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Jeff's played it solo, but yeah it might be the first full-band version without Ms. Feist.

I caught the show last night (3/26) at the Mercury Lounge in New York, and I'm so glad I did. It was the early show and Miles kept looking at his watch, so I'm not sure how much of his usual set was curtailed by time limits. But in any case, it was wonderful to hear what we did... We fortunate to be graced with the presence of a two-piece horn section, so there were I think a total of eight players on stage at one point. It was terrific to hear "Emma Blowgun's Last Stand" with the horns, of course. Crazily enough, right before they launched into the song, there was a girl standing front and

I would book. Who knows, of course, but it seems like a pretty safe bet that they won't announce a random show in Cleveland that week. What are the odds, right?

Well, Nels and Glenn both have dates scheduled with their own projects -- The Nels Cline Singers and On Fillmore, respectively -- in June and July and both will be promoting relatively recent releases. Meanwhile, the Autumn Defense already has a Chicago date on June 17 and has a new record in the can as well so I'd guess they would be playing at least a few more shows this summer also. That suggests to me there'll be no Wilco touring in June and July. Maybe there'll be a few dates in August but I would say the dates that have been announced thus far are probably the bulk of the shows for the

Can't speak to what happened in Clearwater, but I posted some more details about the "acoustic set" in the Miami show thread. Technically it's not all acoustic. A more apt term, I think, would be "stripped down." In Miami, John switched between mostly an electric bass and occasionally sort of a slimline standup one (it's definitely not a full-size standup). Mikael played mostly keyboard and broke out an accordion on Hesitating Beauty. Pat played keyboard, acoustic guitar, banjo and even xylophone briefly (covering the end part on Kamera). Nels switched between acoustic guitar and lap steel.

Depends of what you mean by "improve." I've only been to the "new" one once, maybe twice, but it's definitely a nicer and bigger (if I'm not mistaken) space. The older one, in my memory, was sort of a dump -- I seem to remember you went downstairs and there was a pole right in front of the stage -- but one with a lot of character and history to it. Kinda like CBGB's. Personally I think I would prefer that kind of place, but I'm sure the new one will be much better from the band's perspective.

Well, one of the guys who worked at the venue could make a second career out of being a 'Keef' lookalike. He had the whole look down. If you just caught a glimpse of him, you'd definitely do a double take.

I was at that show as well. I think it was my first time traveling out of town to see the band, actually. You probably know this already, but the Lupo's they'll be playing in about 10 days isn't the same place they played back in '02. Same name, different venue.

Yeah, I think he did pretty well. Certainly, probably, the first time I've ever seen the word "googaws" in print.

In Miami, the showtime on the ticket was 8:30 and they were on at about 8:45. Usually they're more prompt than that. But maybe without having to worry about a changeover from an opening act, they have a little more leeway.

I guess I have to eat my words (at least a bit) about no "side project" songs being played at Wilco shows since Laminated Cat/Not For The Season got played last night in Clearwater. Oops! I guess technically some non-Wilco stuff is fair game, depending on the band's mood. Still wouldn't advise anyone to get their hopes up for Uncle Tupelo stuff, though.

Come east, my dear! (I guess you sort of have to for this run... )

I hear what you're saying. Certainly older Wilco stuff is fair game, but people shouldn't get their expectations up for Uncle Tupelo songs or other side project stuff. I would hope that Thank You Friends stays in the set for a while, though.

No, definitely NOT. It was a youngish boy named Max -- I'm terrible with ages, but he was maybe 12 or 13 -- who was toward the front, stage left, holding up a sign that said something like "Can I come up and play California Stars with you?" Jeff noticed the sign and then waved him up mid-song. Max just sang at first, but then Jeff gave him his guitar and he strummed the song the rest of the way. Afterward Jeff said something to him like, "You looked like you knew the chords." Pretty cool moment for the kid, and I hear he got his poster signed afterward as well.

More about the "acoustic set": It wasn't completely acoustic; call it more of a "stripped down" set than truly acoustic. John played electric bass on all but two songs, I believe. For the other two he had a sort of slimline version of an upright bass. (I think he used it on Hesitating Beauty and Sky Blue Sky, but don't quote me on that.) In any case, it was new to me. If memory serves, when they played Bridge School a few years ago -- which is almost exclusively acoustic -- John didn't use an upright bass but regular one that looked almost...wooden? Help? Pat and Mikael had keyboards so th

See my earlier post. 'Twas definitely Outta Mind (Outta Sight). I noticed that trayanastasio corrected his setlist post.

In politely declining a request for an Uncle Tupelo song in Miami, Jeff pretty much said that Wilco is going to play Wilco songs. So people shouldn't be getting hopes up for anything but the Wilco catalog.

Yeah, pretty much. Or at least the more recent Jeff solo arrangement that's sort of a hybrid of the original and the Kraut arrangements (i.e. with the breakdown included). It's not all the way back to the jangly version. One of the pleasures of the acoustic set was getting to see Nels play acoustic. He doesn't do it very often, especially live, but he's really an excellent acoustic player as well. Also, Pat really showed his versatility -- playing banjo on a couple songs, covering the ending of Kamera on xylophone and of course doing his usual work on keys. Unfortunately the crowd was pretty

It was glorious, and both a perfect tribute to Alex and a great way to end the show. Jeff, John and Pat all took a turn on vocals and the harmonies were gorgeous. Jeff introduced the song by saying, "This one goes out to Alex...and to you." Here's hoping they play it a few more times on this run. Also, my only comment re: the setlists posted thus far is that the last song of the acoustic set was actually "Outta Mind (Outta Sight)" a/k/a the Sesame Street version. Just for accuracy's sake. And the segue into Misunderstood was fabulous. One other thing I must also mention: Mike played an acc

They did Thank You Friends!!! It was awesome.

Not exactly true. They've done it as a band once, at Red Rocks last July. Since I wasn't at that show, though, I wouldn't be opposed to Everlasting being revived soon.

Aw, man. FUCK FUCK FUCK! Jody Stephens apparently confirmed it, so I'm guessing it's true. Wow, what a loss. So glad I got to see him once. Damn.

Just saw this on a list of releases for Record Store Day (April 17): Wilco - Kicking Television, Live In Chicago - Limited to 5,000 $68.99 Details = 4LP 180 gram box with 8 bonus tracks Sounds pretty rad, if true! Now I just better be able to get my hands on one... (And I wonder if any of the bonus tracks will be from the ill-fated fourth show of that run, when technical difficulties made for a highly memorable show...)

Yeah, I'm pretty sure audio taping was generally allowed, as it would be at just about any Jeff/Wilco show. I only know of one rig, though there could have been others taping. I wouldn't count on the recordings from either night of these benefits showing up soon, but here's hoping they do make their way out there...eventually. Glad you made it from NYC and got your request in (nice one, btw...you're Josh, I assume?) despite all of the snafus.