, indeed.

Touché, sir.

Thanks for the info. Full recap has been posted above.

The fever!

If a Wilco show happens in Austin and I don’t write about it for a week, does anyone other than Albert Tatlock (or one or two of his lovably psychotic brethren) give a rat’s ass? Well that’s what we’re attempting to discern here, folks, and I sincerely apologize to anyone whose breath might have been bated whilst waiting for this glorious prose. So despite my head still spinning at how quickly seven days can seemingly pass by, if I might rewind to this time last week, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one still shaking off the cobwebs from the second night of a back-to-back Wilco stand at ACL Live

After a “pretty weird” last few days in Texas, it must have been nice for the Wilco band and crew to wrap up this leg of the Ode To Joy tour in one of their homes away from home — Austin — where they have played as many shows over the years as anywhere outside of Chicago, New York and San Francisco. And, more importantly, where they knew they would be performing in a relatively familiar venue with mostly their kind of crowd behind them. ACL Live at the Moody Theater is probably the ideal type of venue for a band like Wilco, not overly cavernous, with general admission standing room on the fl

It was hardly Joni Mitchell at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 telling a crowd to "give us some respect," but in his own way, that's what Jeff was asking for tonight at Houston's Revention Music Center when he expressed his feelings about a segment of the audience conflicted between being engaged by the performance they were attending and checking their phones for updates on how the hometown Astros were faring in Game 3 of the World Series. Almost from the first time Jeff addressed the audience, following Ode To Joy track One and a Half Stars, he decided to confront the proverbial elephan

I’d go for some Marmite on toast myself.

I haven’t forgotten...please don’t tow me! Better late than never, right?

I'm gonna grow my hair out and wear a Budgie shirt to a show someday...

Hey man, what a cool experience! Thanks for sharing. I guess I know why that guitar was new to me now. I'm glad you got photos of it to show that cool pickguard. Fitting that it's a Bob Wills record. I was wondering about that... So this guitar was made from wood from the original floor, I'm assuming, and not the floor that was replaced a couple years ago? A friend of mine also has some wood from the original floor that he used to make poster frames (mostly for Wilco posters). I forget how he came by it, but I think maybe it they were just throwing it away back then and you could go salvage

Strangely, more people have recognized me for the poppycock I post on here than the video appearance. Perhaps I should consider some sort of "I'm the Lyft driver" signage instead?

Hardy har...

Though I’ve never been the frontman of a band like Wilco (or any band, for that matter), I imagine that sometimes you get lucky and don’t have to work very hard to connect with an audience and other times it can be a bit like pulling teeth so you have to give things a little nudge. And sometimes that nudge leads to more of a connection than you necessarily bargained for, so it can be a fine line. Such was the case for Jeff tonight at the 4,000-seat Pavilion at the Toyota Music Factory, a relatively soulless Live Nation-booked venue that might be described as a large concrete indoor theater. W

Fwiw, I noticed that they had one slight boo-boo with that track-by-track breakdown in the magazine. I had heard that the initial version of the track Courtney Barnett recorded for this project was just her doing a solo piano Dawned On Me, which was what is alluded to in the text of the track-by-track breakdown. But apparently at the last minute, she and/or her camp changed their minds and decided to record a solo acoustic guitar version instead, which is what ended up on the CD. Anyway, I do hope that this will see an official release beyond just the Uncut promo CD. A vinyl version for Reco

Well, you knew this was probably going to be a good one. I mean, has there ever been a less-than-stellar Wilco show at Cain's Ballroom? Not that I can recall, and I think I've attended all four now. Whether it's the lingering ghosts of past performers like Bob Wills and Hank Williams, the always-enthusiastic audiences or the intimacy and charm of the 95-year-old room itself, the band always seems to reach a slightly higher level once it hits that vaunted stage. There have been a few changes since Wilco last played Cain's more than eight years ago (the Tweedy band also played a show there in

Parking for now. [Edit: Our long national nightmare is over... ] When it comes to attending a concert and then recounting and/or assessing it afterward, the reality is everyone probably has a different perspective. There are so many variables at play, from where one is situated in the room to the people in the immediate vicinity to one’s familiarity with the music to one’s mood that day. And on and on and on, no pun intended. So whenever I offer some thoughts on a show, I always strive to be as objective as possible and stick to what I’ve observed or experienced. But I am also aware that I a