Austin City Limits 1999

[sonicshoulder]

Watched this last night(again). I feel like this is such a bizarre, awkward performance. Maybe it seems that way now more than it felt then knowing what the future held for the band. More than half the guys on stage that night would be fired, Jeff looked pretty bad and is smoking in between...or during songs. A lot of the songs in arrangement are not what they are now or what they were on the albums. I've read all the Wilco books to date and I don't recall a lot of insight into this particular evening. Anybody have any anecdotes to share on that performance whether fact, legend, or flat out lie? 

[Brent Best]

I was at the show at Antones the night before this taped. It was a "secret" show, though I use that term lightly as anyone with a pulse living in Austin knew that the Headliner dubbed "Summerteeth" was indeed Wilco. But still getting to see them play a venue of that size was certianly a treat. The line wrapped around the block and a lot of folks were left out in the hot August heat. George Devore (we used to call him Dewhore) a local Austin songwriter (I use that term lightly) somehow managed to open the show.

 

Instead of Wilco taking the stage as the headliners, JP and a couple of the other members of the road crew broke into The Talking Heads, "Psycho Killer" followed by Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" and then the Beatles "Come Together." At this point, the packed crowd was starting to grumble that maybe "We've Been Had" and that THIS was all there was to Summerteeth. Before anyone considered throwing their Lone Stars onto the stage, Jeff and Co appeared and thanked their good friends "Summerteeth" and broke into "I'm Always in Love". It was my first time seeing Wilco in person, and it happened to be 1999 which for me was probably the pinnacle of my life. So many great things happened that year for me and seeing my new favorite band in my new hometown with my new girlfriend (who would become my wife) with my new best friend who introduced me to the Holy Trinity of alt country (Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Son Volt), all of this helped make that a night (it was actually an early show as they hit the stage around 5pm) for the ages.

 

I saw them two nights later when they opened for REM in San Antonio. I have seen Wilco some twenty five times or so since and that will always be my favorite show. However, from a pure peformance standpoint it pales in comparison to the show they did at the Mercury (now The Parish) on Sixth Street as an "after hours" show for the first ACL music festival a couple years later. Jeff stated to the press shortly after that it was his favorite Wilco show to date. It was one of the first times he admitted to the public on stage of throwing up before the show. I still haven't found a good copy of that show but would love to hear it again.