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The start of a three-night run in Melbourne brings with it the same sort of energy it does anywhere around the world, I suppose. It's a place the band has played relatively often over the years — often, at least by Australian standards — and has built up a certain comfort level with the audience. And it's interesting to see old friendships renewed and some new ones made, depending on who has come out for the shows and who has been able to travel from where this time around. I suppose you meet more than a few folks as well who have journeyed here because their own home cities/countries have bee

Other than falling somewhere behind the Big Three of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, I honestly couldn't tell you where Canberra fits into the rest of the Australian cultural conversation except that it has the added cachet of being the nation's capital. I do know that until tonight's show at the Canberra Theatre, Wilco had never performed in the city despite playing many shows in Australia since its first tour here back in 2003 (and neither the Tweedy band nor Jeff solo tours had visited Canberra either on their Aussie excursions in 2016 and 2019, respectively). So this was a rare first, whic

Yeah, I took note of that as well. Who knows, but it is moderately interesting...

Not even close.

[Would've gotten this filed much sooner if I hadn't literally gotten back to my room last night after the show and had my head immediately sent a-spinning by the announcement of the new tour dates and all the pre-sales going live within the next hour or two, not to mention having to pack and get up and out for an early flight to the next city, so I once again apologize for the delay in posting. And thank goodness for an off day, so I can catch up before falling too far behind. I'll get it together, eventually...] When it comes down to it, what am I going to remember about Night 2 i

Apologies for the delay in getting this one posted, but the jet lag has been real...what can I say? Not to mention it's beautiful outside and one wants to soak up at least a bit of the Australian lifestyle during the day before congregating inside the intimate Princess Theatre in the evening. Anyway, tonight's first Wilco show on Australian soil in nearly a decade was a special one both for the band — and for those in its past, present and perhaps future orbit. OK, from a setlist perspective, one might look at the list of songs played and simply shrug their shoulders and say, 'Well

And just like that, Wilco (and Finom’s) three-show run in the Land of the Rising Sun has come to an end, hopefully not for another decade. I have no idea if there were any special surprises as the tour moved on to Osaka, but once again, thanks to the quick work of the good folk at Wilcoworld, at least we know what was played. Otherwise, we await any reportage from those in attendance and/or social media evidence to emerge (preferably the former)… For now, the setlist for Osaka courtesy of Wilcoworld (and already griped about by at least one member of this forum):

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