bböp Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 First off, special to H. Stone: The rainbow SG is back! Indeed it reappeared for I'm The Man Who Loves You to close out the first encore (and might've also been used on Hoodoo Voodoo if they had played it to close the show as planned on the printed setlist). Instead, we were sent off into the muggy Arkansas night with "just" Red-Eyed>I Got You>Outtasite--and it was that closing trio on which Jeff and Nels debuted new guitars that I don't think have been used live with Wilco before. I know Jeff's was a black electric Fano (a new company he's been working with that I believe builds custom guitars out of vintage parts). Nels' new guitar, which I'm not sure of the brand, was a white, possibly Jaguar-shaped model with a lot of what appeared to be shiny stickers on the body. Jeff also debuted a light-colored Rickenbacker on I Might that I hadn't seen before, rather than the red and white one he had been using. Anyway, all in all, not a bad start to what promises to be a very busy rest of the year. With a two-month break when all of the band members were up to different musical pursuits, they came back together rather nicely, I thought. The only real hiccup came on Hate It Here when Jeff struggled with the first couple verses, even singing "remembering lyrics doesn't change anything" at one point. Haha. Also, apropos of nothing, the new T-shirt for this tour has a Waffle House theme. Get it before the cease-and-desist letter comes! :-) Anyway, I'm sure others will have further comments about the show, so for now, here was the complete setlist as played (I clocked the band's set tonight at 2 hours, 4 minutes): Misunderstood>Art Of AlmostI MightCompany In My BackWar On WarVia ChicagoOne WingHandshake DrugsBlack MoonSpiders (Kidsmoke) (acoustic arrangement)Impossible GermanyBorn AloneLaminated Cat (electric arrangement)Jesus, etc.Hate It HereBox Full Of LettersDawned On MeA Shot in the Arm------------------------------Whole LoveCandyflossHeavy Metal DrummerWalkenI'm The Man Who Loves You-------------------------------Red-Eyed And Blue>I Got You (At The End of the Century)>Outtasite (Outta Mind) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kidsmoke Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 That rainbow SG is a pretty one! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Magnetized Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 So glad you were there to document this for us, Paul. Did everybody look happy? Any interesting new facial hair? How about the set design--they still using those little bunches of white cloth? I'll be seeing them in Tampa on Monday--so excited! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
linclink Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Thanks! Very exciting stuff! I stayed up to see if anyone would post a setlist...read a brief piece today where John mentioned they'd choose a setlist from a repertoire of about 70 songs...think it's larger via looking at how many different songs they actually do perform during any given year/tour...but anyhow...yeah, blast off...and so here we a-go-go!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
electronicmaji Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 MisunderstoodArt of AlmostI MightCompany in my BackWar on WarVia ChicagoOne WingHanshake DrugsBlack MoonSpiders (Kidsmoke)Impossible GermanyBorn AloneNot for the SeasonJesus, Etc.Hate It HereOutta Mind (Outta Sight)Dawned on MeShot in the Arm (Encore)Whole LoveCandyflossHeavy Metal DrummerI'm the Man Who Loves You (Second Encore)Red-Eyed and BlueOuttasite (Outta Mind) Is what I got Then again I didn't know every single song and wrote down the lyrics for some of them. Good concert, kind of dissapointed there weren't that many YHF and SBS songs. Also the venue is pretty shitty, no standing room only at all, overuse of staff I swear there were like 30-50 staff members, and the guys who run it complain about not having enough money to attract big artists. Wilco is the first big band to play there in ages, literally everything else is old washed up rock bands like Styx. No wonder. Also felt bad for Purling Hiss. The crowd was completely staying away from the seating area and they played a short set to basically 30 people. I clapped and rooted and raved, and stood up the whole time, but the rest of the group was miserable. Lot of old people were in the front seats at the Wilco concert, first bout of noise and they went off running. I attribute this to the Walton Arts Center and by connection Wal-Marts horrible handling of the Amp, giving out free first row tickets to season ticket holders for classical concert series, and eschewing price differences. I really have a hard time believing Wilco decided they wanted all the seats, from grass, to the very front row, to cost $44. In fact the price is excessively high for what I've seen for other Wilco concerts and concerts at smaller venues that are much better built. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 To answer at least a couple of questions, Jeff was clean shaven tonight--I trust that will change as the tour wears on--and he wore his glasses throughout the show. Mike still appears to have his 'stache, but I couldn't see Glenn well enough to see if he had any growth. Everyone else looks the same. As for the lighting design, they didn't have the full-length "little ghosts," probably because the stage wasn't tall enough. They had the little stands with the ghosts on at least one side of the stage, but I wasn't sure what function they really served. One difference, and again I'm not sure if it was venue specific because the Arkansas Music Pavilion stage is is sort of set up in a half clamshell if that makes any sense. So there was essentially a white screen behind the band and another one that sort of curved above them. And so there were occasionally projections of various abstract images as a sort of complement to the light show itself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gopokes Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I guess I saw things a little differently. This was the first non-GA show where I was up close. After reading numerous threads here, I was curious how the whole stand up / sit down thing was going to be handled. The second the band hit the stage, everyone was on their feet for the entire night with the exception of a handful of people (my wife included on a couple of songs). Her excuse was the gravel we were standing on. Yep...gravel. I agree the venue was...different. I was in the 3rd row and most of the people I saw in the front two rows had some sort of sticker on that I assume meant that they were some sort of season ticket holders. From my view, the age was pretty mixed, and I didn't see anyone bail. The only complaint I would have is the insane number of people that insisted on walking down the center aisle and taking a picture with their iPhone. One guy even ran down and did one of those auto stitch things where he took like 15 pictures of the stage! Maybe this is typical at reserved seating shows. I'm used to GA shows where you don't have enough room to even pull your phone out of your pocket. Despite the NO PHOTO line on the ticket stub, apparently the band has backed off of that stance a bit. Despite the bizarre venue (I thought the lecture hall at UNT was weird, but this may have trumped it), it was a great show to start off the tour. First time I ever heard Not For The Season which was awesome. I hope everyone going to the future shows have as much fun as I did tonight. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
worldrecordplayer Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Would love to see photos of the new guitars. Head's up to you folks going to the next shows! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rhino4evr Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 that is a pretty mixed set, with lots of older songs. Interesting. Hoping for more of a Whole Love/YHF mix, with a few tracks from GIB, ST, and BT. No Wilco the album needed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 Would love to see photos of the new guitars. Head's up to you folks going to the next shows! Re: the new guitars, the company is called Fano (not Faro...my mistake, which I've corrected above). Their Web site is www.fanoguitars.com, for all the guitar geeks out there. I'm almost certain Jeff uses a JM6 model on the song Whole Love, exactly like the one pictured on the Fano site. I think the new black one might be a PX6. That shape looks like the one Jeff brought out last night. (Edit: Upon further review, the guitar that Jeff uses on Whole Love is an actual Fender Jaguar. It does look almost exactly like the JM6 on the Fano site, though.) And I just remembered that I heard from someone that the actual color of the black one Jeff used last night is "bull black." Which might or might not be how he first got involved with Fano in the first place...:-) Hopefully someone will get a decent picture of the "new" guitars at one of the upcoming shows, if such a thing is now kosher. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
letseatpaste Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Wilco was great, if a little loose (and I use that term loosely) in spots. There were the forgotten lyrics on Hate it Here, and I maybe heard it wrong but I think Jeff might have hit a wrong note or two leading into the solo on Impossible Germany. He laughed it off, seemed pretty relaxed. I kind of doubt they thought much of the venue but seemed to be just enjoying themselves anyway. I don't think I'll ever see a show at the AMP again. I thought the worst part was the giant fenced off section for the corporate sponsors with big round tables and chairs and a generous amount of space. Even then, it wasn't fully occupied so it was this big empty space behind the eighth row about 20' deep and across the whole center section. Some of the folks in there were into it, some chatting and checking their phones quite a bit. I think those corporate sponsors could have subsidized the $44 ticket price if they're going to take up all the prime real estate and not use it. On the plus side, it was a gorgeous evening, ideal outside concert weather. Wish there were better venues/promoters in Northwest Arkansas. The number of staff was insane. They must have been on the buddy system, because it was always groups of staff standing around doing one person's job. My highlight of the night was the more acoustic-y version of Spiders, I don't know if that's a new thing or not but that was pretty great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
worldrecordplayer Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Re: the new guitars, the company is called Fano (not Faro...my mistake, which I've corrected above). Their Web site is www.fanoguitars.com, for all the guitar geeks out there. Thanks for the pointer. The company has a page on the site listing artists who play their guitars, but no sign of Tweedy or Nels there (yet). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 Thanks for the pointer. The company has a page on the site listing artists who play their guitars, but no sign of Tweedy or Nels there (yet). Yeah, I saw that. It's a relatively new relationship, I think. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lukestar Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Yep...gravel. If I emoticoned, I would. edit: .....and it would be the peanut and jelly time 'naner Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Preferred B Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Hey P, any chance Nels's guitar had art from Norton Wisdom? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 Hey P, any chance Nels's guitar had art from Norton Wisdom? Yep, that's the one. Where's that from? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Preferred B Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Norton Wisdom's Facebook. He has pics of the front and back, as well as a picture of Nels with the guitar. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 Norton Wisdom's Facebook. He has pics of the front and back, as well as a picture of Nels with the guitar. Nice Facebook detective work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
radiatortunes Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 No Wilco the album needed. "One Wing" is a pretty incredible song, especially live. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Preferred B Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I saw them when he posted them yesterday, so it didn't take too much sleuthing prowess. But thanks! And um, thanks for the facial hair report? Maybe? Is that like the JB H&P report? I wish Wilco would play W(ta) from start to finish some night. I would be the loudest cheerer for "Shake it Off." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jaashworth Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Thanks for the setlist and reviews! I had a great time at the show last night, but I agree with everyone's assessment of the venue. Of course, compared to where the AMP was located the past few years (in a Mall parking lot......seriously!!!), this was a HUGE improvement!!! I couldn't help but chuckle and feel a little embarrassed as we walked into the venue past the "Beef Barn", though! By my best recollection, this was my 25th Wilco show going back to the pre-Being There days. And it was my wife’s 8th Wilco show. But the big milestone for us was that this show was our 5 year old daughter’s first Wilco show, and she loved it! We have pretty much raised her on Wilco, so she was seriously excited about the show. And since we live about 20 minutes from Fayetteville and we figured this would be a fairly tame venue with the option for her to sit if necessary, we thought this would be a good first show for her. Was it the best Wilco show I have ever seen? No….but being able to take my little girl with me makes it one of my more memorable Wilco shows. :-) Anyway, on to the show itself…..I always love it when “Misunderstood” is the opener, so we got off to a great start. Everything from “The Whole Love” sounded fantastic, and my only complaint is that I still haven’t seen “One Sunday Morning” live. But that’s a minor complaint! The highlight of the show for me was the acoustic arrangement of “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”, which took me back to the pre-AGIB versions of the song. I also enjoyed “Laminated Cat” a lot – that was an unexpected surprise. All in all, it was a fun show that was made even more enjoyable for us because it was a rare opportunity to see my favorite band pretty much in my own back yard without having to drive a few hours! And of course, being able to see my favorite band with my little girl was a pretty great moment too. I hope everyone who made the trip to NW Arkansas for the show enjoyed your time here and the perfect Arkansas weather that we ordered up for the show! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I wish Wilco would play W(ta) from start to finish some night. I would be the loudest cheerer for "Shake it Off." You must have a rare version of W(TA) with a track from SBS on it. ;-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Doug C Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 You must have a rare version of W(TA) with a track from SBS on it. ;-)Ha ha! I took it to mean that he would so want them to not play Wilco (The album) that he would even cheer for Shake It Off. You are probably correct, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 If you gave me all the songs on SBS and WTA and made me pick which ones are on which album I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it either. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Preferred B Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Dammit! Okay, there's enough room in a show for them to play both W(ta) and SBS back to back. And I can remain the loudest cheerer for Shake It Off. Sounds like this was an interesting venue. Gravel? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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