Wilco — 5/19/12, Memphis, TN (Mud Island Amphitheatre)

[bböp]

A beautiful evening on the banks of the Mississippi to close out this brief run of shows. After what I thought was a relatively subdued start, the band really picked it up toward the end of the main set and finished with a very fun second encore, complete with guest appearances...

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played:

 

Via Chicago>

Art Of Almost

I Might

War On War

She's A Jar

Handshake Drugs

Spiders (Kidsmoke) (acoustic arrangement)

Impossible Germany

Born Alone

Laminated Cat (a/k/a Not For The Season) (electric arrangement)

Standing O

Jesus, etc.

Whole Love

Too Far Apart

I'm Always In Love

Dawned On Me

A Shot in the Arm

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

The Late Greats

Heavy Metal Drummer

Kingpin

I'm The Man Who Loves You

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

In The Street [big Star] (w/Jody Stephens on drums; John Stirratt on lead vocals; Glenn Kotche on cowbell)

Red-Eyed and Blue>

I Got You (At The End of the Century)>

Outtasite (Outta Mind)

Hoodoo Voodoo (w/Jody Stephens and bass/guitar/keyboard tech Josh on cowbell and members of Purling Hiss on electric guitar and percussion)

[smells like flowers]

Wow -- that puts quite an exclamation point at the end of the Southeast tour! Sounds fantastic.

[mus2009]

Hearing She's a Jar & Too Far Apart, then Red Eyed & Blue right into I Got You was truly amazing

[Shug]

John singing Big Star with Jody Stephens!!!! War On War, She's A Jar, Handshake Drugs early in the set looks pretty good to me. Not too many of the moody stream of consciousness songs in this set, really. I was trying to convince a friend to go see this show, but he was on a team in the BBQ competition that finished yesterday, so he couldn't go, too bad, looks like a real good show with Too Far Apart and the double encore of all rockers, cool!

[Quixote]

Great show and a fantastic night for an outdoor show! bbop, I thought it felt a little subdued at the start, too. I think the crowd was still warming up a bit. I dug the set list, though. It was my third Wilco show and my first time to catch "She's a Jar," "Laminated Cat," and "Outtasite (Outta Mind)." I think the highlight of the night for me was when the older (seemed to easily be in his 60s at least) gentleman sitting next to me, who had been intermittently sitting throughout the show, bounced up for "A Shot in the Arm" and belted out every last word--the song was a kick ass ending to the main set, too.

[angelo]

Here's my quick take on the show: the new songs (from Whole Love) are amazing to hear live, with I Might and Whole Love being highlights for me. A friend and I were discussing whether the opener was going to be One Sunday Morning or Poor Places and then they blew us away with Via Chicago. This was my third Wilco show in Memphis (I'm counting Snowden Grove) and I got four new songs - She's a Jar, I'm Always in Love, Kingpin and Outtasite (Outta Mind). They absolutely slayed me with I'm Always in Love. Reminded me of the version from the IATTBYH movie.

 

Here were some downers for me: talkers. The guy in front of me must have known everybody in the entire city - and they all wanted to have conversations right in the middle of songs. When he wasn't talking he was checking e-mail on his phone. Not sure why that bothered me since at least he wasn't talking, but it did. Dude finally left during the middle of the first set and I was able to enjoy the rest of the show uninterrupted (I know, I know, the entire show is about MY pleasure, not anybody else's. I'm totally aware of and embracing of my hypocrisy regarding selfishness). To further illustrate that point, I actually thought, "Oh man, they're doing 'In the Street' with Jody again? They did that last time. I wish they would have worked up September Gurls." Rather than thinking, "AAAAAHHHH!! It's Jody Stephens and Wilco doing 'In the Street'!!!"

 

Would have loved about 30 more minutes, but Wilco works so hard that 2 hours has got to be a physical killer. And their catalog is become more and more incredible with each album that it must be difficult to put together a set list without an "Aw man...not again." (BTW, Handshake Drugs for me).

 

 

Oh, and Purling Hiss, the opener, was great. The crowd that came early got a nice treat and the crowd that came late missed out.

 

I hope Wilco continues to make Memphis a regular stop. They never ever disappoint.

[Quixote]

I know "Handshake Drugs" is a fixture, but it's one of my favorites to hear live--one of my favorite Wilco tunes, period.

 

My only real "aww man" moment of the set list was "Standing O." Granted, I'd never heard it live before, but it's one I generally skip on The Whole Love.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Handshake Drugs is Jeff's Darkness on the Edge of Town.

[Muzzle of Dan]

I will never, ever tire of hearing Handshake Drugs live. It's always a party when that incredible bass line starts thumping away - do/do/do do do do do... do/do/do do do do do....

 

(null)

[Hoodoo Man]

Truly a great show. I've never been to a bad show at Mud Island and this was no exception. Crowd: Talkers came close to ruining the beginning of the show for me but I used all the patience I had in me and thankfully they stopped talking and then left. Their exit was one of the highlights of the evening. Met some nice folks down from Indy to see the show. Music: great set. As usual, the beginning of the show was slower than the end but the songs we got were for the die hards and we appreciated them. By the end of the main set a rock show had broken out and there was no slowing down. Nels was dripping tone. As a guitarist from another life I can tell when a guitarist knows he's getting serious tone. It just makes you want to bleed every single note and not stop playing until somebody unplugs you and Nels had it Saturday night. The new songs sounded great and when you throw in the alternate version songs that's 8 songs I'd never heard live before and was not left longing for past concert staples. I'd have been happy with more songs, but didn't feel cheated at all. As for Handshake Drugs, I wasn't looking forward to it, but have to admit they killed on it. Sounded incredible. Super highlights: Too Far Apart, She's A Jar, the double encores, Jody on drums for Big Star. I wish more people realized who Jody was, but there was a good round of cheers for him and he's still awesome behind the kit. John nailed the vox as well. Purling Hiss: Very nice opener that I really enjoyed. Their mix was a little muddy but I don't know if that was just their sound or if the engineer was having trouble for their set. Hard to describe their music so I'll just call it pretty straight rock. Nice progressions, good melody and dude was not afraid to take a guitar solo.

 

All in all a fantastic night. I'm so glad Memphis got squeezed in for this mini tour as I couldn't break free for any of the closer shows (Jackson, MS; Birmingham, AL). Thanks to Wilco for making my night, week and possibly entire summer.

[Quixote]

Praise from the Commercial Appeal's main music critic: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/may/21/review-wilco-heats-up-mud-island-to-red-hot/

[rareair]

awesome show. they really were on fire the last 45 minutes.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Praise from the Commercial Appeal's main music critic: http://www.commercia...and-to-red-hot/

 

Nice review, but I laughed out loud when I got to this:

 

Hoodoo Guru

[Fred Garvin]

I thought the show was absolutely great. There are probably too many hightlights to list, but here are a few of mine: Laminated Cat, Too Far Apart, I'm Always in Love, the acoustic Spiders, Handshake Drugs, Jody Stephens sitting in on In The Street, (I'm a sucker for guest appearances and cover songs.) I'm also darned glad they brought out Kingpin for this show. And if Wilco decided to close every show with Hoodoo Voodoo, I couldn't blame 'em a bit. Two days later, I'm sitting at work in Illinois and still thinking about nothing but Wilco in Memphis.

[Boss_Tweedy]

My favorites from the evening: She's a Jar, Handshake Drugs, Too Far Apart, I'm Always in Love, Kingpin, In the Street (w/ Jody Stephens), I Got You (At The End of the Century) & Outtasite (Outta Mind). Great show. Great venue. Great night.

[Shug]

Did anyone get any good BBQ or hit any good spots before/after the show? I always recommend Cozy Corner for BBQ and encourage people to check out Earnestine and Hazel's, sorry I didn't mention it until after the show was over...

[Quixote]

Both are great recommendations, Shug. Cozy Corner seems to fly under the radar for some reason. I'm not sure why because they make some mean BBQ.

[Shug]

I can tell you know Memphis! Gus' Fried Chicken is another must-hit spot. And of course, the mighty, incredible, motherlode of classic soul, the STAX museum!!!!

[Quixote]

Do you live in Memphis, Shug? This July will be six years for me.

[Shug]

I was a California transplant to Memphis for 4 years, 2001-2005 while I was going to The University of Memphis. I did see that Wilco show on the rooftop of the Gibson Guitar Factory, man was that a cold Oct night! Also got to see Big Star play twice, which was a crowning achievement for my rock concert going career. I got to know some of the local musicians who hung out with Jeff Buckley when he was living there, too. So much good stuff has happened in Memphis. Now I'm in Arizona. I love going back to visit all my favorite spots and my friends who were born and raised there, though. After the Ryman Wilco shows last Fall, I took my wife to Memphis. She's a huge Elvis fan, so it was fun to show her around.