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Wilco — 12/8/14, Chicago, IL (Riviera Theatre) [Winterlude Night 3]


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The return of the Total Pros! A good night for Being There fans! Pieholden! :thumbup :w00t :santa

Here was the complete setlist as played:

Wilco (the song)
Company In My Back
Hell Is Chrome
War On War
Pot Kettle Black
Sunken Treasure (Jeff on electric)
No More Poetry (Jeff solo acoustic)
Cars Can't Escape
Pieholden Suite (w/Total Pros horns)
Misunderstood>
Someday Soon
Summer Teeth
It's Just That Simple
You And I
Someday, Some Morning, Sometime>
Laminated Cat (aka Not For The Season)
Airline To Heaven
Feed Of Man
Box Full Of Letters (waltz arrangement)
Passenger Side
Walken (w/Total Pros)
I'm The Man Who Loves You (w/Total Pros)
Spiders (Kidsmoke) (electric arrangement)
--------------------------------------
You Never Know (w/Total Pros)
Can't Stand It (w/Total Pros)
Monday (w/Total Pros)
---------------------------------------
Too Far Apart*
New Madrid*
Dawned On Me*
Dreamer In My Dreams*

* — performed hootenanny style with Jeff and John on acoustic guitars, Nels on dobro, Glenn on percussion, Mikael on melodica and Pat on banjo

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Some good banter from Jeff when he explained that "We're not playing every song we've ever recorded. Nobody said that! We did that already!"  And also, "And we never said no repeats! If that's what you want go follow some other band that only plays eight songs each night." But he did allow that repeated songs will probably be played differently (e.g., with horns). 

 

And how cool are the posters for this Winterlude!

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I will be looking for this show on Roadcase. Almost as good as Raleigh set list...... And horns to boot.....

 

Sounds like the boys are really enjoying the hometown love..... I would have dropped my Jaw and Smile after that show!!!!!!

 

 

Keep it up and wow......

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Really fun show, and so nice to meet a bunch of you there, up front.  Special thanks to the extra-gentlemanly gents who let a height-challenged lady stand in front of them so she could see the show :)  

 

Observations:

 - Having just been at the show in Milwaukee on Wednesday, there was more than a little overlap with that setlist, which is understandable.  

 - It was definitely "intense Jeff" up front, though he did lighten up after Sunken Treasure, which seemed even more moody than usual.

 - Glad to see the Total Pros there!  Loved their spangly jackets and the extra depth they added

 - Heard comments about one of the prior nights that Jeff did a few songs without guitar.  There were none of those tonight and there were an unusual number where Jeff either took the lead guitar or his guitar played a prominent part in the mix.  I really dig his playing, so I'm a fan of this.

 - Standout tunes for me: Pot Kettle Black, the aforementioned Sunken Treasure, and Can't Stand It ("screamy Jeff")

 

Let's do 3 more!  :guitar 

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The following is a list where if seen independently would have made last night a great and memorable show:

 

Sunken treasure and misunderstood in the first 10 songs

Total Pros

Pieholden suite/summer teeth

It's just that simple (with appropriate crowd adulation for John)

Some day some morning some time

Spiders ending the main set

New Madrid / Dreamer at the front of the stage

 

But all those were played in one night.

 

Late in the show Jeff was talking about how he and john had been working in this milieu for 20 years and everyone else on stage for at least 10. He went through the 10 year guys quickly then said they would get a better intro when they were here for 20 years.

 

So yeah, WOW! I've been to many wilco shows. I've traveled hundreds of miles to see them, walked hundreds of yards to see them, and everything in between. I've been crazy into wilco, down on wilco, and every feeling in between. One thing is for sure. They treat us to some of the most inventive, inspiring fan friendly concerts. The 5 night residency, solid sound, incredibly shrinking tour, evening with tour, all incredible events that most bands could never dream of pulling off. And yes we have grown older with wilco and we might not be as precocious as we once were, but I am proud to be a member of a wilco concert crowd.

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Observations:

- Having just been at the show in Milwaukee on Wednesday, there was more than a little overlap with that setlist, which is understandable.

- It was definitely "intense Jeff" up front, though he did lighten up after Sunken Treasure, which seemed even more moody than usual.

- Glad to see the Total Pros there! Loved their spangly jackets and the extra depth they added

- Heard comments about one of the prior nights that Jeff did a few songs without guitar. There were none of those tonight and there were an unusual number where Jeff either took the lead guitar or his guitar played a prominent part in the mix. I really dig his playing, so I'm a fan of this.

 

All good observations, particularly the one about Jeff's guitar playing. He was definitely on fire from that perspective, IMHO. Though he seemed a little distracted or focused (or something) at the beginning, I haven't seen him attack the guitar like that in some time. Of course the material definitely suited that, with Feed Of Man, Laminated Cat, the electric Spiders and even Sunken Treasure all giving Jeff some opportunities to shred a bit. I enjoyed seeing that, and maybe it was even a little cathartic for him.

 

It's funny, I remember when Pieholden Suite used to be the Holy Grail for a lot of diehard fans. With these shows, it was almost just another moment (though I always love it). I guess that's a testament to the way the band has been mixing things up and keeping us on our toes.

 

Another example of that was the waltz arrangement of Box Full of Letters. I wonder where that came from? Was that the live arrangement from the box set? I guess maybe so.

 

Anyway, my only negative from last night was I couldn't really hear the Total Pros well at all. Granted, I know where I was standing wasn't the most optimal for sound quality but they just seemed low in the mix to me. Hopefully they sounded better out in the room; I'm sure they did. Great to have them back, in any event!

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Another great show! I was actually thinking about At Least That's What You Said in light of all Jeff's electric guitaring last night, and I hope it shows up this week. Side note: Jeff sang "I was blamed for rock and roll" (or "I've been blamed for rock and roll"?) during Sunken Treasure. I hadn't personally heard that little deviation before, and enjoyed it.

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Wasn't it unreal? And yes, all 6 nights will be roadcases. You can preorder now. A total steal at $9 a show.

 

Pieholden...OMG! Maybe I'm just a hor-motional mess right now but I was so giddy during that song.

 

And I was the one shouting "You betta SANG, John" during the super special treat we got from him.

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Anyway, my only negative from last night was I couldn't really hear the Total Pros well at all. Granted, I know where I was standing wasn't the most optimal for sound quality but they just seemed low in the mix to me. Hopefully they sounded better out in the room; I'm sure they did. Great to have them back, in any event!

 

I was up in the balcony and the horns were a bit lost in the mix.  Hopefully this is balanced out more in the Roadcase.

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Great Wilco show.

 

Pieholden after 54 shows!! It did just seem like another song in the show and I think part of that was not being able to hear the Total Pros. I did think the Total Pros were much more prominent on the remaining songs they played on. Great great setlist. Each band member had some really nice moments tonight. I'm going tonight and want to see a Pat heavy show. I felt like last night Jeff's guitar shined, Glenn was awesome and John had some killer moments including singing his song and doing awesome backups on Can't Stand It among others.

 

I thought Jeff's "attitude" helped the show along. I didn't find the google story confusing although i'm not sure why he decided to share the information at that point in a light-on-banter show. (When he types in the letter "h" the google search result is (paraphrasing) "how to prevent burping while singing").

 

Who would have thought Dawned on Me would be the best number in the 2nd encore! Came off really well.

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One of my favorites shows from the last 15 years of seeing the band play. Really tuned in and reminded me of some of the shows pre-Yankee that first caught my imagination. Only thing that didn't work for me was the slowed down version of Box Full of Letters. Seemed  a little forced; maybe just love the original too much. But wow what a show.

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