Wilco — 9/21/15, Montreal, QC (Metropolis)

[HappyHourHero]

No setlist up anywhere yet?

 

- On at 8:30pm

Star Wars...

Handshake Drugs 

Camera

IATTBYH

Art of Almost

She's a Jar

Hummingbird

Heavy Metal Drummer

Man Who Loves You

Jesus

Born Alone

Impossible Germany

Late Greats

-

Spiders

-

(acoustic mini-set)

Misunderstood

War on War

I'm Always in Love 

It's Just That Simple

New Madrid

Cali Stars

A Shot in the Arm

- off at 10:48

[HappyHourHero]

I guess it was technically "Camera", not "Kamera".

[HappyHourHero]

Also, I just realized… no Monday on a Monday? What the hell?!

[bböp]

No setlist up anywhere yet?

I blame the lack of expeditiousness mostly on not being able to access free WiFi right away so thanks for filling the void (and adhering to the titling convention ). The only thing I would add is that Spiders (Kidsmoke) was the electric version, which has been a relative rarity in recent years. Hearing that — in this venue, particularly — brought me back to 2004-2005 again, which was fun.

 

For reasons of personal nostalgia but also just by its very nature, I think Métropolis is a really good all-around venue for Wilco. It's a comfortable 2,200-capacity club with a good sound system, pretty nice sightlines and almost always a generous audience, so perhaps that's why this was the band's fifth show here since 2003. And this most recent gig didn't disappoint, at least from a sound perspective. For me, it was definitely one of the two best-sounding performances of Star Wars thus far; you really could hear a lot of the guitar and percussion nuances well.

 

The setlist beyond SW certainly wasn't the most interesting, at least to anyone who's seen more than a few shows. But as I've said many times before, sometimes it's not what you play but how you play it. Impossible Germany had a little extra juice to these ears last night, and I couldn't help but thinking back to what that song was like when they first started playing it and what hearing it for the first time must be like (i.e. pretty amazing). Generally speaking, it seemed like the band was really grooving at points, even if Jeff might've seemed a touch distracted toward the end.

 

Not a huge amount from Banter Corner once again, but one bit came after the breakdown in I'm The Man Who Loves You after which Jeff quipped, "I'm totally getting better at the guitar!" and credited being in close proximity over the years to Nels, who simply chuckled and shook his head and said off mike, "That's not how it works!" And the two went back and forth for a bit; it was neat to see the obvious affection they have for playing together. Later after Impossible Germany, when the crowd gave Nels a well-deserved, prolonged ovation, Jeff cracked, "Even Nels is getting better."

 

Other Banter Corner moments included:

-Jeff joked about poutine after Hummingbird, commenting in a funny stoner voice about Montréal's "primo poutine" and how they were "still wasted." Maybe you had to be there.

-During The Late Greats, right after the "He just looks a little too old" line, Jeff made a goofy smiley face and pointed both thumbs at himself.

-In the hootenanny after New Madrid, Jeff said jokingly to the crowd, "Aren't you glad you didn't go see Madonna?" And then after a beat, he punctuated that comment with a simple, "Madge."

 

Not sure if Jeff got a little distracted or something during the hootenanny because just prior to the Madonna comment, he had taken off the capo that had been on his guitar and playfully (or not so playfully?) chucked it in the direction of guitar tech Matrix. And then he blanked out on lyrics right at the start of the show-closing A Shot in the Arm, but fortunately enough people were singing along by that point that the crowd just sort of took over until he got it back.

 

Anyway, it was a fun night. Montréal is always a neat place to visit and I give pretty solid marks to Métropolis, so here's hoping the band makes it back again before another four years go by.

[Albert Tatlock]

[Sweet Melinda]

I might add Jeff seemed to enjoy Paul's top notch head bopping.  Always great to see.

[d. boony]

This is the first time I've missed a Montreal show in years.  So disappointing - looks like a great(-est hits) set list.

 

Metropolis is a great venue with great sound.  I love seeing them play there.

[Cold as Gasoline]

I have nothing much to add since I was standing right behind Paul and his observations are pretty much exactly like mine.  But what a fantastic show!  Great to hear the Star Wars songs live for the first time.  They may be brand spanking new, but the band sounds just so tight playing them, very impressive.  The setlist is pretty much perfect for anyone who wants to hear the hits, but no real "deep cuts".  Still, I'd say hearing the chunky version of "Camera" and "Born Alone" (one of my favorites from TWL) were real treats.  

 

Great sound, a mostly ideal crowd, an intimate venue, and the best company made it a real joy of an evening. My sister snagged a setlist after calling Josh by name, and she gave it to me

 

Paul, so glad to have finally met you and thanks for coming out with us for a drink afterward! 

[bböp]

 

 

I might add Jeff seemed to enjoy Paul's top notch head bopping.  Always great to see.

 

Yikes...hopefully it wasn't too distracting.

 

Great sound, a mostly ideal crowd, an intimate venue, and the best company made it a real joy of an evening. My sister snagged a setlist after calling Josh by name, and she gave it to me

 

Paul, so glad to have finally met you and thanks for coming out with us for a drink afterward! 

 

Thanks for inviting me (and picking up the tab)! It was great to finally meet you, so thanks for saying hi.

 

Here's a pretty well-written review of the show from the Montréal English-language paper, the Gazette. I happen to know for a fact that the writer was in the front row, which I think is fairly unusual for most critics; he has done some good pieces/interviews with Wilco and Nels in the past.