Wilco -- 2/27/10, Montréal, Québec

[bböp]

A little hard to believe that no one has started a thread for the Montréal show yet, but I guess it is a Saturday night and all (not to mention La Nuit Blanche, which I just learned about today ). Since I'm all nice and full after a plate of smoked meat, though, here goes...

 

I'll let others chime in on some of the details, but in short, what an energetic show! Like the Royal Oak, MI, show last summer, the energy of the crowd definitely elevated what could have been just a routine gig. It was hard to believe that, save for an opening set for Neil Young in late 2008, Wilco hadn't played in Montréal since the summer of 2006. (Consider that each year from 2002-06, the band had played a headlining show here.)

 

Whether the long absence factored in or it was just a genuinely appreciative audience, there was a distinct sense of anticipation in the air before Wilco took the stage. And the band didn't disappoint, building up to a noteworthy crowd singalong on Jesus, etc., with (if I'm not mistaken) the first performance of She's A Jar since last spring and back-to-back singalong warmups in California Stars and Summer Teeth. Of the Jesus singalong, Jeff said, frankly, that although he usually didn't come down too hard on audiences, there had been some "dogshit" efforts on this number. This one, though, was one of the loudest he could remember.

 

In the encore, the band deviated from its planned ending of Spiders (Kidsmoke) and Hummingbird on the printed setlist to the delightfully rocking Red-Eyed and Blue>I Got You -- Nels rocked so hard during the latter that he actually fell and crashed into a couple of amps at one point but quickly got back up and didn't miss a beat. Casino Queen/Hoodoo Voodoo/I'm A Wheel provided a satisfying end to the show with Pat having some fun and even surprising Jeff by not doing his all-out windmills on Wheel during his usual spotlight moment.

 

After playing a lot of seated theaters (or is it theatres?) of late, the band clearly seemed to enjoy being back in more of a club environment -- at least for a night or two -- and it showed. Jeff smiled a lot, saying hi to some of his wife's relatives, shrugging off a slight lyric flub in Pot Kettle Black and even inadvertently knocking over his mike stand during A Shot in the Arm.

 

Pat also dealt admirably with a pesky guitar strap that suddenly came off at an inopportune time in Handshake Drugs, recovering sufficiently to keep up his jagged guitar parts and apparently later flinging the faulty strap into the crowd.

 

That's about all I can muster at this wee hour. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, so hopefully some of the other VCers I saw at the show will post their takes as well...

 

For now, here was the complete setlist, as played:

 

—Olympic theme music intro—

Wilco (the song)

IATTBYH

Bull Black Nova

You Are My Face

One Wing

A Shot in the Arm

Muzzle of Bees

Pot Kettle Black

Deeper Down

Impossible Germany

She's A Jar

California Stars

Summer Teeth

Jesus, etc. (crowd singalong)

Handshake Drugs

You Never Know

Hate It Here

Walken

I'm The Man Who Loves You

--------------------------

Broken Arrow [buffalo Springfield]

Via Chicago

The Late Greats (dedicated "tonight, and always, to Anvil" )

Heavy Metal Drummer

Red-Eyed and Blue>

I Got You (At The End of the Century)

Casino Queen

Hoodoo Voodoo

I'm A Wheel

[Sunken mountain]

OK,who´s Anvil?

[madmur]

OK,who´s Anvil?

 

Anvil is a Canadian heavy metal band from the 1980's.

I do believe they are still kicking around.

[auctioneer69]

OK,who´s Anvil?

 

Anvil is a Canadian heavy metal band from the 1980's.

I do believe they are still kicking around.

 

You must see "Anvil, The Story of Movie", one of the best documentaries to come out last year and a brilliant, funny and moving account of a Canadian heavy metal band still trying to make it big three decades into their existence.

 

http://www.anvilthemovie.com/

[bobfrombob]

6 man rock sled

[Kalle]

Jeff was in a super good mood last night and even at one point said we could possibly be the "perfect audience".

 

I thought it was a great great show, up there in the best I've seen (this was #12 for me), the WTA songs sounded way better than last October in Toronto and even Royal Oak (Bull Black Nova especially).

 

Definitely awesome to see She's A Jar and Muzzle Of Bees (my request and the first time I've ever seen it!).

 

Great crowd singalong on Summerteeth, and Jesus of course, Jeff didn't even sing on a few parts of Handshake Drugs due to everyone singing so loud!

 

Nels' Impossible Germany solo was ridiculous last night, sooooo good.

 

Jeff said that they were at the Olympics and that they participated in the "6 man rock sled".

 

Would have been nice to see a few more rarities but let's hope we get some more in Ottawa.

 

Also, thanks again to bobfrombob for the ride down from Ottawa! It was a blast.

[Barbarino]

And the dude who brought his own spotlight because he's "super-sexy"...funny Jeff.

 

Brilliant show. Best live band in the world.

[Jupa]

Do somebody remember when the show started/ended?

[tried and true]

Do somebody remember when the show started/ended?

 

 

They came on promptly at 9 and I believe ended right around 11:00.

[howardox]

Do somebody remember when the show started/ended?

9-11.15

[howardox]

I've been to many Wilco concerts, but I can't remember having as much fun as last nite's show! The Montreal audience roared its enthusiasm and appreciation throughout as the band mixed new and old constantly keeping things interesting. Hilites included back to back Muzzle of Bees (which I also requested) and Kettle of Black with a lush organ arrangement that I had never heard before. Jeff did his best Simon Cowell American Idol impersonation after our rendition of Jesus Etc singalong,"There's been some real dog shit performances of that song. But THAT was spectacular. That's how that song's supposed to GO." The second set opened with a musically interesting Broken Arrow, a building Via Chicago and rocketed forward with back to back Red Eyed and Blue and I Got You (At the end of the century) which took me back to when I first heard the songs on Being There. The band was particularly warm and funny and generous making the evening feel like we were with old friends again.

[howardox]

I've been to many Wilco concerts, but I can't remember having as much fun as last nite's show! The Montreal audience roared its enthusiasm and appreciation throughout as the band mixed new and old constantly keeping things interesting. Hilites included back to back Muzzle of Bees (which I also requested) and Kettle of Black with a lush organ arrangement that I had never heard before. Jeff did his best Simon Cowell American Idol impersonation after our rendition of Jesus Etc singalong,"There's been some real dog shit performances of that song. But THAT was spectacular. That's how that song's supposed to GO." The second set opened with a musically interesting Broken Arrow, a building Via Chicago and rocketed forward with back to back Red Eyed and Blue and I Got You (At the end of the century) which took me back to when I first heard the songs on Being There. The band was particularly warm and funny and generous making the evening feel like we were with old friends again.

oops...that would be Pot Kettle Black

[avilapidus]

Great show with lots of energy. I'm curious why Jeff never mentions that the audience always turns the YOU CAN COMBINE ANYTHING YOU WANT verse of Jesus, Etc... into YOU CAN COME BY ANYTIME YOU WANT?

[Solitaire]

Great show with lots of energy. I'm curious why Jeff never mentions that the audience always turns the YOU CAN COMBINE ANYTHING YOU WANT verse of Jesus, Etc... into YOU CAN COME BY ANYTIME YOU WANT?

 

I wondered that as well. At the London show the audience messed that up and Jeff gave them a funny look but never mentioned it.

[Kalle]

Also, the backdrop is quite deceptive, I'm pretty convinced it is just white plastic, with other pieces of white plastic attached to it to give it that "book" like look when the lights are on it. Neat!

[Barbarino]

oops...that would be Pot Kettle Black

It's become so obvious ... that one is/was for Jay.

[pathfire]

Made the trip up from Brooklyn for this show, and man, was it worth it. This was maybe my 11th or 12th Wilco show at this point (I lost count somewhere along the way), and I would definitely put this in the top 3. There was something really special about seeing this lineup of the band in such a small venue and the fact that it was standing room only which rendered the 'stand vs. sit' debate a moot point. Because of this, I think they opted for a more rocking set. The energy from the crowd was high throughout and it seemed like the band was really feeding off that energy. After seeing them at various outdoor venues (McCarren Pool, Central Park, Festival Pier in Philly) and at Radio City, it was such a cool experience to see them in what felt like a really small venue. An employee of the Olympia said capacity was somewhere around 2,300 which isn't really THAT small, but it felt certainly felt intimate to me. But I was also like 3 rows of people back from the stage

 

I'd never requested a song through the website and I requested Summer Teeth and they played it! Maybe others requested that one also, but I was so happy they played it because I'd never seen the full band play it live. Only at Jeff's solo shows...

 

Pot Kettle Black and She's a Jar were rare highlights. I also liked that there were several bars set up throughout the venue which made it really easy to get a beer.

 

All in all, a fantastic show!

 

Enjoyed Bahamas too...picked up his album but haven't listened to it yet.

[howardox]

Made the trip up from Brooklyn for this show, and man, was it worth it. This was maybe my 11th or 12th Wilco show at this point (I lost count somewhere along the way), and I would definitely put this in the top 3. There was something really special about seeing this lineup of the band in such a small venue and the fact that it was standing room only which rendered the 'stand vs. sit' debate a moot point. Because of this, I think they opted for a more rocking set. The energy from the crowd was high throughout and it seemed like the band was really feeding off that energy. After seeing them at various outdoor venues (McCarren Pool, Central Park, Festival Pier in Philly) and at Radio City, it was such a cool experience to see them in what felt like a really small venue. An employee of the Olympia said capacity was somewhere around 2,300 which isn't really THAT small, but it felt certainly felt intimate to me. But I was also like 3 rows of people back from the stage

 

I'd never requested a song through the website and I requested Summer Teeth and they played it! Maybe others requested that one also, but I was so happy they played it because I'd never seen the full band play it live. Only at Jeff's solo shows...

 

Pot Kettle Black and She's a Jar were rare highlights. I also liked that there were several bars set up throughout the venue which made it really easy to get a beer.

 

All in all, a fantastic show!

 

Enjoyed Bahamas too...picked up his album but haven't listened to it yet.

Thanks for requesting to play Summerteeth! It added to the frolicking time.