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Wilco -- 19 August 2016-Madison, WI, Breese Stevens Field


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Edited to add a setlist (from setlist fm). Typical it would take a Midwestern work ethic to Google this for you Coasters... ;)

 

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Random Name Generator

The Joke Explained

I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

Art of Almost

Pickled Ginger

Hummingbird

Handshake Drugs

Cold Slope

King of You

Via Chicago

Spiders (Kidsmoke)

If I Ever Was a Child

Jesus, Etc.

Locator

Box Full of Letters

Heavy Metal Drummer

I'm the Man Who Loves You

Red-Eyed and Blue

I Got You (At the End of the Century)

Outta Mind (Outta Sight)

 

Encore:

Impossible Germany

The Late Greats

 

Encore 2:

Misunderstood

(acoustic)

War on War

(acoustic)

I'm Always in Love

(acoustic)

A Shot in the Arm

(acoustic)

 

 

I'll tell you now: I don't have a setlist.

 

This was only my second time hearing Star Wars material live, and the other was during a festival set in Croatia in June. Otherwise I haven't seen the band since SS '15. So obviously I don't see the band often enough (my kids would diagree...) to offer a lot of insight. I just walk away from a show thinking, did I enjoy myself? Did they still sound f****** tight as hell? Do Jeff's lyrics seem to resonate, regardless of what's happening in my life? Are John's harmonies still sweet as goddamn honey? Does Jesus, Etc. still make my heart swell? Yes! All this plus a night with great friends. I'm grateful! (I'm also grateful a.) the rain held off, and b.) we didn't get struck by lightning on the metal rail. Big wins!)

 

Two (I think?) new songs were played, but I'm not 100% certain on the titles so will let someone else fill those in. On one, Jeff seemed to be purposely backing away from the mic. Not sure if that was for effect or because of a "lyrical malfunction"? Afterward he said, "That was pretty close." Ha! The hootenanny was cut short by impending rain, but the songs they managed to squeeze in were in lightning. Yikes! Thanks, Wilco!

 

I'm sure I'm missing other details that will come to me later. Gotta hit the Farmer's Market.

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Two (I think?) new songs were played, but I'm not 100% certain on the titles so will let someone else fill those in. 

 

They were "If I Ever Was a Child" and "Locator." (I think I saw Rob at one point--we were at the fence outside the Gold Circle--but didn't see you... grrr.)

 

There was almost zero banter from Jeff, which I chalked up to the local curfew (the fan next to me said it was 10 p.m.) and the impending weather. The last few songs were punctuated by lovely lightning, and the flushing downpour literally started within seconds of Stacy and I reaching our vehicle. Whew.

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Awake on the West coast and no setlist yet. Come in from the fields and spit out the cheese curds you yokels!

Slacker Wisconsinites..:would it kill you to take a few notes? B)

 

Just kidding (kinda). Thanks for your post, Ms. (or is it Mrs.?) Stone. Glad you enjoyed the show and for those who like to bitch and moan about setlist variety and the like, it's always worth remembering that there are far more people who only get to see the band once or twice every couple of years if they're lucky.

 

I've been thinking lately that there's no way to make all your fans happy all the time. So you try to appeal to the most people you can as often as you can. That might not be the strategy that makes Wilco a "cool" band (or even continue to attract all the jam-band devotees who expect some sort of wildly different setlist all the time...which would be fine with me, btw) but people can just take it or leave it. And I'm sure there have been plenty who have, on both sides.

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I don't ever trust Setlist.fm to be totally accurate, but I guess it's better than nothing. Anyway, I would bet almost anything they flip-flopped If I Ever Was A Child and Jesus, etc. in the above list. One good thing about a relatively static setlist is that you know where stuff usually tends to go, and in this current one, everywhere else at least, Jesus has immediately followed Spiders followed by the two Schmilco songs back-to-back.

 

Also, I'm guessing they didn't follow up Red-Eyed>I Got You with the "Sesame Street" Outta Mind (Outta Sight) but rather the rockin' Outtasite (Outta Mind). Accuracy, people!

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Of course Paul correctly corrects the setlist even though unable to attend. Damn impressive! Fun show. No real banter but he noted spider clapping was good enough to end a string of poor showings at prior recent shows and that clapping was mandatory and a power trip for the band. Jeff also did an ever so brief moonwalk which he then appropriately dissed as he repeated the effort. Don't recall the Late Greats sans the white guitar, but maybe just my aging memory.

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Anyway, I would bet almost anything they flip-flopped If I Ever Was A Child and Jesus, etc. in the above list. 

 

You would lose that bet, Paul. The two new songs were, indeed, separated by "Jesus, etc." Jeff introduced the three-song section by saying that they would play two new songs and a ballad, which might be a good time for a bathroom break for those who don't care for ballads.

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Thanks for starting the thread, T! And excellent job googling the setlist. It was hot spicy cheese bread we were eating this morning, interneters!

 

There wasn't a ton of extended banter, true, but plenty of asides and check-ins with the audience. Everyone seemed to be in great spirits; plenty of smiles all around. Loved seeing Nels go crazy on lots of songs. Jeff's comment that his Hummingbird moonwalk was "the shyest moonwalk ever" got some laughs. He also rated the crowd's Spiders clapping in comparison with other recent shows. "You've surpassed Kansas City... now you're at Zagreb level ..." The clapping break lasted a long time - long enough for the semi-inevitable speed-up. The cringing look on Glenn's face before launching into the final jam was great.

 

We really thought we were in for it with rain all evening, but as Jeff noted, it held off until the end. The band was set up farther back from the front of the stage than usual just in case. But other than a really brief sprinkle, there was no rain until after the show. There was, however, plenty of lightning during the encores. When the band came out for the acoustic set, they were looking up as well. Jeff joked, "It's okay, we're all unplugged." After the third song, I saw the tour manager come to the side of the stage and make the call for one more. Afterward, Jeff told us to "Go home! Run for your lives!"

 

Finally, a hometown show is always something special for a fan. I've gone to see Wilco plenty, but it's always just a little cooler when the band comes to me. And it has been years and years and years since the band played a GA show in Madison, and never outdoors. "We've never seen you like this before!" Jeff exclaimed the first time he greeted the crowd. And after all these years, singing along to "Here I come again and I'm bringing my friends - okay alright okay alright!" when surrounded by friends is just pure happiness.

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Two (I think?) new songs were played, but I'm not 100% certain on the titles so will let someone else fill those in. On one, Jeff seemed to be purposely backing away from the mic. Not sure if that was for effect or because of a "lyrical malfunction"? Afterward he said, "That was pretty close." Ha!

 

Sounds like Locator. In Moorhead Jeff sang parts of it backed away from the mic.

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Also, I'm guessing they didn't follow up Red-Eyed>I Got You with the "Sesame Street" Outta Mind (Outta Sight) but rather the rockin' Outtasite (Outta Mind). Accuracy, people!

This made me laugh.

 

Finally, a hometown show is always something special for a fan. I've gone to see Wilco plenty, but it's always just a little cooler when the band comes to me. And it has been years and years and years since the band played a GA show in Madison, and never outdoors. "We've never seen you like this before!" Jeff exclaimed the first time he greeted the crowd. And after all these years, singing along to "Here I come again and I'm bringing my friends - okay alright okay alright!" when surrounded by friends is just pure happiness.

This made me smile. I know exactly what you mean.

 

 

 

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All in all a pretty solid show.  I am not sure if it was the time, location (outdoors), or what, but the Dad Rock vibe was in full swing on Friday Night. The age average age of the crowd was early to mid Forties.  I don't think there was a baby sitter to be found in the city of Madison last night.  Also at one point before the show, I had realized it became an impromptu meeting of my kids PTO.  With that being said the crowd was well into it.  The sound was excellent, though the acoustic set, while neat was tinny and hard to hear, being outside did not help.  Nels was on fire per usual.  I think his solo in handshake drugs was one of the best I have heard in awhile.  

 

The best part of the night was I was able to reconnect with two of my buddies who I went a lot of Wilco shows with back in the early 2000's.  It was much fun reliving those days.  

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 I don't think there was a baby sitter to be found in the city of Madison last night.  Also at one point before the show, I had realized it became an impromptu meeting of my kids PTO.  

 

Ha! I talked quite a bit with the fan next to me (even older than my early '40s), and one brief topic was how Wilco shows used to be college-aged kids and now they are filled with, well, former college kids like us. On a related note: I'm not sure I've ever seen so many children at a Wilco show--a consequence, no doubt, of an aging fan base and a family-friendly start time of 6 p.m.

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Ha! I talked quite a bit with the fan next to me (even older than my early '40s), and one brief topic was how Wilco shows used to be college-aged kids and now they are filled with, well, former college kids like us. On a related note: I'm not sure I've ever seen so many children at a Wilco show--a consequence, no doubt, of an aging fan base and a family-friendly start time of 6 p.m.

Amazing how people get older eh?

 

I almost brought my son (12), wish I had.

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I wish my daughter (12) wanted to see a Wilco show. Not her thing. But last weekend we did catch her favorite band, the Beach Boys. When I reminded her that it was the Mike Love version of the Beach Boys, she said, "Well, I think Bruce Johnston will be here, too. He joined when Brian didn't want to go on tour." I just looked at her and said, "How do you even know that?"

 

I'll take it.

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