SarahC

1 hour ago, theashtraysays said:

I did try and start a PAT PAT PAT chant at the end of Falling Apart, but that got zero traction and a couple odd glares.  Sheesh. 

I was going to try to get one going for Mikael and John, but never thought of a good moment to try. I doubt the folks around me would have joined in. The guy directly next to me spent the intermission googling pictures of Glenn Kotche... but I mean, who hasn't had that man as their phone background at one point or another.... (remember the RSBF thread....  )

Here's a photo from Chattanooga. I made it my desktop on my work computer. Really still so tickled they played here. I keep checking youtube to see if anybody took videos. Nothing yet. 

A coworker who also went told me she thought the acoustic version of "Spiders(Kidsmoke)" sounded like the music you'd hear on Scooby Doo. It made me laugh pretty hard, I bet Jeff would think it was funny too, though definitely not what they were going for.  

chattanooga-show-last-night-5-11-25-v0-yya281ixmc0f1 (1).webp

I can't wait to see Wilco play here again down the road. This amphitheater was great. The staff were really friendly, and honestly super welcoming compared to most of the other venues. It felt a bit more "mom and pop" than the other spots this tour, and I think that carried through the vibe in the crowd as well. I think capacity wise, it's just shy of 3,000 so it was the 2nd smallest show of the run too, which definitely helped the intimate feeling. The sound was really good too. I do hope we get to go back to Louisville eventually for another show.

This is the set that I wanted throughout the whole run.

Some unexpected surprises mixed in with the songs you can bet they'll play most nights, if not all nights, in 2025. 

Super stoked to hear "Say You Miss Me" and "Sunken Treasure" was wonderful. That one made me cry for sure. Maybe it's the nostalgia of having seen shows for the last 20 years, or that it was the last night of a super fortunate run of 6 shows over 9 days for us (a first for any one given leg of a tour, thanks to finally having a job with a PTO benefit), but so many songs hit extra hard. 

"At Least That's What You Said" was great to hear as well, a first out of all the shows we saw this run.

I kept hoping they'd do "Hell Is Chrome" because I'd been trying to rig the request box since January for that one... it wasn't meant to be this time. 

The two-fer of "Star Wars" tunes really was glorious too, and I wish they'd revisit more songs from "SW" more often besides "RNG" every so often.

Funnily enough, that's the song they seem to soundcheck the most these days. 

I appreciated the crew's ingenuity in set list distribution. Nels tech (I haven't met him, and don't know his name) actually folded the set lists into paper airplanes during the rock block portion of the encore. It was fun to see him launch them toward the fans at the front, one crashed into the abyss of the pit, and I think the other made it to somebody. 

First time visiting this particular venue in the magical mountain town of Asheville. I love seeing Wilco in Asheville because it was the city where I saw my first ever Wilco show 20 years ago! 

Asheville Yards is a rebrand of the venue Rabbit Rabbit, and I believe as such they've got some growing pains happening operationally. The venue offered a "quick entry pass" for $40 per person that included food (and beer if people wanted it) and entry into the venue ahead of the GA line. Interestingly enough they didn't scan tickets. It felt like a complete 180 from the ticket fiasco in Birmingham... except with pizza. Also I think this is the only time I've been at a show where Jeff and John were both actively asking for security to hurry up to the front when an audience member fell out in between War on War and Quiet Amplifier. It felt like the security response was a little lackluster. Thank goodness it wasn't more serious than "too much gummy" for the individual in question according to the reddit post about the show. 

Jeff mentioned he was glad the city is coming back after the hurricane caused very significant damage back in the fall.

The other usual bit of banter were said too: the "staggering amount of artistic growth" between "Box" and "Annihilation" / "coming to the end in general" towards the end of the main set.

The sound right up front was super bass heavy, but I think that's more to do with the outdoor venue rather than anything the crew was doing. It felt like the loudest show of the 6 we saw for sure. The type of sound that settles in you chest and can be a little uncomfortable sometimes. A friend said it was a lot better further back. 

I was excited that "Whole Love" was played again- that song is so fun live. The key change always hit just right. 

Other notable things that happened to the best of my recollection- Jeff sat in with Waxahatchee on "Right Back To It" and Waxahatchee sat in with Wilco on "California Stars". Both bands looked very excited to be collaborating, and it was fun to watch.

There was a fun swap between Glenn and Spencer during CA Stars where Spencer took over the drums from Glenn, and they didn't even drop the beat! They looked like they were having some serious fun back there. 

Company In My Back
Evicted
Handshake Drugs
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
If I Ever Was A Child
Meant to Be
War On War
Quiet Amplifier
Hummingbird
Bird Without a Tail / Base of My Skull
Via Chicago
Love Is Everywhere (Beware)
You Are My Face
Whole Love
Either Way
Impossible Germany
Jesus, Etc.
Box Full of Letters
Annihilation
Heavy Metal Drummer
I'm the Man Who Loves You

Encore:
California Stars w/Waxahatchee 
Falling Apart (Right Now)
I Got You (At the End of the Century)
*Outtasite (False Start/Quick Ending)

Last Wilco show of 6 tonight in Louisville - don’t know when we’ll see them again. heck of a run. 

1 hour ago, theashtraysays said:

Wilco (1 of 3)

See you tomorrow? 

Oh! I remembered another bit of banter from the show. Jeff said he figured a lot of musicals have happened in the concert hall, and said next time they’d bring Wilco(the musical) through town and gave a clearly unenthused “Yay!” 😆 then said something about how Hummingbird is as close to a show tune as they have. 

I almost asked “what about Capital City?” But didn’t want to be mistaken for a request shouter… using the proper channels via the site works better anyway. 

11 minutes ago, bböp said:

 

It was Ed, wasn't it? And those "best behaved" trophies are probably more limited than that Hatch poster!

Definitely. Only maybe a couple dozen trophies, maybe 150 posters, however given their elusiveness, I wouldn’t trade the Hatch Print either. We missed night 1 in 2011, and it took close to 12 years to find one. (Thanks to Steve!)

The banter last night was very very minimal. Jeff didn’t say much except for the standard things he’s been saying most shows 

-artistic growth joke between Box Full of Letters and Annihilation.

-coming to the end of the show “I just mean in general” 

he did point of a guy in a PBR shirt and asked him where he’d seen him before. Turns out it was the Ryman. 
 

the venue was fine, I think an outdoor show would have probably been better for the crowd because the talking mixed with the acoustics of the concert hall was a bit much at times. The chatter was noticeable between songs. 
 

I will say personally, this show was probably my least favorite of the 4 we’ve seen because I had trouble with my ticket and at a GA show that’s a worst nightmare. The staff was not great on resolving the issue, and I think that kinda left a sour taste in my mouth for the rest of the night. 

2 songs or so after “Spiders” somebody yelled out for ”spiders” again, and Jeff said “we just played it!” and the person yelled out “itsy bitsy Spiders”  and Jeff said “that was the itsy bitsy version”. I think we ought to rename this arrangement the “itsy bitsy version.  

Jeff told some really funny stories— one about how when he was a kid his family took a road trip down to FL and they stopped in Chattanooga. He said they went to Lookout Mtn (I’m guessing they visited Rock City). Said he didn’t remember anything about the beach, but he did remember Lookout Mtn. And he was “born a dad” which was very cute. 
 

Jeff also struggle at one point to remove his jean jacket. Barely getting out of it in time to start the next tune. After the song he said “that was a Houdini move”

I had a great time at this show. I thought it was on par with Nashville Friday in terms of energy. 

It was the entire thing, and gosh it was beautiful. 

Jeff dedicated it to Pat’s partner Mae. 
 

We had a great time on the rail.
Things have definitely changed there since last we visited in 2019. Now they wristband only the front row of the pit, and security was very strict about being close to your assigned seat. The atmosphere was pretty good regardless of the kinda uptight security. 

The band seemed to have a great time, and I don’t think chatting was super noticeable to them. Jeff did have a funny interaction where he made a really scary looking face at somebody (I’m guessing somebody did that thing where they turn their back to the stage to take a photo while the band plays), then he rolled his eyes like “can you believe these guys?” It was funny but also, c’mon people… do better. 
 

The show felt a little bit looser with more extended jams, prob due to many world, and bird w/out a tail, impossible Germany all being pretty drawn out. It was great though. 
 

Rain and cold was definitely the biggest downside of the show: we don’t expect it to be in the 50’s this time of year! I think it was definitely the coldest outdoor show I’ve seen. 
 

So, today, for the first time since 1999 Wilco is playing a full headline set in Chattanooga.

They played moon river festival in 2021, but something about festival sets seems different than the full 2+ hour experience.

Solid Sound not withstanding, festival sets are super predictable. So excited for tonight. 

Highly enjoyable show last night. 
I was so impressed with the venue. From researching the Pinnacle prior to the show, it appears to be a pretty close copy of The Mission Ballroom in Colorado. The main floor is relatively wide, as is the stage. Plenty of space, and gotta say the staff was very attentive to us both prior to the show and during giving out free bottles of water. They must have gone through half a dozen cases. 
 

Early on in the show after a particularly dazzling solo from Nels somebody yelled out at Jeff “he’s better than you!” and Jeff said something along the line of “I know he’s better than me, he’s better than me too (points at Pat, and also the side stage monitor tech) how would you like it if I pointed out everybody better than you? I bet it’s a lot of people” it was pretty funny. 

Jeff had a pretty great joke prior to “Jesus, Etc.” where he said it’s been really fun to read all the internet memes about the new pope. He called him “da pope” like they called “da Bears” in that hilarious SNL skit, and said “Jesus, Etc” is the pope’s new walkout song. I was in stitches at that.  

Musically, there was a funny little flub in “Walken” where somebody lost count in the ending section, so Jeff hit the last note a full 2 bars early leaving everybody else a little confused. He laughed pretty hard at the song’s conclusion. 
 

Wilco in what’s shaping up to be a cold and soggy Atlanta. 
 

Basically, we’re up and down 75/24 for the next 3 days for Wilco shows! 

WILCO!!! Finally! 

On 5/5/2025 at 10:05 PM, DiamondClaw said:

Just wanted to say that listening to this podcast (which was great!) made me go back and revisit some of Jim O'Rourke's solo albums. My goodness, what absolutely amazing records those are.

Oh my goodness, yes. "Insignificance" in particular has such a place in my heart with those albums that just kinda wiggle into your ears and stay there forever. It's so good. 

I was supposed to see Wilco Friday, but the weather had other plans.

I did see soundcheck where they played 

Everyone Hides, Born Alone(2x), Passenger Side, Country Disappeared, and Random Name Generator

I just finished a sci-fi book called Project Hail Mary last night. One of the better sci-fi books I've read in several years. I appreciated they used real science in a plausible sort of way. 

AppleTV is great. I definitely think the storytelling is better on there than a lot of the other services at the moment. 

I really enjoyed Severance (though, it does start sow, and is pretty dense, so you really need to watch it without distractions. It took me 3 tries to get into it), Shrinking is a great comedy, and Harrison Ford is excellent in it, Ted Lasso is another really great feel good comedy.

This was such a great listen. Jim comes across as a really warm and kind person. 

It made me happy he said "Hell Is Chrome" is his favorite Wilco tune.

On 4/26/2025 at 4:36 PM, Albert Tatlock said:

So I decided that I had to see the Get Back docs at last overcoming my hatred of paying for streaming to. So a one month only then cancel subscription window has seen me binge them this weekend. Enjoyed them tremendously of course.

Anyway, I logged on the sing the praises of something I also saw there - McCartney 3,2,1. 6 half hour films of Macca talking to Rick Rubin, often over his music at a mixing desk. Really one of the best McCartney interviews I have seen - with a lot of new insights rather than his usual stories.

 

It’s hard to put into words the affection/connection I have with Beatles music - from my teenage years onward. It can really bring me to tears just thinking about it. I still can’t put a finger on it. Something about the rawness of the sound that I love even on what we’re supposed to think of as  those perfect studio produced albums like Pepper. It will be a sad day in my house indeed when Macca passes. That will be the day the music dies.

This is how I feel about the Beatles too. They're *the* reason I love music so fiercely. In fact the reason I picked up a guitar was seeing them on TV and telling my dad "I'm gonna do that, look how much fun they're having". 

I'll need to watch those McCartney interviews... forgot they were on there! 

How exciting to see Wishful Thinking on a set list! Hoping it sticks around for a show or 3 in a couple weeks

Heard "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" checking out at Trader Joe's yesterday.

I audibly gasped and the cashier said, "Are you ok?" I said "This is Wilco on the stereo. They're my favorite band!!" and she said "Oh I know Wilco." and then I said "They're coming here May 11. You should come to the show." I hope she does. I'm pretty sure she thought I was crazy though... 

1 hour ago, worldrecordplayer said:

Just back from Chicago. I'm heading to the Miami and St. Augustine shows. Road trip!

So exciting, and I hope you have an excellent time!

I can't wait for our run of shows to start next week in Birmingham. 

AM was the first Wilco record I heard, though admittedly it wasn't until 2001. 

I was in eighth grade and very vividly remember begging the band teacher Ms. Brown to let me use the CD player in the band room to listen to the majority of it (having been lent AM, Being There, Anodyne, Trace and Straightaways from another teacher) during "home room". She let me play it super loud too, and didn't even flinch at the lyrical content of "Passenger Side" being played at school. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon when I got to my grandparent's making tapes of the CD's off my uncle's old silver stereo in the back room.

Then I wore those the tapes out over and over until I got my own copies of the CD's for my birthday a month or two later.