Wilco 9/3/10 Aspen/Snowmass Jazzfest

[Muzzle of Dan]

Just an incredible show. This was my 3rd time seing the band. We made the drive out from L.A. and it was WELL worth the time in the car. The drive was pretty lovely and the band is just awesome. They were really on tonight and seemed to be having a lot of fun They bring an immense amount of energy and put on such a tight show. The setlist was super choice. I'll leave the setlist to someone else because I had too much fun to keep track of what was happening. Some highlights:

 

Ashes - first time I've seen this live and it was super mega epic.

 

Mountainbed - appropriately played as we were surrounded on all sides by mountaintops.

 

Kingpin - livin' in Aspen... Also - livin' in Snowmass... There seemed to be somei mix up about what town we were in. Earlier, Jeff said that regardless of where we actually were, one of the towns was as old as he was. Kingpin is seriously awesome live. The guys are really incredible musicians. This song was a real treat to see live.

 

Shot In The Arm - I've seen this one before but tonight was exceptional. Mike and Nels were rocking out like madmen.

 

Always in Love - first time seeing this one too. It rocks!

 

Company In My Back - always a treat. Saw this at my second Wilco show too.

 

Handshake Drugs - this was killer! Everyone was dancing.

 

Hummingbird - Jeff pointed over to one of the mountains for "so he slet, on a mountain.."

 

You Are My Face - great song. The end jam was awesome and the transition into the heavy part always gets me.

 

Via Chicago - this song is just tremendous.

 

Late Greats - I love hearing this song so much.

 

There were too many more awesome moments to recount. I really had a fun time. Wilco is a seriously talented band and there was a great deal of audience interaction tonight, as well. Jeff had too many funny comments about the way the audience was set up - VIP with dining and tables house left and general admission house right with an aisle running down the middle (which afforded me an excellent view). The best was when he basically said " let's not divide ourselves by class anymore." - during Kingpin. I'm really glad we may the trip out here. I can't wait to see what the boys record for the new album, after they go to Europe and finish the tour. Hopefully, we will all get a few chances to see them again next year.

[Magnetized]

Just an incredible show. This was my 3rd time seing the band. We made the drive out from L.A. and it was WELL worth the time in the car. The drive was pretty lovely and the band is just awesome. They were really on tonight and seemed to be having a lot of fun They bring an immense amount of energy and put on such a tight show. The setlist was super choice. I'll leave the setlist to someone else because I had too much fun to keep track of what was happening. Some highlights:

 

Ashes - first time I've seen this live and it was super mega epic.

 

Mountainbed - appropriately played as we were surrounded on all sides by mountaintops.

 

Kingpin - livin' in Aspen... Also - livin' in Snowmass... There seemed to be somei mix up about what town we were in. Earlier, Jeff said that regardless of where we actually were, one of the towns was as old as he was. Kingpin is seriously awesome live. The guys are really incredible musicians. This song was a real treat to see live.

 

Shot In The Arm - I've seen this one before but tonight was exceptional. Mike and Nels were rocking out like madmen.

 

Always in Love - first time seeing this one too. It rocks!

 

Company In My Back - always a treat. Saw this at my second Wilco show too.

 

Handshake Drugs - this was killer! Everyone was dancing.

 

Hummingbird - Jeff pointed over to one of the mountains for "so he slet, on a mountain.."

 

You Are My Face - great song. The end jam was awesome and the transition into the heavy part always gets me.

 

Via Chicago - this song is just tremendous.

 

Late Greats - I love hearing this song so much.

 

There were too many more awesome moments to recount. I really had a fun time. Wilco is a seriously talented band and there was a great deal of audience interaction tonight, as well. Jeff had too many funny comments about the way the audience was set up - VIP with dining and tables house left and general admission house right with an aisle running down the middle (which afforded me an excellent view). The best was when he basically said " let's not divide ourselves by class anymore." - during Kingpin. I'm really glad we may the trip out here. I can't wait to see what the boys record for the new album, after they go to Europe and finish the tour. Hopefully, we will all get a few chances to see them again next year.

 

Wow, great first report from the show. I'll bet they really made it special since this is their last show in the states for a while. Weren't you also at the Tweedy solo show in St. Louis? It's so great to hear two kinds of awesomeness that close together, isn't it?. Gonna be hard coming down from this. Thanks again for the report.

[admrz]

Posting this from my phone so excuse the spelling errors and/or formatting mistakes.

Wilco (the song)

Ashes of American Flags

Bull black Nova

You are my face

Remember the Mountainbed

Company in my Back

I am trying to break your heart

One wing

Handshake drugs

Hummingbird

Impossible germany

Via chicago

Jesus etc

I'll fight

Box full of letters

I'm always in love

Shot in the arm

You never know

Hate it here

Theologians

I'm the man who loves you

 

Walken

Drummer

Kingpin

Late greats

Hoodoo voodoo

 

Great show. I will chime in later when not on my phone.

[H.Stone]

Was it really a half/half division between VIP and GA? Were people in VIP actually sitting and dining? Ha. How bizarre.

 

Nice setlist! I don't think I'll ever hear I'm Always In Love often enough live. Looks like a great length for a festival set, too. And your description of the physical backdrop for the show makes me especially envious--there's something really special about outdoor shows.

[BoulderEagle]

Drove up from Boulder and just got back. My thoughts:

 

Indeed, the venue was split down the middle dividing $500 VIP tables from us plebes. Truly bizarre. The VIP section, as you'd expect, was much less crowded. Total attendance was about 5K.

 

Calexico was great as always, but only played an hour with no encore. Surprised by some of what they didn't play (eg Alone Again Or, Letter to Bowie Knife), but the empty crowd (at that point) was into it.

 

My first time seeing Devotchka. Crowd was fuller and way more into them. They reminded me of a Camper Van Beethoven/Gogol Bordello hybrid with a little bit of Arcade Fire thrown in. Fun but by no means original. An hour set with no encore.

 

The first half of the Wilco set was maddening. We were not that far from the stage on the right, and everyone was talking loudly over the music. It was driving us crazy! We wanted to chew out the talkers in front of us, but didn't because everyone else was talking almost as loudly. Mountain Bed and Company in My Back essentially fell on deaf ears. You could tell that the crowd was full of drunk 20-somethings who were there to socialize and couldn't have cared less about who was on stage. Seriously, the crowd noise for Wilco was 5-10X what it was for Calexico and Devotchka. One big indicator that people weren't that familiar was when Tweedy tried to do the Jesus Etc singalong and most people clearly didn't know the words.

 

Sometime around IATTBYH, the crowd started to quiet down. Handshake Drugs also kicked things into gear a little more. For me, the string of I'll Fight (the first in CO), Box Full of Letters (first time in CO in many many years) and I'm Always in Love really got things moving and shut up the crowd. For the last hour or so, crowd noise was not a problem. The band was great, sound was stellar, setting was spectacular (and a tad chilly as you'd expect in September at 8K feet), and Jeff Tweedy is a God.

 

All told, they played for 2 hours and 10 minutes. Great performance as always. The only other show I saw this year was in Madison in Feb. That show was much better and longer, but in all fairness I had 3rd row seats and the crowd was 1000X more into the band. We saw John Stirrat (sp) on the Snowmass mall this morning; he looked a little dazed, and we told him how much we enjoyed the set.

 

Let's hope they play more CO shows in 2011, and choose venues that are more likely to encourage respectful crowds.

[jimjiminy]

My wife and I drove from Salt Lake, got checked into the hotel, and arrived to the venue just as "Wilco (The Song)" was playing. This was our third time seeing Wilco and it was definitely worth the drive. I wanted to get there earlier, but you know, work and all that.

 

We started out on Pat's side, but as was mentioned, there were lots of talkers and not too many hardcore fans. For "Jesus, etc." my wife and I were the only ones that I could see in our area who were singing along. I did enjoy seeing several little kids dancing and twirling around. During "I'll Fight" we decided to find a better place and made our way over to the soundboard. The sound was absolutely crystal clear and there were more fans that actually knew the words to most of the songs. Also, it appears somebody was recording the show, so hopefully it will surface at some point.

 

For fun, during the encore, I told my wife which song they were going to play next based solely on Jeff's guitar and capo placement, if he was using one. I had to hear the first note of "Kingpin" before I could get it, but she was amazed.

 

Highlights for me included the newer songs, since the last time we saw them was at the Ryman Auditorium, 2 March 2008. (Wow, it's been too long between shows.) "You Never Know" rocks live. "Mountain Bed" was also a special treat.

 

Overall, it was a fantastic show in an amazing setting. I can't wait for them to come out West again and play multiple shows.

[denexile]

The show was wonderful. great energy, total command, incredible sound on every song. not one weak spot in the performance.

I agree with the posters about the set-up -- 'VIPs' on one side and everyone else on the other. What a waste of good positions! But hey, it's Aspen! Funniest was when Tweedy had the crowd singing Jesus, etc. and everyone on the 'plebe' side knew the words and got through the verse ... but he had to 'help' the VIP section. To clarify, though, i don't think anyone was at the tables in the VIP section ... everyone i could see (on the video screen during crowd shots) had moved up front. agree with jimjiminy about talkers, had to tune that out. there were plenty of wilco diehards though... i think festivals always have the 'audience mix' problem -- i.e. people who are therefor reasons other than purely the music.

Box of letters, unreal. Via Chicago with Glenn Kotch 'thunderstorm' as the band continued gently on also amazing (I hadn't seen that before). One wing had casual fans around me rapt, as i was.

great show, hope they come back really really soon.

met nels cline in snowmass village ... we had a very nice chat (and i tried very hard not to be loser groupie type!) he mentioned that it is likely that they will curate the MASS MOCA solid sound festival again next year... which i will definitely try to travel east for!

[Magnetized]

met nels cline in snowmass village ... we had a very nice chat (and i tried very hard not to be loser groupie type!) he mentioned that it is likely that they will curate the MASS MOCA solid sound festival again next year... which i will definitely try to travel east for!

Oh hope hope hope hope hope!!! Hey, we only have another 11 months or so to wait for it!

[admrz]

Some minor amusing things I saw:

 

During IATTBYH, a girl ran up to the stage and started dancing. Security rounded her up and took her down the middle aisle. A few seconds later, she comes running back up starts dancing again in front of the stage.

 

Not to long after Wilco started, a gentlemen who had been at the front the whole day had to be taken to the medical tent for what appeared to be too much alcohol. This wouldn't have been noteworthy except for his shirt that paid homage to Charlie from It's Always Sunny that said, "Eat Cat Food. Huff Glue. Drink Beer." I hope the medical and security staff caught the reference.

 

I was on the front row (on the right side if you were looking at the stage, in between camera guy and video board) and we had a small issue with a girl talking through the first few songs. Someone asked security to remove her and they did which I found odd.

 

Anyways, it was a great show. Well worth the trip from central Texas.

[Shug]

Yeah, the setting was amazing, it was a great drive up from Arizona through the gorgeous Colorado countryside and it was really nice to be outdoors, up close to the stage without too much effort and to have really good sound.

 

As I said in another thread, I’ve really gotten into Wilco since I picked up Ashes Of American Flags DVD and this show was the first I’ve been to since then. I had previously seen Wilco in 2003 and was not terribly impressed back then. Based on Kicking Television and the Ashes DVD, I’ve done a complete 180 since then and I think the band has evolved into something very special with the current lineup. I was hoping for a show that I’d find as exciting as the performances on Ashes.

 

Frankly, this show blew me away, leaving my jaw hanging open in amazement at how frickin’ tight Wilco are and grinning like a fool at how hard they rock out when they build up a head of steam. I was pretty sure I loved Wilco before this show, now there is no doubt. I'd follow this band from city to city or see multiple nights in a heartbeat. I’ve been a hardcore rock fan for more than 30 years and I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of concerts in the past 28 years. I think I know what a great rock show is and I do not exaggerate when I say this Wilco show is in my top ten of all time. Now for sure I’m a Wilco newcomer and I’d guess this was just a typical show for them, but I sincerely feel like I was watching one of the greatest rock bands of the past 30 years. I was thrilled with the standards like Handshake Drugs, A Shot In The Arm, Heavy Metal Drummer, Impossible Germany, via Chicago, etc. and was deeply suprised at how great stuff like Box Full Of Letters, I'm Always In Love and You Never Know were. Songs like Theologians and Hate It Here really came to life seeing them in person, even more so than watching them of the DVD. When they started playing Kingpin, my wife and I were jumping up and down like schoolgirls, we were so excited and happy to be hearing one of our two faves (the other being Monday, which they didn't play). I had requested Kingpin on wilcoworld.net, not sure if that had anything to do with it, but its nice to think they pay attention to what their fans would like to hear.

 

I think Wilco is the tightest live ensemble rock band I’ve ever seen and I've seen The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, The Black Crowes, and many many others many many times. I could not believe how synchronized and perfect they were, even when they were rocking hard. And as perfect as they sound, it doesn’t sound clinical or over-rehearsed. It just sounds like they have musical telepathy from playing together, listening carefully to one another and consciously working out complex arrangements. The guitar arrangements were stunning especially on Impossible Germany and the guitar duel on Hoodoo Voodoo. I loved how the show gradually built up to a crescendo. The last 10 songs or so were like a freight train. Glenn and John are a mighty mighty rhythm section. When Glenn starts pounding it out so hard, I think he's one of the best drummers in rock. John's bass playing can be so melodic even while his timing and groove are so spot on. Nels' manic guitar solos stand out so brilliantly when the rest of the band is riffing hard behind him. Mike's keyboards are subtle, but still a really key component to the overall sound. Pat really is a musical backbone of the band, too. I loved his solos in Hoodoo Voodoo, great stuff. And Jeff's vocals are always soulful, whether he's playing a weird and introspective stream-of-consciousness song, folk rock, or straight up rock 'n' roll. I f#@cking love this band!

 

I could really go on and on about why I think Wilco are among the best live rock bands of all time, but I'm preachin' to the choir. I was just utterly blown away and I'm so happy to have another band to follow that gets what real live rock music is all about and is still going strong (especially with The Black Crowes going on hiatus after this year). This review may be a bit over the top, but I don't say these things lightly. Maybe you remember the first time you really "got" Wilco in person and you'll know how I feel, still coming down from the high from this show. When's the next one?!?

[Magnetized]

I could really go on and on about why I think Wilco are among the best live rock bands of all time, but I'm preachin' to the choir. I was just utterly blown away and I'm so happy to have another band to follow that gets what real live rock music is all about and is still going strong (especially with The Black Crowes going on hiatus after this year). This review may be a bit over the top, but I don't say these things lightly. Maybe you remember the first time you really "got" Wilco in person and you'll know how I feel, still coming down from the high from this show. When's the next one?!?

 

I'm grinning from ear to ear reading your review. If there was ever a place to post something like this, it's on here, where so many of us feel the same way. They've been my favorites for so long, though, that it's just a real treat to put myself into your head right now and recall that exhilaration and sheer joy of seeing them perform. I've loved them for a long time, but the March "Evening with" show in Richmond, VA really sealed the deal, and Solid Sound was honestly one of the highlights of my life! So, while your feelings may in fact be a little over the top, you've got quite a few kindred spirits on this board. I consider this place my support group!

[denexile]

"When they started playing Kingpin...."

 

Agree with your sentiments. We are extremely lucky to be seeing artists at the absolute top of their game.

 

Re Kingpin, Tweedy generally all the guitar pyrotechnics to nels cline these days ... but on kingpin he reminded everyone he is a great guitarist in his own right.

[Edie]

Did he say "livin' in.... Aspen"?

[admrz]

Did he say "livin' in.... Aspen"?

 

Yes and threw in a "Snowmass" as well.

[DaveN]

Great show, as always. Crowd clearly had no clue who they were seeing/listening to. Overall did not matter at all to us. We have been to a dozen shows at least, and I am consistently amazed at the energy and precision they bring to every show. Their studio work is nothing compared to a live show -- this show was no exception. They worked it, gave it everything, and left it all on stage. Amazing!

[Bill Cormier]

Oh hope hope hope hope hope!!! Hey, we only have another 11 months or so to wait for it!

 

I am still having "Solid Sound" withdrawl ! This is great news, I can`t wait !

[radiatortunes]

I'll try not to repeat stuff that's already been said. The festival surroundings were incredibly beautiful. Jeff said in his classic, understated way, something along the lines of, "You folks have a nice joint here."

 

My husband and I found a spot just to the left of the soundboard that had a great view of the stage thanks to the four-foot wide aisle that separated the unwashed masses from the VIP'ers. (I joke.) The sound here was perfect and surprisingly, there was lots of room to "boogie" as Mikael would say. And not too many talkers at all.

 

I'm with BoulderEagle: the "I'll Fight" > "Box Full of Letters" > "I'm Always in Love" run was excellent. "Ashes" was phenomenal and definitely a highlight. (I heard something metal hit the floor and bounce around for a bit at the YVR airport while waiting for our baggage and I swear it sounded exactly like the opening of "Ashes." I guess I still had Wilco-brain Tuesday night.)

 

Snowmass operates a free shuttle bus service around the village. During the festival the buses were running every 5 minutes which was much appreciated. A couple of guys at the back of our bus after the show were trading notes. One fellow said this was his second Wilco show and he thought it was was right up there amongst his best concerts, period. The other fellow said this was his 19th show and it ranked #19! What?! I wish I could hear his reasons but I couldn't. I just can't imagine anyone walking away from this show dissatisfied. Maybe he was expecting an acoustic/"An Evening With" type mini-set or maybe he thought he'd hear some rarities. I thought the setlist was perfect for a festival show and the band was so on!

 

I got the feeling that the guys weren't ready to leave after "Hoodoo." Unfortunately, event staff were already removing the white tablecloths from the VIP tables halfway through the song. That was sort of an "unclassy" move and I felt bad for the guys.

 

We had broomed to Snowmass from Denver along the I70 but chose to take the scenic route (relatively speaking) back via Independence Pass (elevation 12k feet!) and had a stunning view of the Continental Divide. Jeff was right, a "nice joint," indeed.

[Kestrel]

Nice review and comments, Shug. Yours is the post I've pictured myself writing about this band many times from the point of view of a grizzled veteran of hundreds of shows for over 30 years. I first saw Wilco opening for The Jayhawks back when AM came out, and noted then what a tight band they are live. What they have evolved into now is truly something special and spectacular. Caught 2 shows earlier this year on The Evening with... Tour. Truly amazing.

[Shug]

Nice review and comments, Shug. Yours is the post I've pictured myself writing about this band many times from the point of view of a grizzled veteran of hundreds of shows for over 30 years. I first saw Wilco opening for The Jayhawks back when AM came out, and noted then what a tight band they are live. What they have evolved into now is truly something special and spectacular. Caught 2 shows earlier this year on The Evening with... Tour. Truly amazing.

 

Thanks! When I look at the comments on all the Wilco videos on YouTube, there are a lot that are similar to stuff I'm saying. Glad to know I'm not the only one who feels so strongly about Wilco! I'm a big Jayhawks fan, too, I know there is lots of overlap between those two bands' fanbases. How cool to have seen both bands at one show back in those days.

[Muzzle of Dan]

Wow, great first report from the show. I'll bet they really made it special since this is their last show in the states for a while. Weren't you also at the Tweedy solo show in St. Louis? It's so great to hear two kinds of awesomeness that close together, isn't it?. Gonna be hard coming down from this. Thanks again for the report.

 

Thanks!!! Indeed, I was also at the Tweedy show in St. Louis the week before this. I ran into some good fortune and happened to be able to have access to both of these right places at the right times. It was very awesome to have both of these shows within a week. Here it is a week later and I still can't get over how incredible it all was.

 

Fortunately - I've got Pavement/Sonic Youth and Arcade Fire coming up within the next month to help sooth my concert going needs. Then there is Roger Waters' The Wall show after Thanksgiving. It's definitely been a great year of concert-going all around for me.

 

Here's hoping we see Wilco on the road again next year at some point...