Wilco - St. Augustine Ampitheatre 5/16/12

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Poor Places opener

Wow.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Poor Places

Art of Almost

I Might

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

Pot Kettle Black

At Least That's What You Said

Spiders (Kidsmoke)

Impossible Germany

Born Alone

Capitol City

Handshake Drugs

Jesus, etc.

Whole Love

Box Full of Letters

I'm Always In Love

Dawned on Me

Shot In the Power Outage

(Band vamps while stuff gets fixed)

End of Shot in the Arm

 

Late Greats

Theologians

I'm The Man Who Loves You

California Stars

Heavy Metal Drummer

Red-Eyed and Blue >

I Got You

 

Great show, even better than Tampa.

Banter alert: "You guys have quite the subtropical paradise here. It's a little buggy, but that's okay."

[Central Scrutinizer]

Amazing set list, and how they managed to mix new songs into the mix. Just an awsome opening eight songs, concluded by an inspired solo on Impossible Germany by Nels, using a gold Les Paul from Duane Allman. Towards the end, Tweedy gave Nels a look of utter amazement. The axe may have come from Allman, but it was all Nels' by the end of the night.

 

Tweedy didn't talk much, but it was an upbeat and edgy performance (for a bunch of dad rockers). Glenn held it together during a power outage (I don't know if it was at fault or a result, but one of the amp heads (presumably John's) had to be replaced.

 

It was an embarrassing turnout for the First Coast; by one estimate there was only 1,300 people there. But th audience was on its feet and vocal. Got to meet John briefly after the show.

 

Hard to gauge from the front row, but it sounded excellent -- especially being directly in front of Nels and his set up. Saw mics and a nice recording setup near the sound board, so keep my fingers crossed that a recording will be forthcoming.

[Magnetized]

Embarrassing turnout was right, but the few of us who were there gave up loads of love. I think they felt it. So, so happy to see the boys! And so great to spend some time with other Wilco fans. I do love this band.

[Albert Tatlock]

Don't usually get too worked up by setlists as generally its all good, but I have to say that I noticed that no BBN, no Walken, no Ashes, and no Kingpin - meaning that all my Wilco peccadillos would have been satisfied, and I can't remember that happening before

[50footqueenie]

Don't usually get too worked up by setlists as generally its all good, but I have to say that I noticed that no BBN, no Walken, no Ashes, and no Kingpin - meaning that all my Wilco peccadillos would have been satisfied, and I can't remember that happening before

 

I'm intrigued - what exactly is a 'Wilco peccadillo'? Is this a Welsh thing?

[JackStrawfromOttawa]

What a great venue too!

[Albert Tatlock]

I'm intrigued - what exactly is a 'Wilco peccadillo'? Is this a Welsh thing?

Just my most notable personal sins of non-conformance to the Wilco dogma

[Lotti]

Embarrassing turnout was right

Lady, Florida is place where the sequin is required to make attraction for major pop spectacle for sure. This has proof for all to see in plain sight in career ot Lady Glorious Easterfan and her Machine Sound - although in truth she has a copying of the cats of the Abba in derived way from Voulez-Vous period - without acknowledgements as made in respectful case of Mr Jeff Tweedy which give full credit in musical homage. It is strange Mr Jeff Tweedy make slip up in this style rule of first importance, but it is perhaps due to nag pressure of children who have embarassment of parents wearing the sequin. This is common phase in young life even in the Sweden. But friends, be in good cheery mode, for it soon passes and then all family can be in sequin and boots together!

Welfare!

[smells like flowers]

then all family can be in sequin mode and boots together!

I'll keep this one in my head today!

 

St. Augustine was so much fun -- a little feeling of worlds colliding with my new VC friends and my hometown friends all mixed together. Truth be told, I've anticipated this week for so long that if I didn't have Wolf Trap to look forward to, I'd be in despair right now. I hate when it's over!

[smells like flowers]

It was an embarrassing turnout for the First Coast; by one estimate there was only 1,300 people there.

The venue holds nearly 4,000 so I don't think it was that poorly attended. But thank you Wilco, for playing the "tertiary markets" like St. Aug -- they surely would have gotten a bigger crowd in other Florida towns but I'm eternally grateful for having Wilco in practically my very own backyard.

[Central Scrutinizer]

The venue holds nearly 4,000 so I don't think it was that poorly attended. But thank you Wilco, for playing the "tertiary markets" like St. Aug -- they surely would have gotten a bigger crowd in other Florida towns but I'm eternally grateful for having Wilco in practically my very own backyard.

1,300 is the number I got from multiple ushers/security. They closed the entire upper level after tickets were on sale for a month.

 

Despite Tweedy's reference to sub-tropical conditions and general bugginess, I just love this venue, and am just sorry -- and frankly quite surprised -- more people didn't take advantage of it. Some attributed it to Jane's Addiction playing at the Florida Theatre, but Wilco sold out the Florida Theatre in a matter of days in 2008. By Monday, they were offering half-price seats for Jane's Addiction.

 

I am curious about others' view of the opening act. I thought they sucked, highly uncharacteristic of a Wilco opening act.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

The opening act, Purling Hiss, sounded much, much better in Tampa. I am guessing that they had their own sound man, and he just couldn't adjust them to the outdoor venue. I don't know. But in Tampa, they were very good. My second-favorite opener for Wilco, after Nick Lowe.

 

I think the problem during A Shot In The Arm was a big power surge, because it seemed like just about everything in the place - except for the drums, of course, which do not rely on electricity - went out for a few seconds. It was a bizarre situation. By that point, the crowd was really pumped up, so about the only thing that could have sucked the life out of the room would have been a complete halt to the song. I got the feeling that people were so amped, it almost would not have mattered. They would have cheered for just about anything. It seemed like the fact that the band soldiered on without actually stopping the song made people even more excited/appreciative, because the place really went nuts multiple times...when Jeff started singing again, at the end ("...any MORE"), and after the song was finished. I don't think I have ever been at a Wilco show where the crowd was that loud at the end of the main set.

 

In an odd way, it also seemed like this relatively minor glitch in an otherwise stellar show somehow made the band up their game even more during the extended encore. You could tell that this crowd really wanted to rock, and Wilco delivered. There was a little more funny banter from Jeff during the encore set ("Weren't you guys scared when the lights went out?"), but mainly it was just delivering one excellent version after another of those songs. As great as the Tampa show was, to me it was like every song they played at both venues sounded better last night. I don't know if Jeff was just right on the mic, but you could actually hear almost every word to every song...something that has been an ongoing issue, at least to me, since the lineup was extended to a sextet. Sometimes I have sensed that his vocals have gotten buried in the mix, but not last night.

 

By the way, I realize I screwed up the naming convention for this thread a little...pretty hard to remember how to do it perfectly when I am using my cell. So if one of the mods can fix it for me, that would be cool. If not, it doesn't actually bother me.

[Shug]

Thanks, Mr. Heartbreak, for that detailed description. I love to read that kind of review that gives a sense of what was like to be there. It sounds like it was way more fun than the setlist would indicate. Nothing like a good rockin' into it crowd!

[choo-choo-charlie]

 

The highlight for me was when the power went off, the band continued to play for probably 5 minutes before the power came back on. Knowing Tweedy's reputation, I kind of expected him to leave the stage.

 

 

I don't follow...

[smells like flowers]

As great as the Tampa show was, to me it sounded like every song they played at both venues sounded better last night.

 

That's interesting -- I had the opposite experience. In Tampa I was in Row 9 and the sound was fantastic. Jeff's voice sounded as good as I've heard it, and the guitar work sounded perfect and blew me away. Last night in St. Aug, I was in the pit, 3rd row in front of Pat, and from where I was the mix was not at all integrated. I guess you sacrifice the sound a bit for proximity. I think in the future I'll err on the side of being a bit farther away and having it sound the way it's supposed to.

 

BTW, since I did stand in front of Pat the whole time, I noticed he had a distinctly bored look on his face and mostly looked past the crowd. Perhaps the result of too many nights in a row playing, or the less-than-full venue, but I was a little put off by the distance he put between the audience and himself. Oh my, I do sound like a sensitive Wilco fan, don't I?

[Shug]

It sounds to me like the difference was your location. I don't like being too close, either. If you are too close, you are hearing mostly guitar amps, and more of whatever amp is in front of you, in this case, Pat's. You have to be a little bit back to hear the PA system in which all the sounds are being purposefully mixed together to sound good. 6 rows and more in the center can make a HUGE difference in sound quality. I've never been an "on the rail" concert goer, it usually sounds bad up there and I don't care that much about being up close. I prefer to be in the sound sweet spot if I can, which is usually straight back just in front of the PA mixing board. But at the LA Theatre show in Jan, I was way off to the side in row 1, and it sounded just fine to me. The PA speakers were still right in front of me, though, since they were on the stage and a little bit back. I got lucky at that one, I suppose.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Hmmm. I was in the 6th row in Tampa, and although the sound was certainly good, it was even better for me last night way up in section 201 or whatever it was. Weird.

[Central Scrutinizer]

I was front row directly in front of Nels, and my mix featured his amp, and to a lesser extent Jeff's and Mikeal's. I loved the sound but vocals were fairly drowned out. But at a Wilco concert, not hearing the words doesn't affect your singing along ...

[sonnyfeeling]

I checked for tickets a couple days before the show and there were still a thousand or so available. It wasn't sold out, but the first two tiers were completely full and the center section of the third tier was full as well. Based on the seating chart I would guess there were probably around 2400 attendees, plus or minus. Definitely more than 1300.

 

The early curfew and the power glitch meant two songs were cut from the encores (which became just one encore). Had they actually followed the printed setlist, we would have heard Wilco (The Song) and Passenger Side (my request). Oh well.

 

A pleasant time, a very solid show, and great to see some old friends and make some new friends.

[Doug C]

Definitley as excellent as Tampa. The only reason why I'd say it was better is because we were in the 1st row instead of the 9th. I didn't notice any sound problems but I am not an audiophile. All of the instruments and vocals were prominent to us directly in front of Pat. Another great crowd with the band in a fine energetic mood again. We were on our feet all night. Another excellent set list, Poor Places to open and doubly good for us as 10 of the songs were not played in Tampa. Pot Kettle Black and Box Full of Letters! I expected the same Monday/Outtasite encore since they were alternating nights but we had Red Eyed/I Got You! We so enjoy Wilco live.

 

The only negative was when 3 "ladies" appeared next to us during Shot In The Arm. One kept moving up against me, yelling in my ear "Maybe all I need is a shot in the dark". I turned to her and said, "It's 'a shot in the arm'. She replied, "That's what I said". I said, "No you said 'a shot in the dark'. She laughed and then started slapping me between my shoulder blades in time with the drums! What in hell? I tried to ignore her but to no avail. Finally, the security guy made them leave as they didn't have a red pit access wrist band. He said to me, "She was literally hitting on you". My wife thought all of it hilarious.

 

Another guy stopped between beer runs to say, "You been dancin' all night, dog". He raised his free hand so I extended mine to shake it. It was like rock, paper, scissors as my hand met a fist. Not being a fist bumper, I was confused. He switched to an extended hand just as I figured it out and made a fist. He switched back to a fist and bumped mine. A diverse crowd at Wilco shows.

[choo-choo-charlie]

 

He raised his free hand so I extended mine to shake it. It was like rock, paper, scissors as my hand met a fist. Not being a fist bumper, I was confused. He switched to an extended hand just as I figured it out and made a fist. He switched back to a fist and bumped mine. A diverse crowd at Wilco shows.

 

 

I hate it when that happens.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Are you sure it was rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock?

[Doug C]

Are you sure it was rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock?

Ha! I love that show, dog.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Definitley as excellent as Tampa. The only reason why I'd say it was better is because we were in the 1st row instead of the 9th. I didn't notice any sound problems but I am not an audiophile. All of the instruments and vocals were prominent to us directly in front of Pat. Another great crowd with the band in a fine energetic mood again. We were on our feet all night. Another excellent set list, Poor Places to open and doubly good for us as 10 of the songs were not played in Tampa. Pot Kettle Black and Box Full of Letters! I expected the same Monday/Outtasite encore since they were alternating nights but we had Red Eyed/I Got You! We so enjoy Wilco live.

 

The only negative was when 3 "ladies" appeared next to us during Shot In The Arm. One kept moving up against me, yelling in my ear "Maybe all I need is a shot in the dark". I turned to her and said, "It's 'a shot in the arm'. She replied, "That's what I said". I said, "No you said 'a shot in the dark'. She laughed and then started slapping me between my shoulder blades in time with the drums! What in hell? I tried to ignore her but to no avail. Finally, the security guy made them leave as they didn't have a red pit access wrist band. He said to me, "She was literally hitting on you". My wife thought all of it hilarious.

 

Another guy stopped between beer runs to say, "You been dancin' all night, dog". He raised his free hand so I extended mine to shake it. It was like rock, paper, scissors as my hand met a fist. Not being a fist bumper, I was confused. He switched to an extended hand just as I figured it out and made a fist. He switched back to a fist and bumped mine. A diverse crowd at Wilco shows.

 

I think these three were working the whole front row. We were on the aisle front row the other side, and I got the same treatment, with the beating in rhythm on my shoulder blades. Her line to me was "I'm 80 percent annoying and 100 percent adorable." I asked her if she checked her math.