Wilco — 12/10/11, Detroit, MI (Fillmore Detroit)

[bböp]

A nice high-energy show to lead into the Chicago run...

 

The complete setlist, as played:

 

One Sunday Morning>

Poor Places>

Art Of Almost

IATTBYH>

I Might

Misunderstood>

Bull Black Nova

Black Moon

Impossible Germany

Sky Blue Sky

Forget The Flowers

Born Alone

Capitol City>

Via Chicago

I Must Be High

Pot Kettle Black

Dawned On Me

A Shot in the Arm

Hummingbird

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

Whole Love

Passenger Side

Heavy Metal Drummer

Candyfloss

Standing O

I'm A Wheel

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

Cruel To Be Kind [Nick Lowe] (w/ Nick Lowe on acoustic guitar and lead vocals)

[Slim Jim Blood]

Great show. As stated, very high energy. Band sounded tight, Nels was en fuego, good set list. No major surprises. I'm a Wheel was a little unexpected though.

[bböp]

Great show. As stated, very high energy. Band sounded tight, Nels was en fuego, good set list. No major surprises. I'm a Wheel was a little unexpected though.

 

For me, I'm A Wheel was less a surprise than both I Must be High and Candyfloss. Those were both played for the first time in a long time, I'm fairly certain. Possibly the first time this year, though I'd have to look it up to be sure....

 

I definitely enjoyed the trio that closed out the first encore. To me, Candyfloss>Standing O>I'm A Wheel is pretty much the band at its garagiest, if that makes any sense, and it was awesome!

 

And then to have the Jesus of Cool come out and do Cruel To Be Kind with Wilco backing him and adding the harmony vocals and even that song's simple yet elegant guitar solo (Nels channeling his inner Dave Edmunds), well that's something I'd never get tired of hearing. Boy, it's going to be sad tomorrow night at the Civic Opera House when Nick plays his last show with the band for a long time...

 

Speaking of Nick, here's what he played last night in case anyone was interested (cheers to the Detroit crowd for adding the backing vocals on When I Write The Book...that was cool):

 

Stoplight Roses

Heart

Long Limbed Girl

Lately I've Let Things Slide

All Men Are Liars

I Live On A Battlefield

I Read A Lot

I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock 'n' Roll)

Alison [Elvis Costello]

When I Write The Book

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding

[Caseydog]

Another good setlist. Liked the Black Bull Nova-Black Moon. Maybe it's just me, but I'm finding the first encores (second set) to be kind of a letdown. They could be a bit more epic Spiders (Kidsmoke) needs to be added. Theologians too. They obviously have a huge catalog, but I think they're overplaying the new album a bit. I'm sure other will disagree.

 

Super Nick Lowe set

[Beltmann]

"Misunderstood" into "Bull Black Nova"... wish they had done that in Milwaukee!

[paulcalypse]

Thanks for both set lists bböp. Also nice chatting with ditty and his wife (don't know her handle) after the show. Fun thing: my girlfriend spotted Matt Smith from Outrageous Cherry in the crowd so I went over to say hi. He told me told me they were recording their new album nearby and he took a break to come by and see Wilco. Really nice guy. They played at solid sound in '10, FYI.

 

Overall great show. I am having a hard time deciding between Austin (12/01) or this show, so I'll call it a tie. They are really rocking on this tour. My highlight was the three song opener. Great combo.

[IATTBYB]

A good, professional show, as expected. I am not a fan of opening the show with One Sunday Morning. It totally sucked all the excitement and energy out of the house from my perspective. Highlights of the evening included the A.M. gems (I Must Be High AND Passenger Side); watching Nels and Mikel going absolutely bat-shit crazy on Shot In The Arm from the balcony; and the energetic (but too short) encore closing trifecta of Candyfloss/Standing O/Wheel; and has been previously mentioned closing with Cruel to Be Kind. And to who ever spilled their beer all over my jacket, thanks a lot. At least you weren't as annoying as the interpretive dancer in the loge balcony who was the only person who stood up and blocked my view for much of the show.

[bethwid]

Absolutely stellar show. Wondering why I had not seen the light show mentioned before, but it was AMAZING. I woke up with it playing on the back of my eyelids this morning. Wilco always ups their game. Gotta love that in a band. Also I have to say, I love that they played One Sunday Morning. The crowd actually had to quiet to listen for once. Made up for the drunk girl behind me screaming the lyrics to the other recent hits.

[paulcalypse]

Yes I agree. People were quiet during OSM which I think lets the band know the fans are buckled in and ready for the show. I think the song is a great opener.

[Suki]

I still am on a Wilco high. Great show and from where I was standing, a great audience. Jeff thanked the audience more than once -- he said he would like to take us along on to all of the shows; we would have come in handy on this tour but he wasn't naming names. I also thought the set design and light show was awesome. And I loved hearing the new songs -- 9 in total. I've never seen Mike so animated, especially during the encore. He was jumping around like crazy during Standing O and that went into I'm a Wheel as well. When Nick Lowe came out for the encore, Jeff mentioned they were sad because they had only one show left with him (and said start a Facebook petition to get him to join Wilco) and Mike pantomined tears rolling down his face.

[ditty]

For me, I'm A Wheel was less a surprise than both I Must be High and Candyfloss. Those were both played for the first time in a long time, I'm fairly certain. Possibly the first time this year, though I'd have to look it up to be sure....

 

I definitely enjoyed the trio that closed out the first encore. To me, Candyfloss>Standing O>I'm A Wheel is pretty much the band at its garagiest, if that makes any sense, and it was awesome!

 

And then to have the Jesus of Cool come out and do Cruel To Be Kind with Wilco backing him and adding the harmony vocals and even that song's simple yet elegant guitar solo (Nels channeling his inner Dave Edmunds), well that's something I'd never get tired of hearing. Boy, it's going to be sad tomorrow night at the Civic Opera House when Nick plays his last show with the band for a long time...

Also nice chatting with ditty and his wife (don't know her handle) after the show.

 

Just got back home...what an AMAZING show from so many points, Your right on Paul, "I Must be High and Candyfloss" were completely from left field and what a beautiful Rickenbacker Jeff plays on "I Must be High".

 

Starting the day was cold but the company was great waiting in line with Jen, Chris, Erin, Morgan, Adam, Paul, Leo, Heather and Russ...did I forget anyone? Seeing others at the show, it was like a family reunion. The floor crowd was fabulous. Nick Lowe received great attention. At intermission you could feel the anticipation building and when Wilco came out it was incredible! Being in the front row with all the above, late in the show Jeff mentioned it was "great to see many familiar faces tonight" and I agree, what a wonderful group of fans this band has! The sound was the BEST I have ever heard from this view point and Stan deserves recognition as we would never enjoy this band so much without his work as well.

[Joe G MSU]

Great show last night. I thought the show started to lean towards the country part of Wilco's label as an Alt-Country band, but they did bring it back to rock out. I know people are excited, but the hoots and hollers during One Sunday Morning are annoying. We were at the Toronto shows in September, and the crowd was more intent on listening to the song.

 

Was there a lot more to the light show than earlier in the tour? It was very nice, not too distracting, but added to the experience.

[lazy locomotives]

So many highlights and definitely a great show…I also enjoyed hearing the Candyfloss/Standing O/I’m A Wheel closer…that was killer. I particularly liked the syncopated variation on Pot Kettle Black’s steady riff...not sure if that’s a new thing this tour or what. The opener of OSM into Poor Places then AOA is epic and is just astonishing to listen to.

 

I Must Be High and Passenger Side were very cool to hear, although I would’ve loved to hear them do Should’ve Been In Love or Dash 7 – my personal A.M. favorites.

 

This was our second time with Nick since October having seen him at The Largo in LA (150-200 seat venue – we were front row center…awesome x 2000) and he’s an absolute treasure to listen to – love the new album.

 

The Fillmore was an excellent venue – loved the place…

[dark]

Wow .. the show was GREAT ...3rd row front ... the sound was great and the whole band seemed in great spirits (especially Jeff) .. took my daughter and she loved every moment

[maxspr1]

Great night! The sound at the venue was excellent, at least where we were. We easily strolled up and found some empty spots up close to the stage when the doors opened (even without fast lane tickets), right in front of John & Pat. High energy all night in the crowd and the band. Jeff smiled and talked quite a bit and seemed to be having a good time. The setlist was excellent with plenty I didn't expect (Candyfloss and the A.M. songs, especially). My wife, a huge fan of Nick Lowe, almost passed out with excitement when they did Cruel to be Kind together! Only negative: the annoying couple who shoved their way towards the front as Wilco came on and then clapped out of time and complained loudly throughout One Sunday Morning (they thought the crowd was really lame for not clapping along and yelling "Woooo!" with them every 10 seconds during the song). Everyone else around us was pretty friendly and nice, though. Found myself laughing at Mikael a few times: he did a robotic Kraftwerk (is that too redundant?) impression during either A Shot in the Arm or one of the encore songs and went nuts during most of the fast encores, playing keyboards by mashing down towels and a pillow/seat cushion on the keys. As a bonus, we met some of the guys after the show. Glenn Kotche gets the award for coolest guy of the night: he saw a small group of us with posters and CDs in hand as he was leaving, dropped his stuff off on the bus, then headed over and was just absolutely nice as could be, signing for and chatting with everyone, thanking us all for waiting in the cold(!) Then, a little later, we saw him point us out to Mikael, Nels and John and they headed over one by one. Super nice guys, every one! Mikael was especially chatty and friendly and also thanked us for waiting in the cold. Went home shivering but buzzing with a smile on my face.

[King Crawler]

ditto and ditto to everyones comments. Awesome show and setlist, finally allowing me to cross Candyfloss off my bucketlist. Took my 14 yo son to his first show and he was spellbound! Sound up in the mezzanine was great as were those around me.

 

I'll second the comments about the irritating "whooos" during OSM. Act like its not your first show.

[dark]

Yea the"whooos" during OSM were a bit annoying . but what ya going to do some people just lack the basic social skills .... during the encore a small petite woman worked her way up behind me and began jumping up and down .. several times hitting me in the head but I kinda enjoyed that she was having sucha great time ...but glad it wasnt for the whole show

[augurus]

The venue sure does offer alcohol and even though it sold out, seemed like there were a lot of drunk and casual fans out there. Had a bunch boys and girls pushing into the back of me while I was standing in GA like a row behind Ditty. There were some that just snuck up here and tried to create some weird dance circle. So in general, we came to hear Wilco perform, so unless it's a singalong, keep it in your pants, please.

 

Paulcalypse, where were you standing? Maybe I was standing close to you and I didn't even know it.

 

According to Wilco's new setlist DB, I Must Be High was last played in Colorado this year. Candyfloss was last played earlier this year as well in Chicago and Wisconsin. Art Of Almost light show was pretty seizure inducing. Still think Misunderstood works best as a closer, but Hummingbird and I'm A Wheel did pretty well too. I thought I smelled a mess-up at the end of the first chorus end of Capitol City. They also messed up the beginning of Dawned On Me. But none of it mattered. Crowd energy was very good. Singalong-rate seemed pretty high. Setlist was pretty twang-oriented. I think they undermixed the drums for Born Alone. Would've loved to see Glenn get some attention from Jeff and crowd right after it too. Nice seeing everyone.

 

Also, for future reference, if you want free parking for this venue, park at Greektown Casino Parking [free parking except during major events] and take the People Mover to the venue.

[paulcalypse]

Paulcalypse, where were you standing? Maybe I was standing close to you and I didn't even know it.

My girlfriend (spoonscar) and I got in line relatively early, but we opted out from standing super close to the stage (we were right in front of Jeff in Austin.) We were exactly center on the first rail with a good view over everyone's heads. Those step ups are really nice for shorter people (like her), and even for me it was great seeing everyone on stage equally with the PA mix to boot. It sounds so much better back there, haha.

I particularly liked the syncopated variation on Pot Kettle Black’s steady riff...not sure if that’s a new thing this tour or what

I thought this sounded new, too, but I was watching the video of Lollapalooza 2008, and they played it the same then, too. Not sure how long they've been playing it like that, though.

 

Here's a picture I took with my phone during A Shot in the Arm. Feel free to follow me if you have instagram, too.

 

 

http://instagr.am/p/Yj6kx/

[dazzler]

I think this is the best venue in town for Wilco. Bigger than Royal Oak, but smaller than the Fox. My wife and I had maybe the best spot of any Wilco show we've been to - first level above the main floor straight on center. We were maybe 6 inches higher than the stage with a perfect view.

 

The setlist was good and the boys were humming like a turbo jet. I don't know if they can get any tighter. I'm a fan of the new album, so it was great to see so many of the new songs live. That said I will agree with the person who said OSM sucked the energy out of the room. We were ready to rock it out and it was hard to put on the brakes. People did settle into the song though and personally I loved it. However, i'm not sure how i feel about starting the night out with an intense 12+ minute song followed by a 6+ minute song (including what felt like 90 seconds of drone) into another 12+ minute intense song. I was hoping to see both OSM and Art, just maybe not so close together so I could digest them better. While i'm not a fan of Impossible Germany I was happy to hear a new guitar solo.It was great to hear some old faves too like Forget the Flowers and Candyfloss. And my wife got a Passenger Side, so she was happy. Is it just me or is this band playing I Must be High sorta like using a forklift to carry in your groceries. I loved hearing it, but the collective musicianship on the stage was a little overkill.

 

Finally, a big big hand to Mr. Nick Lowe. Possibly the best opener I've seen for Wilco (followed closely by John Doe). The man is a consummate pro and his pipes are still in great shape. Especially loved Heart, All Men are Liars, and of course Alison.

[bböp]

According to Wilco's new setlist DB, I Must Be High was last played in Colorado this year. Candyfloss was last played earlier this year as well in Chicago and Wisconsin.

 

Those performances you mentioned were all Jeff solo shows, so I wasn't really thinking of those. Looks like the last time the full band played I Must Be High or Candyfloss before this past week was at the very end of the "Evening With..." tour back in April 2010 (I Must Be High on 4/10/10 and Candyfloss on 4/11/10, to be exact).

 

And hey augurus, it was nice to finally meet you in person...

[leftarmtan]

I thought the show was pretty good last night and the atmosphere was very pleasant. I've been a fan since I first saw UT at Gabe's in '93 and always thought JT puts on a great show. I wish I would have heard even more AM, Summerteeth, and YHF, but at least they didn't go overboard on Ghost.

 

I love Nels, but I find myself missing Jay Bennet more and more. Nels technical skills are tremendous, but something is missing for me.

[insideoutoflove]

Hey guys, haven't posted on here in foreverrrrr, but just wanted to chime in and say the show was a blast and it was great to see all those familiar faces jeff mentioned

 

The guys have come a LONG way from that first show of the tour in Indy--it was really cool to see that jump from feeling out the new stuff (John was laughing at their first Art of Almost attempt after the Indy show) to how tight and awesome things were Saturday night..which is to be expected, obviously, but still fun to see that progression. Such a great show. High energy, everyone was in good spirits, just an all around blast. Excited to do it a couple more times this week!

 

Here are a couple photos of Nick, who I am very sad to be saying goodbye to

 

-Morgan

 

http://instagr.am/p/YcjRC/?ref=nf

 

http://instagr.am/p/YkFSC/?ref=nf

[Groovylou8]

My fifth show Wilco show. Thought the show was good, not great.

 

I will preface by saying I had floor seats, and the floor was PACKED. I am only 5'8'' and with it being so crowded, it was difficult for my brother and I to find a decent sightline to the stage. After moving around a couple times, we settled in the middle by the soundboard, and were able to get an OK view of the stage. This hadn't been a problem for me in previous concerts and definetely hampered my experience a little bit.

 

As for the performance, thought it was good. I thought the tempo was a little disjointed, with a lot of instances where upbeat songs would be immediately followed by a slower song. Don't get me wrong, I don't need every song to be upbeat, but the ordering did seem a little wierd. Great to hear Misunderstood and Pot Kettle Black (cross them off the list). I agree with the comments that the band is playing extremely tight together and the new album will be great to hear live for years to come. That's one thing that is so great about this band - they have SO many good songs to choose from. I got a copy of the setlist from the sound guy walking out so that made my night.

 

One last thing: did anyone else think the volume was turned a little too low? During most songs, I could easily talk to the person next to me without having to raise my voice. I don't need my eardrums blown out, but I think the music becomes a little more enveloping when it's turned up a little loud.

 

Anywho, I probably sound like a complainer here, but it's just my experience.

[augurus]

I thought the version of Poor Places we received was the loudest and most chaotic version I had ever heard. It was, um, aggressive, I think. I've heard many versions of it, but this one may be my favorite, even if they don't sample her.

 

bböp, nice to meet you as well.

 

And yes, the volume I thought was kind of off. The guitars came off pretty well. But I thought Glenn sounded muted throughout most of the show except for Forget The Flowers. I miss the AGIB tour era version of A Shot In The Arm where they turned up Jorgensen's piano.