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Wilco — 7/3/15, Scottsdale, AZ (Salt River Fields at Talking Stick)


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Well, after another fun summer weekend in the Berkshires, it was quickly back to work for Team Wilco, which found itself clear on the other side of the country for a one-off, pre-Fourth of July ballpark show that preceded a fireworks, er, display.

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It was a good show and the guys sounded great, but that is the least I have heard Jeff talk and he looked like the heat was getting to him until the wind picked up.  With that said, I honestly believe the heat (my God the heat [seinfeld]) is what kept lots of people away from this show in general.  Seriously, who books a band in an open baseball park in early July in the Phoenix area (when there are other options)? But, I went and tuffed it out and brought in my liter of water becuase it's freaking Wilco and they don't come around here too often.  Yes, the crowd was light and yes, they (we) could have been more lively, but once again, the heat just zapps the life out of everything here.  I was shocked to see promoters just handing, yes, handing out free GA tickets to this show out in the parking lot.  They were desperate to get people in.  

Now as far as the set list, I could have swore "Via Chicago" was played much later in the night, but I could be wrong.  And I think this because I noticed they lost half the crowd starting at "Kamera", thru "Secret of the Sea".  And one more thing...why not poster for this show???  All in all great show!

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Never thought I would skip a Wilco show when they were so close to me, but the heat plus the exorbitant ticket prices were just too much to deal with. I also figured we'd get a festival set without many of the rarities they'd been playing.

 

I can't help feeling a little schadenfreude when I hear about the promoters handing out free GA tickets (which were $85 or so, right?) Much respect for the folks who went and stuck it out, though! Sounds like you saw a nice performance. Hopefully next time the band comes back to one of the many fine theaters in the Phoenix/Tucson area.

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No complaints.  OK, the weather was hot, but it's WILCO.  I've endured weather like this for much worse, and I'm not gonna miss my band when they're here!!!!!!  So I had seats in section B, row 12, with chairs (stood most the time, danced a lot tho), and that was great, but I also moved to the rail (like, 4 rows up) to jam to Impossible Germany and some other numbers.  Considering the heat, they were GREAT.  In fantastic spirits, well-oiled machine.  Setlist was a beautiful 20th Anniversary collection.  Only wants, I guess: Panthers.  One day, some day, I'll hear that live and in person.  And reading above that Ashes got cut - urgh - another I was hoping to hear and sure we would, being an Independence Day show and all.  The venue was actually quite decent, the sound was good - and enjoyed Dr. Dog too.  Saw Wilco in 2012 when they played at Red Rocks and played with Punch Brothers one night and Dr Dog the other, but chose the Punch Brothers pairing cause I LOVE LOVE LOVE 'em and could only do one.

 

Brought 4 frozen water bottles for me and my crew last night - the ice lasted the entire show.  The night didn't rain, monsoon, haboob - THAT'S something to be thankful for (tho maybe some raindrops - just a few - might have cooled things off just a bit.) Hey, life is really good anytime I can see Wilco - just makes me glad to be alive.   :usa   Happy 4th! 

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Oh - one more thing - I know they feel like they hafta play Hotel AZ when they're here (every single time, the 3 times I've seen 'em in AZ), but still - I sorta wish not.  That being said - it rocked.  But I guess I just don't like predictability.  Impossible Germany, though - they need to NEVER stop playing that live.  To me, it's the pinnacle of what they have ever done.  I think Too Far Apart is the only Wilco song I haven't seen played live before that I now have, and that was nice!

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I agree with all the above, well said peeps! The show was short but really sweet.

I for one LOVED the song placement/selection.

 

There were at least three of us taping, I'll have something up on etree/Dime from Wilco and Dr. Dog in a couple days....time to hit the road for the long beautiful drive back to CO.

 

Ps: how bad was that fireworks diplay, in particular the music they chose to go with it?   :ermm

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I can't help feeling a little schadenfreude when I hear about the promoters handing out free GA tickets (which were $85 or so, right?)

The front 'pit' tickets were $80, but GA were like $25 or $30, still good 'seats' for free. 

 

 

 

 The night didn't rain, monsoon, haboob - THAT'S something to be thankful for (tho maybe some raindrops - just a few

But the wind!  I forgot to mention, did anyone else notice how freaking awesome the lightning a few miles away looked?  Like an extension of the lights on stage?  And when the wind kicked up during the last 1/3 of the set, it manically swirled above Mike and Glenn and changed stage light color?  I asked my friends in the lawn if they saw it and they said no, as I was up front.  It looked really cool. 

 

 

Oh - one more thing - I know they feel like they hafta play Hotel AZ when they're here (every single time, the 3 times I've seen 'em in AZ), but still - I sorta wish not.  That being said - it rocked.  But I guess I just don't like predictability.  Impossible Germany, though - they need to NEVER stop playing that live.  To me, it's the pinnacle of what they have ever done.

Thank you, thank you!  While I like "Hotel Arizona", I don't need to hear it live every time I see them in Az.  But yes, to "Impossible Germany".  I was right in front of Pat's stack this time and usually I am closer to Jeff or right in front of Nels.  But this time, as Jeff was singing, I heard Pat's guitar almost weep and it added another layer to the song I really haven't heard before.  A sad layer.  It was really neat.  I was going to talk to him about that at the after show, but that was canceled.  :( 

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It was hot... The guys played great though. They are " total pros". The sound was great as well. I live in Scottsdale so I couldn't miss it, but no one would go with me cus it was outside. I had to leave the Grateful Dead simulcast but it was worth it despite the heat.

 

I saw them in Tucson in 2013 and some obnoxious guy was yelling for hotel az (check the road case show recording) all show long... So I guess this time they decided to squeeze it into the set...

 

I would have rather heard Ashes of American Flags given the choice.... See you at Red Rocks!

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I started off last Friday (the 3rd) without tickets to the show in Scottsdale I was traveling from Vegas to see and by the time the show started I had been given 4 free tickets, 2 of which I was unable to give away (and they were GA field tickets.) I was going to tape the show but I met two of the three tapers in the pit, so I decided against taping after seeing the rigs they had set up. Overall I thought the show was decent (I wasn't bothered by the heat, I live in Vegas after all.) I was happy to finally hear "Secret of the Sea" live after all these years and I thought the solos and some of the melodies sounded a little different this time around. I'd sure love to catch the Red Rocks show after seeing both 2012 Red Rocks shows, but unfortunately it lands on a weekday. 

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I agree w/ everything posted above but i can not stress how horrid the firework music production was. Whatever happened to Jimi Hendrix's SSB? There were no segues between the five second jingo-istc song selections, just cut out at the wrong beat & jarringly into the next boot-in-your-ass post-911 redneck ballads; there will never be a worse Fourth of July soundtrack.  Hearing that "Ashes" was cut due to poor stage management is that much more painful for it. But i still had a blast!

Here's the Phoenix NewTimes review:

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/chicagos-loss-was-scottsdales-gain-for-a-stunning-wilco-performance-7464768

a Stunning Wilco Performance

Monday, July 6, 2015 | 2 days ago
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Melissa Fossum

The way Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy kept bringing up the heat at the band’s performance at Salt River Fields, you’d think the Deadheads who had descended upon their hometown of Chicago the same night had banished the group to perform outdoors in the sweltering summer heat of Arizona as punishment for musical crimes against the City of Big Shoulders.

“I’m not complaining, but please can we have this in January next time?” Tweedy asked in the middle of the set as he smiled underneath his long hair and cowboy hat. “We’re available all year long.”

 

The Windy City’s loss was Scottsdale’s gain. It’s more than fair to compare The Grateful Dead to Wilco. Both bands have their roots in folk and built their reputations on strong live performances that have garnered them dedicated legions of fans. While Soldier Field had a huge crowd of hippies celebrating a revised Grateful Dead whose music is firmly a half a century in the past, Scottsdale was jamming along in the present and gladly waved their cheap cardboard fans to stay cool enough to do so.

 

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Melissa Fossum
 

It’s bold to make the claim that a band celebrating a 20-year milestone can still be considered modern. It was the one-two punch of “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart,” the opener from the classic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, along with “Art of Almost,” the epic experimental rock tune that started their latest album of new material The Whole Love, that asserts that declaration. The songs were joined together by a mountain of feedback that sent the crowd into a frenzy, and climaxed with the swift hands of guitarist Nels Cline, whose ability to make the most beautiful noise would make a punk band green with envy.

 

The remainder of the set were selections from the best of the band’s catalog with nearly every one of their albums represented, complete with arrangements that rarely matched their studio counterparts. It seemed while Chi-town was paying tribute to Jerry Garcia, Wilco played “Hummingbird” and “Kamera” with a heavy touch that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Neil Young and Crazy Horse album. The drums and guitar squeals that are the highlights of the Summerteeth’s “Via Chicago” were played with gusto by the band as their leader continued to sing the melancholy lyrics and play his guitar with the straightest of faces as a light show normally reserved for a heavy metal show went on behind him.

 

The crowd opened up their bodies and moved themselves to dance as the band went into the fan favorite “Heavy Metal Drummer.” Their movement, combined with Tweedy’s whistling at the end of “I Got You (At The End Of The Century),” seemed to will a strong breeze into existence that cooled the audience. Tweedy acknowledged the change in temperature by quipping, “That should show that you should complain more often.” It certainly seemed to aid in the dexterity Nels Cline demonstrated during his extended guitar solo during “Impossible Germany.” It would’ve made Bob Weir’s mouth drop open a little.

 

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Wilco has a reputation of being gracious to their opening bands, and this performance was no exception. After acknowledging their history and admiration for Dr. Dog, they brought them out for a rendition of “California Stars” that resembled a scene from The Band’s concert film The Last Waltz. Dr. Dog’s confident performance earlier that day, with beautiful harmonies and groovy guitar rhythms that are more suited to an easy Sunday morning than a crazy Friday night, was a fine example of why they are becoming a festival staple.

Wilco closed with “The Late Greats,” a song about how the greatest music can’t be heard on the radio. “Enjoy the fireworks, patriots,” Tweedy told the crowd as he left the stage, only to be followed by the radio hits of the last few years to accompany the pyrotechnics. It felt anti-climatic to hear Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry when a band like Wilco gave a performance so great that you thought of all the songs they didn’t have a chance to play and still weren’t disappointed.

The flower children will still miss Jerry, but Wilco fared thee well.

 

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Melissa Fossum
 

Critic's Notebook

Last Weekend: Wilco with Dr. Dog and Banana Gun at Salt River Fields

 

The Crowd: A lot of dudes and a lot of polo shirts

 

Random Notebook Dump: “Both bands seemed to channel Neil Young, Tweedy with his hat and Dr. Dog with their voice. Wilco, with their references to Arizona and the great Southwest, has always seemed to have one foot in the mountains and the other in Chicago.”

 

Overheard in the Crowd: “Nels Cline is one of the greatest guitars of all time!” — a father talking to his daughters after every solo the guitarist performed. It’s hard to disagree with him, but the shame is when those girls become teenagers and rebel, it’s doubtful they’ll share their father’s point of view.

 

Personal Bias: This is my third time I’ve seen Wilco. While they’ve never disappointed me, this was my favorite performance.

 

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Melissa Fossum
 

Setlist

I Am Trying to Break Your Heart 
Art of Almost 
One Wing
Hummingbird 
Handshake Drugs
Kamera
Via Chicago 
Too Far Apart 
Hotel Arizona
Secret of the Sea
Heavy Metal Drummer
I'm the Man Who Loves You
Red-Eyed and Blue
I Got You (At the End of the Century)
Jesus, Etc.
Born Alone
Impossible Germany
Box Full of Letters 
Dawned on Me
A Shot in the Arm 

 

Encore:
California Stars w/ Dr. Dog
The Late Greats

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