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Wilco — 1/22/12, San Diego, CA (Copley Symphony Hall)


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More or less the kind of show you'd expect at a seated orchestra hall. While I personally had the misfortune of apparently being in the section of middle-aged dudes who dragged their wives/girlfriends to the show, at least a decent number of people that I could see stood up. There was a little bit of the stand-up, sit-down back-and-forth from song to song and I guess a pretty tight 11 p.m. curfew, but the band made the best of it and played their usual solid set.

 

The only omission that I noticed off the printed setlist was Red-Eyed and Blue>I Got You (At The End of the Century) which was listed in the encore but not played (probably for time reasons, as they finished promptly at 11). But that actually led to an interesting — at least to me — part of the show, which was the band going right into Outtasite (Outta Mind) from a dead stop. I can't remember the last time I've heard that song played that wasn't directly leading from another song.

 

Anyway, here was the complete setlist as played:

 

One Sunday Morning>

Poor Places>

Art Of Almost

I Might

Muzzle Of Bees

Misunderstood

Bull Black Nova

At Least That's What You Said

Rising Red Lung

Impossible Germany

Open Mind

California Stars

Handshake Drugs

Box Full Of Letters (started and restarted)

Born Alone

Jesus, etc.

Pot Kettle Black

Dawned On Me

Hummingbird

A Shot in the Arm

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

Whole Love

Heavy Metal Drummer

Outtasite (Outta Mind)

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I had a helluva great time. :yes Funny moment when Jeff had to stop and restart Box Full of Letters because he'd accidentally left his reverb on (loud!) after Handshake Drugs. Box Full of Letters had a whole new character for a few seconds there! :lol

 

Can't wait for L.A.!

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Absolutely nothing to complain about with last night's show. The sound at Copley Hall was the best I've heard at a Wilco show in all the years I've been seeing the band. Nels was on fire. I got a kick out of Jeff's joking about The Casbah and thought it was cool that someone through a Casbah sweatshirt up on stage for him to keep.

 

My wife and I live just about a mile from Copley, and decided only a couple hours before the show to actually try to get a ticket. We went down there and found people had extras everywhere. Since the show sold out so quickly, we gave up hope months ago as I wasn't going to pay >$75 a ticket. We met some nice guy out front as we were walking up who sold us two orchestra seats for face value. A buddy of mine arrived just after White Denim and paid $20 to sit in the same section. Cool night, especially since our weekend plans didn't include seeing Wilco in our neighborhood.

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Great show!

 

As for the sound, how was the mix for everyone else? I was 2nd row Directly in front of Jeff's amp, and if he was playing electric that was all that I heard.

End up missing quite a bit of Nels solos because of it. Not completely mind you, but it wasn't balanced for me at least.

 

Thanks for the set list too. I usually bring a pad and pen to shows, but I was planning on live tweeting the set list. Not that anyone follows me, just so I could go back later. But then I forgot to charge my phone yesterday afternoon, so it was almost dead before the show even started. (I know, first world problems...)

 

Also, White Denim were Hot! I highly suggest getting early enough to check them out. Although their mix was pretty muddy, still sounded good.

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Used to see Wilco all the time when I lived in Chicago, but first time seeing them in about 3 1/2 years, last time in SD. I listen to shows occassionally, but that's not the same as seeing them live. Same great band, actually better than ever, but certainly different. At this show anyway they seemed to be all about the sprawling, epic, moody, intense numbers. The rockers/alt/folky stuff played a minor role, sometimes providing nice relief, but other times feeling out of place/contrasted.

 

The venue was gorgeous, sound was immaculate, and although seats were toward the rear, still felt close to the stage. The venue, setlist, and it being a Sunday night did lead to it being a sit down show, which I actually didn't mind. I'm old. No talkers though, so fuck yeah on that!

 

A few comments on the songs/setlist:

 

The first 3 tunes are kind of a strange way to open a show, and would seem to fit better at the end of the set. I'm sure they have their reasons, probably trying to mix things up, and maybe that's just how I'm used to a concert being - starting with short rockers and building up to the bigger tunes.

 

I did love the placement of Misunderstood, used to hearing that at the beginning or end of a show, so that was cool. And maybe they reworked the intro, or it was just due to the lighting effect, but that was intense as fuck. Wow.

 

Of the new tunes, Red Lung stood out the most, surprising because the album version didn't leave much of an impression on me. It seemed to fit in with the overall epic moodiness of the show.

 

Box Full and Pot Kettle were nice surprises, and benefitted from the band's sonic maturation. I'll have to listen to those again.

 

Still love hearing California Stars, nice solos from most members on that one. Jesus Etc. seemed to fall flat relative to other times I've seen it, maybe used to the sing along.

 

Tweedy played acoustic on the majority of tunes, maybe 80%. Banter was 100% awkwardly hilarious.

 

Nels is still fucking crazy.

 

Glenn is still one of the greatest drummers in the history of mankind, going back to the shamans sitting around the fire.

 

John, Pat and Mikael are the same tasteful stallions they've always been.

 

Looking forward to seeing if a similar band shows up on Friday in LA!!!!!

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I enjoyed the show very much. Wilco is (if noting else) a great live band. Glenn is ridiculously fun. Nels is more impressive live than on record. They can reproduce new songs an breath life into old songs better than most, it seems.

 

Great setlist, IMHO. I was hoping for Ghost songs and got quite a few (Muzzle!). I requested ALTWYS (several times) so I kinda hope they played it for me! (anyone else request songs? get played?).

 

I was surprised no ITMWLY. Does JT not play this every show anymore?

 

The mix was a little muddy from my seat (Mikael seemed to high; JT too low), but only minor gripe. Overall pretty good sound.

 

I have mixed feelings about the seated show and venue. Sure it was comfy, but kinda looses something for me. The joke the whole night revolved around The Casbah. I wish I had seen them when they played those kind of venues. I think it would have been a much more satisfying experience - even if they sounded bad (as JT joked). I can't help but contrast this show with some recent ones I saw like the intimate Jay Farrar solo show at the Belly Up (maybe 50 people there) and the hyper-cool Avett Bro show at the House of Blues (everyone jumping/yelling the whole show). A huge Opera house is not very Rock and Roll. The SD House of Blues was only a few blocks from the Coply. Maybe I have become too snobby about this sort of thing...

 

After hearing good things about White Denim, I have to say I was disappointed. Not my cup of tea. Not too mention their mix was terrible.

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I enjoyed the show very much. Wilco is (if noting else) a great live band. Glenn is ridiculously fun. Nels is more impressive live than on record. They can reproduce new songs an breath life into old songs better than most, it seems.

 

Great setlist, IMHO. I was hoping for Ghost songs and got quite a few (Muzzle!). I requested ALTWYS (several times) so I kinda hope they played it for me! (anyone else request songs? get played?).

 

I was surprised no ITMWLY. Does JT not play this every show anymore?

 

The mix was a little muddy from my seat (Mikael seemed to high; JT too low), but only minor gripe. Overall pretty good sound.

 

I have mixed feelings about the seated show and venue. Sure it was comfy, but kinda looses something for me. The joke the whole night revolved around The Casbah. I wish I had seen them when they played those kind of venues. I think it would have been a much more satisfying experience - even if they sounded bad (as JT joked). I can't help but contrast this show with some recent ones I saw like the intimate Jay Farrar solo show at the Belly Up (maybe 50 people there) and the hyper-cool Avett Bro show at the House of Blues (everyone jumping/yelling the whole show). A huge Opera house is not very Rock and Roll. The SD House of Blues was only a few blocks from the Coply. Maybe I have become too snobby about this sort of thing...

 

After hearing good things about White Denim, I have to say I was disappointed. Not my cup of tea. Not too mention their mix was terrible.

 

I saw Wilco back before the Casbah days. They are definitely different, and depending on your perspective better or worse now. I loved the venue. And as much as I love Wilco, if they played at any House of Blues, partlicularly the SD one, I would not go. The management there treats patrons like cattle, and last time I attended intentionally created a hazardous situation in order to get people to buy more drinks. Thankfully Wilco knows better than to play such corporate hell holes.

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And as much as I love Wilco, if they played at any House of Blues, partlicularly the SD one, I would not go.

 

I wouldn't have gone either had they played House of Blues. My wife and I are regulars at Copley and the elegance of the theatre along with great acoustics make it so desirable. I knew it was going to be special.

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Don't worry too much. In Tempe the crowd all stood up when they took the stage, quickly sat down for One Sunday Morning, and then were back on their feet for the entire rest of the show from the second song on. There were no rude talkers near us. People were listening attentively and responding with enthusiasm for nuances and details in the performances. No one was too drunk or shouting out and being obnoxious nor were they fist-pumping and rocking out, so if that is what you are wanting, you might be disappointed, but really it was just about a perfect crowd, IMO. You never know what you're gonna get, but even in seated theaters, Wilco's crowd is overall young and hip enough to want to stand up to enjoy the show pretty much all the way through. It was that way at the Ryman last year, too.

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I had such a blast at this show! It was my first since the Aspen/Snowmass Jazzfest show in September 2010 and I couldn't have been more excited. I thought the venue was awesome. It felt very intimate an sounded flawless from row G on the house right side! I was lucky enough to be in a spot where I could stand for the whole show and no one seemed to mind. A few others around me seemed happy to do just the same. All the new songs kicked some serious ass live, especially Art Of Almost (the videos and live recordings don't do justice to the energy exploding from the jam at the end). Rising Red Lung was really dynamic and Born Alone was just killer. The end section of Born Alone is just a crazy musical party. The Whole Love is just as awesome as I had hoped it would be live. It sounds so good when Jeff, John and Pat all sing together. I'm a sucker for harmony and this band does it well and effectively. I'm really excited for the run of shows in LA.

 

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