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For anyone who cares, here was Courtney Barnett's setlist for her solo SBS performance preceding Wilco's set: Avant Gardener Need A Little Time Nameless, Faceless Dead Fox Walkin' On Eggshells Elevator Operator Not Only I [seeker Lover Keeper] Sunday Roast Everybody Here Hates You Let It Go Depreston new song-Every Day I Wake Untitled (Play It On Repeat) Being Around [The Lemonheads] Dawned On Me [Wilco] ("country version") History Eraser

Well, that was something. Wilco certainly made its first show of the decade (and first on Mexican soil) one for the books by basically throwing out much of the Ode To Joy tour playbook in favor of some relatively deep cuts and old-school tunes geared toward a festival crowd at a beachfront resort. For whatever reason, the band chose to play a few songs for the first time since BTH (Before The Hiatus) and several others that have been very sporadically played over the past four or five years. Some were pretty natural fits for this type of setting (Secret of the Sea, I Must Be High), while oth

From a recent Wilco tweet... Chicago 2017 includes 14 new arrangements of Johnston's beloved songs (& a Beatles cover). Nine are performed live at @TheVicChicago with Tweedy (@JeffTweedy, @spencertweedy, James Elkington, @darin_gray & @liamkazar), and five are from the previous day’s session at The Loft.

I got the book a while back (gotta keep tabs on the existing literature...haha) and it’s basically a song-by-song compendium of everything the band has put out. And I mean everything, including the Wilco Book tracks and every cover they’ve done and even every TV or DVD appearance by the band. Each entry is basically a roundup of facts about the song, anything Jeff has said about it at a live show, existing criticism and other primary sources. All of that is spun into a little blurb about the track that’s fairly well written, I have to say. The author doesn’t inject a lot of his own opinions, a

For anyone who cares, which I imagine is down to about 10 people or so (especially during this holiday week), I finally got around to finishing my recap of the final night of Winterlude 2019. Anyway, it's now posted above. Happy holidays to y'all. :santa

I’m in transit till later today, but I won’t let this one slip away...

You know, I honestly had forgotten that this fourth and final show of Winterlude 2019 was being aired live on WXRT (and live-streamed via the Radio.com app) until Jeff mentioned it about two thirds of the way through Wilco’s set. "Oh yeah, we’re on the radio right now everybody," Jeff said as Nels was being handed the gaudy, double-neck white guitar he uses on Dawned On Me. "And (the radio audience) can’t see that thing, which is a good thing." So I was trying to think of what else noteworthy I could describe that might have been lost on those listening in at home, and I came up with two of

Or Jay Farrar? No, I doubt it was either of those guys (though anytime the name Jay gets mentioned by Jeff, I'm sure that's what some people are thinking). For one, Jeff said, "We're happy he's here," when making the dedication, so unless he was referring to Bennett's ghost, I don't think it was him...

That's my alter ego, actually. He's much more of a pop fan than I am, and also a lot more tolerant...hence the "good" review of the venue. Hey man, wish you would have. Even though we apparently disagree about baseball teams, I think I'm generally pretty friendly in person. I get it about the social anxiety, though. I'm pretty terrible with faces, though usually decent with names so it can take me a little bit to place them if we've met before, which always makes me slightly anxious socially. For instance, I felt like an ass last night when Sima said hi — we know each other a little bit — a

Ok, I’ve reconsidered and maybe the Chicago Theatre isn’t such a bad place for Wilco show after all. Actually, that’s what I was getting at the other day — or trying to, anyway — when I suggested that the iconic venue is a perfectly adequate locale for the band’s Winterlude residency. Depending on where you’re seated and who’s seated around you, I believe the phrase I used was "generally tolerable." Would it be my first choice? My reply is no. Will there ever be a barnburner of a Wilco show there? Don’t count on it. Could there be worse venues? Signs point to yes. And lastly, O Wise Magic 8-Ba

I know, right? I’m gonna have to go back to driving that Lyft (also, for nothing)!

Oops, just realized I sort of never finished my recap on this one. I was kind of dragging at that point!

Guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree. And maybe we’re just looking for different things out of a Wilco show. But I promise you, I wouldn’t ever pine for the days they played the Chicago Theatre. It’s fine, like I’ve said. Tolerable even. But I don’t see a show there ever leaving me with a transcendent feeling... If they started playing the United Center, I would probably think twice about going and just use that money to travel somewhere to see them in a more fitting venue. And fwiw, I don’t think they will ever become a bonafide arena act because I think Jeff understands at some level

Hey man, same here. No worries on being out of it, just always good to put a face to a handle (as it were). Thanks for summing up what I realize I was getting at in terms of there being something missing. There’s little comparison between the atmosphere of the shows at the Chicago Theatre and at the Palace in St. Paul, which is why I suspect a lot of the regular Wilco travelers opted for the latter this time around. Not that I’m upset about going to a show 15 minutes from my home or seeing folks like Robyn Hitchcock (and presumably Sharon Van Etten) collaborate with Wilco, but the vibe at the

Sure, I’ve witnessed way worse crowds too. Didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. But to be honest, the audiences both nights have been — to use Jeff’s phrase — “dullsville.” I actually thought the crowd got better during the second half of last night’s show, but it still was just OK. It was typical Chicago Theatre, which maybe is just the typical Wilco crowd nowadays. I would give credit for standing throughout, but basically unless you’re in the pit there, you have little choice once the folks in front of you get up. If you have any hope of seeing, that is.

Doth I protest too much? Maybe so, but I’ve been to a lot of shows at that venue over the years and I’ve definitely observed a pattern of audiences that are, at best, pretty clueless and/or apathetic and at worst, downright rude. I’m not saying this crowd was even close to the worst I’ve seen there. But the constant stream of people chattering behind me through the show was kinda brutal. Like I wrote yesterday, the Chicago Theatre is generally tolerable depending on where you’re sitting and who’s sitting around you. But it’s never gonna be a great venue for Wilco, and I don’t think that’s too

Look, I get why Wilco has chosen to play the Chicago Theatre for the last couple editions of its hometown Winterlude residency. It’s an iconic venue in the heart of the city, more or less the right size and has a good-sounding PA system. But honestly, does any room in town consistently draw a lamer or more clueless audience? As evidence, consider some of the things people did and said on the second night of Winterlude 2019: *Someone in the front row repeatedly took selfies with their back to the stage, much to Jeff’s consternation. “Are you done taking selfies?” he asked the person prior t

A very kind friend came through with last-minute opportunity to attend the band's pop-up performance this afternoon at the Chicago Athletic Association hotel downtown, which was part of the Songkick Live series and I believe was filmed for future release, so who was I to refuse? The actual performance was about half an hour and then Jeff stuck around for an at-times amusing Q&A with local improv legend T.J. Jagodowski for another 20-25 minutes. Among the audience questions was a request for Deeper Down to be played at the show tonight and Jeff saying there was no way in hell that was goi

Lordy lordy, if you’re dependent on these middle-of-the-night blatherings, God help ye. (Happy to help with the char sometime, though.)

Sir, yes sir. Resolved to stick only to Banter Corner from here on out.

I can just see the soon-to-be JamBase headline now, likely based on this report and/or other social media: Wilco bust out Beatles, Soft Boys covers with Robyn Hitchcock on first night of Chicago residency. Am I right? More on that later, of course, but since I’m kind of having an existential crisis as the year — and the decade — rapidly draw to a close, I wanted to first say that it occurred to me tonight while taking in Night 1 of another Wilco Winterlude in Chicago that the band really has become something greater than the sum of its parts. A little over 25 years into its career, Wilco has

It was kinda similar to the Oxford Pennant pop-up at Solid Sound, if you went to that. They had plenty of pennants and banners (including a Winterlude specific one), as well as T-shirts (different designs from the band is selling, I believe...more pennant-y) as well as a small corner of Jeff’s guitars (nothing super pricey...almost everything under $1,000). Also, the boxes of the OTJ vinyl, a small stack of old Chicago show posters plus a special Winterlude poster (11x17, I think), a couple of neon Wilco signs and pins and patches and stuff. There was also an embroidery station. Basically a W

Grabbed one for ya, knotgreen! There was no limit to how many you could buy (at $30 a pop). They were also selling discounted deluxe editions for $300. Wonder how many of those are still sitting around... Anyway, for anyone interested, it seems like there will be plenty of the Chicago edition OTJs to go around. But then again, I did get there early — fwiw, they opened the shop a little early — and business seemed to be picking up by the time I left.

If I can buy more than one, I’ll try to grab one for you...

Feels like this thread needs a little reviving, so I’ll post about the news that surfaced today about Jeff playing the “This Land Is Your Land” 80th anniversary concert benefitting Tulsa’s Woody Guthrie Center. The show, which also features Haley Heynderickx, Gangstagrass, John Fullbright and Branjae, will take place at Town Hall in New York City on Feb. 23.