Wilco — 25 February 2017, Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre) [Night 3 of 4]

[bböp]

Well, I suppose I should preface these comments by saying that I personally had one of those nights that sometimes happen at a reserved-seat show in a big theater when you have a so-so seat and then the tallest person in sight steps into the seat directly in front of you. Then the band comes on and the entire crowd stands and you can't get much of a sightline to the stage and you feel even more disconnected from the show than you already did and, well, blerg. Now I don't want to come off as complaining because I've had more than my fair share of good seats over the years, and especially since I had some help in obtaining these tickets and that was very much appreciated. But from the standpoint of offering some of my usual observations in this setting, I feel as if I should be honest about the fact that I probably only saw a fraction of the show from a good distance away.

 

Of course I realize that my perspective of the show is completely unrelated to the band's performance, the dynamics of the crowd or anything else, for that matter. The band, in my view, put on a solidly professional show for a receptive hometown audience that I'm pretty sure included Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, and though Jeff did have a couple of lyrical stumbles, there weren't any blatant flubs. And if there wasn't necessarily a transcendent moment I can point to, it is always a treat to hear songs that don't always get played such as Sunken Treasure and The Lonely 1 (and I know at least one person who always enjoys Shouldn't Be Ashamed).

 

What I observed was pretty much par for the course with how these Schmilco residency shows have played out — that is, newer material mixed in with a few curveballs night to night and a solid helping of some greatest hits. I'm sure the fact that more than a few songs were (gasp!) repeated from one show to the next drives the Jam Band Fan Annoyance Meter (JBFAM) through the roof and leaves more than a few folks miffed, but you basically roll with it or you don't. For one, Wilco isn't a jam band. Never has been, never will be. Songs are going to be repeated from show to show. If you don't like that, don't come to more than one show.

 

Can we all agree that we'd like to have some more variety in song selection? Sure. But the fact is, you're going to be setting yourself up for disappointment if you expect the band to regularly play completely different sets. Because outside of a few select periods in its history, it hasn't. As I've always maintained, you have to keep some perspective and try to remember that the vast majority of people — especially in a venue like this — probably don't attend more than one or two Wilco shows every couple of years and don't track setlists to the degree that many of us do here. So in a way, it kind of delighted me to see some fans around me get super excited and into songs like I'm The Man Who Loves You that I've witnessed countless times (though perhaps that had something to do with Glenn being coaxed into the old "standing on his drum stool" routine to kick the song off). Jeff even prefaced Jesus, etc., with this sentiment, saying, "We're gonna play this song every night, so if you don't want to hear it, don't come tomorrow night. ... We need to find some common ground and maybe this song will help just a little bit (to do that)."

 

That being said, from what I observed, the audience tonight might have been a tick below Thursday's in terms of energy and enthusiasm. The singalong on Jesus was adequate enough, though hardly all-encompassing. And then at the end of Spiders, it looked to me like Jeff wanted to reignite the "singing riff" portion of the song and tried to get crowd to pick up the proverbial ball and run with it the way it had Thursday night. But when that didn't happen to his satisfaction, Jeff finally relented and he and the rest of the band simply waved farewell and left the stage. Did anyone else notice that?

 

Anyway, hopefully others will chime in with more details/observations on things I might have missed. And since the show was broadcast live on WXRT, I won't really attempt to recap in detail any of Jeff's relatively few visits to Banter Corner (though I, for one, did find his jokingly over-the-top fantastical description — for the radio audience — of the gaudy double-neck guitar Nels brandishes on Dawned On Me pretty funny, though maybe most people didn't.)

 

Onward, then, to the conclusion of another Winterlude...

 

Here was the complete setlist — as played — for Night 3 (didn't see a printed setlist tonight, so can't say whether there were any changes/omissions):

 

Normal American Kids^

If I Ever Was A Child

Cry All Day

Sunken Treasure (acoustic arrangement — Jeff on acoustic guitar, no harmonica; Pat on keyboard)

Kamera

The Joke Explained

Someone To Lose

Misunderstood (hootenanny arrangement — Jeff on acoustic, Nels on lap steel, Pat on banjitar, John on 12-string acoustic)

The Lonely 1

Impossible Germany

Shouldn't Be Ashamed

We Aren't The World (Safety Girl)

Dawned On Me

Theologians

Via Chicago

Jesus, etc.

Locator

Heavy Metal Drummer>

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Hummingbird

The Late Greats

--------------------------------

Box Full Of Letters

Random Name Generator

Red-Eyed and Blue>

I Got You (At The End of the Century)>

Outtasite (Outta Mind)

Spiders (Kidsmoke) (electric arrangement)

--------------------------------

A Shot in the Arm (hootenanny arrangement — Jeff on acoustic, Nels on dobro, Mikael on melodica, Pat on keyboard and glockenspiel)

 

^ — Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline only

[summerdai]

So I think 5 not played at first 2 shows.My seat wasn't as good either as first 2 nights, sound on balcony a little deficient. Decent show, thought Crowd on Thurs did Spiders better too.Happy to hear Sunken Treasure and A Shot in the Arm

[Madcap]

Wilco isn't a jam band, but 5 non repeated songs is pretty extreme even for them. Still holding out hope for some more Schmilco songs tonight!

[augurus]

Finally saw a non-festival hometown show (out of towner here). I don't think I'll ever shake off the miserable feeling of hearing people talk during opening act, especially in the front, then pretend and chat with the front band between songs as if they cared.

 

I did appreciate the Chicago enthusiasm and the heavy leaning toward Being There, especially with Sunken Treasure and The Lonely 1. They kind of blazed through the encore.

 

My sister and I had a pretty good time. She even got her first setlist, then one of the people next to her started to pester her to sell the setlist starting from $20 to $100 and would not relent as if to also insult her as not a fan. This was really uncomfortable for both of us. Still not sure how we feel since we had a hard time shaking this off after saying no, multiple times.

 

Other than that, I really enjoyed front row seats that allowed us to see the cleaniness of Nels's fingernails while he played Impossible Germany.

[Jimmy Coulas]

I must admit that I was bummed that the show began with the same three songs that began Thursday, but there isn't anything fans can do about the makeup of the setlist each night. I think we all can agree that we would love to see the band mix it up. They certainly have the song catalog to do so. It does make you wonder why they don't mix it up more. It might have something to do with the fact that they don't rehearse as much as they used to.

 

The band will play what they want, when they want. I was lucky enough to have scored front row seats Nels side and thoroughly enjoyed watching him play the songs with ease. It was nice to get a Sunken Treasure as well as The Lonely 1. I'm not going to the show tonight, but two out of four isn't bad. It's hard to beat Wilco shows in Chicago, so as much as we might want to complain about song selection, we should just enjoy them as much as possible. 

[Cold as Gasoline]

Just to comment on bbop's point, Rahm was definitely there and walked past me several times (I sat on the center aisle). Thursday was definitely the most enjoyable night for me of the three that I've attended. Count me among those that would like to see more variety.

 

Sadly, I missed my favorite of the non-repeat songs tonight (the Lonely 1) because a drunk jerk in my row physically shoved me out into the aisle and proceeded to make out with his girlfriend in front of my seat. When I claimed my seat and asked them to please vacate, it turned into a kerfuffle that ended with him yelling at me that "in Wilco world, that's considered not nice."  Ugh.

 

On the plus side, shout-out to everyone that met beforehand at the State and Lake Tavern. It was great to catch up with some Wilco friends and make some new ones!  Thanks for including me.

[Madcap]

I love concerts, but concert crowds are generally not my favorite. My wife and I were in box A which was just the two of us, which was amazing in that regard haha.

[BradL]

What time have they been going on the first 3 shows?  8-ish? 

[Madcap]

8:30 sharp

[kamera]

Had a blast at the show last night.  Loved the setlist.  Always enjoy the early stuff (A.M and Being There).  Highlights were Sunken treasure (epic!), Lonely 1, Shouldn't be Ashamed, IG, Via Chicago, ITMWLY, and pretty much the last hour.  We had balcony seats and things were rockin' in our section.  Pat treated us to some windmills and geetar hero poses.  I am grateful that this band treats us to these Winterludes and provides so much access to these shows for the fans.  I find every Wilco concert to be a "greatest hits" concert - simply because of the insanely high quality of the songwriting and musicianship.  No complaints here.

[chiwhitesox]

Sunken T, Lonely 1, Red eyed...

 

Epic show last night! Epic I say!

[worldrecordplayer]

The XRT stream worked beautifully, so thanks to Wilco and XRT for making that possible. Of course, it doesn't replace Being There, but made for great night in our home for my wife and me. I have tons of Roadcases, but there's something different about listening live while it's happening, especially as the live feed includes much more of the audience energy than the soundboard releases do.

 

Loved the show. I've come to accept the structure of the shows, hey they have 2 new albums to play. My only problem with Wilco shows is there's never a bathroom song  

[Team Farrar]

meh

[Preferred B]

 (and I know at least one person who always enjoys Shouldn't Be Ashamed).

 

He remembers when they still wore gaiters!!

[theashtraysays]

Having not heard NAK live yet, I was happy for that particular repeat. I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed that the first 3 song run was the same. But sunken treasure and kamera sure sounded great, and I thought the setlist overall made for a great show.

One Jeff comment about the crowd was dead on: that the Saturday night crowd was clearly people who had been drinking since early in the day. I thought that they/we kinda ran out of gas at the end with spiders after the BT triple-play. Especially on the floor. It looked like the balcony (what I could see) was actually more energetic there at the end.

Another thing I noticed on the floor is that the floor is fairly flat (not very sloped) for the first several rows. That was not good news for anyone vertically challenged. Sight lines were a little tough depending on who was in front of you.

Other Highlights for me were theologians, lonely one, and locator. And of course shot in the arm. If we can't have bull black Nova, at least it's nice to hear my namesake song.

Looking forward to tonight!! Hope to see more folks and connect names / faces / VC secret identities.

Vince

[Normal American Kid]

Went Wednesday.  Went last night.  Loved them both.  Sunken Treasure and Lonely One were special moments for me at last night's show. Also, last night was my wife's first Wilco show, and she had a lot of fun, so that was a bonus.

 

I just love watching and listening to them live.  I'm cool with whatever they choose to play.

[AM_Nashville]

Last night was my 13th Wilco show. First of the Winterlude's and first time in the beautiful but questionable sounding Chicago Theater. Aside from a handful of moments of electricity -- the first encore in particular -- this set was full of ballads and mid-tempo tracks from throughout the band's catalog. Fine by me, just unique compared to other shows I've seen. Emphasis on Schmilco tunes + Sunken Treasure (!!) and Lonely 1. Add in a few hootenanny's and you've got chill(co). A few other observations:

 

Pat was physically more distant from the rest of the band than I've ever seen before - and his 'world' seemed a bit more stripped down than in the past as well. Has he always had a full upright piano back there? Didn't see him move over to jam with Jeff or Nels as I have in the past - especially during IG which is the typical move. Perhaps it's the beard. 

 

Most of the floor level seating is under the balcony, and I didn't love how it sounded. I was dead center 10 rows in front of FOH (sound guy Lance!) and it sounded flat and quiet. Curious how it sounded upstairs?? Gotta be tough to mix from down there. This is a venue made for 'seated' viewing. Not enough of a slope on the floor.

 

Wilco is a very different sounding band indoors vs out. Neither is better/worse than the other - just very different. Think I might prefer 'outside' Wilco, but any Wilco is great Wilco. 

 

I wonder if Jeff's mood (and the setlist) has anything to do with whether he wears the blazer vs. the denim jacket. Last night was def a blazer night. 

 

Given the overall vibe, I would have killed for One Sunday Morning. 

 

This was my first 'Random Name Generator' experience (had a baby during Star Wars tours) and I absolutely loved it. Hope it becomes a staple in the set from here on out. The Joke Explained on the other hand is a great beer-run song. (beer prices in the Chicago incidentally, very reasonable!) 

 

Hope 4/4 tonight is awesome, wish I could have stayed one more night. 

 

Cannot wait for Big Ears Knoxville - I'm expecting the band to get weird and noisy. 

[Vaporized]

Hey AM Nashville. Do you think Wilco is coming to the Ryman this year? Always have a blast seeing them there. fun town.

[AM_Nashville]

Hey AM Nashville. Do you think Wilco is coming to the Ryman this year? Always have a blast seeing them there. fun town.

The lack of a Bonnaroo booking makes it very likely, though I think it's possible they'd play the new Ascend Amphitheater here this time late summer or fall. It's quite a bit larger than the Ryman, and would allow them to play one night instead of two (as they did last). But I wouldn't complain either way. Back to back at the Ryman last time was legendary.  

[Vaporized]

Thanks for the reply AM. Went to the last 2 Wilco Ryman runs. So much fun. I'd make any excuse to come to Nashville, but love going to the Mother Church. Hoping it's in the cards this year.

[downisthenewup]

The lack of a Bonnaroo booking makes it very likely, though I think it's possible they'd play the new Ascend Amphitheater here this time late summer or fall. It's quite a bit larger than the Ryman, and would allow them to play one night instead of two (as they did last). But I wouldn't complain either way. Back to back at the Ryman last time was legendary.  

Ascend is great, but I'm really hoping they do stick to 2 nights at the Ryman. Curious if the radius clause for Big Ears would preclude them from stopping here around the time they hit Jazz Fest...

 

Back on topic: I thoroughly enjoyed Saturday night's performance. Was sitting in the 6th row in front of Nels. Only complaint would be about the hammered guy in front of me.

[Shug]

I don't think whether you consider Wilco a jam band (I don't think anybody does, depending on one's definition of a jam band) or not has much relevance to whether they play lots of repeats or few repeats in a run.

 

What does have, I think, a lot of relevance to some fans' expectations for few repeats in a run or residency, particularly in the Winter time in Chicago, is that they have done it so many times.  Didn't the Kicking Television residency have zero repeats?  Very few repeats in the Incredible Shrinking tour and even in 2014 there were few fewer repeats than at this run.  Hell there were a lot less repeats on the West Coast runs last summer in LA and Seattle, etc.

 

I think the bottom line is that Wilco fans have favorite songs that they want to hear.  Wilco has a shit-ton of great songs and in the past they have kept a huge current live repertoire so people had a better chance of hearing their faves.  Wilco has done it many times before, they are fully capable, but its clear they just don't want to do that right now.

 

I will not pass a chance to see them live because they are incredible and incredibly rare in their talents and skills.  I do wish they'd keep a bigger repertoire like they used to so I'd have a better chance to hear my faves.

 

Far more interesting to me than criticizing people who want few repeats is thinking about why this Winterlude run had so many repeats and why that has been a slowly growing trend over the past few years.

 

I wonder if the setlists they played at Winterlude 2017 were specifically designed by Jeff to be the message he feels compelled to put out there in these crazy scary times in the US?  That would be my guess.  I think these songs that got played every night are the ones that he feels speak mostly eloquently to the times we find ourselves in.  Opening the run with Ashes of American Flags was a strong statement and that moment to me was the highlight of the three nights I saw.

 

Perhaps they also want to get really good at the newer songs or perfect the new arrangements of older songs?  It seems to me they have done that.  Locator, Someone To Lose, and Random Name Generator have gotten much better and they contain some hot jamming, too!  Wilco is not a jam band (jam bands to me are pale imitations of the pioneers of ensemble rock based on a wide range of American musical traditions, namely The Grateful Dead, The Allmans and the Band). What I heard at these show was a band that is STILL improving their craft, still writing new songs and adding to their already large repertoire.  I heard a band that I think are the torchbearers for the approach to music that the Dead Allmans and the Band took, with the guiding principle of a group of people playing cooperatively, can achieve more than a solo artist.  They listen to one another.  They know how to leave space in between the parts and they know how to not play on top of each other.  There is a fantastic separation between instruments.  If I Ever Was A Child sounded to me like Grateful Dead playing acoustic, just a beauty of an ensemble performance.  Plus they have a genius singer songwriter who is in the same conversation as Bob Dylan, in my mind.  Quite simply, Wilco are the best live band currently playing, in my book.  Nels is as good as Duane Allman and Garcia. His gorgeous lyrical melodic soloing on Impossible Germany is STILL getting better, even after all these years, it just blew me away night after night, it always seems like Nels tops himself every time.  The band is as tight as the Allmans, whether they are playing simple folk music or complicated free jazz art rock with the sometimes subtle but supportive and lovely beyond words keyboard playing of Michael and Pat.  They can sing like The Band with a killer vocal blend from Pat, John and Jeff.  They can play nearly any American style of music like the Dead did in addition to the Euro Kraut rock and 80s and 90s indie pop sounds that Wilco are into.

[summerdai]

I don't think whether you consider Wilco a jam band (I don't think anybody does, depending on one's definition of a jam band) or not has much relevance to whether they play lots of repeats or few repeats in a run.

 

What does have, I think, a lot of relevance to some fans' expectations for few repeats in a run or residency, particularly in the Winter time in Chicago, is that they have done it so many times.  Didn't the Kicking Television residency have zero repeats?  Very few repeats in the Incredible Shrinking tour and even in 2014 there were few fewer repeats than at this run.  Hell there were a lot less repeats on the West Coast runs last summer in LA and Seattle, etc.

 

I think the bottom line is that Wilco fans have favorite songs that they want to hear.  Wilco has a shit-ton of great songs and in the past they have kept a huge current live repertoire so people had a better chance of hearing their faves.  Wilco has done it many times before, they are fully capable, but its clear they just don't want to do that right now.

 

I will not pass a chance to see them live because they are incredible and incredibly rare in their talents and skills.  I do wish they'd keep a bigger repertoire like they used to so I'd have a better chance to hear my faves.

 

Far more interesting to me than criticizing people who want few repeats is thinking about why this Winterlude run had so many repeats and why that has been a slowly growing trend over the past few years.

 

I wonder if the setlists they played at Winterlude 2017 were specifically designed by Jeff to be the message he feels compelled to put out there in these crazy scary times in the US?  That would be my guess.  I think these songs that got played every night are the ones that he feels speak mostly eloquently to the times we find ourselves in.  Opening the run with Ashes of American Flags was a strong statement and that moment to me was the highlight of the three nights I saw.

 

Perhaps they also want to get really good at the newer songs or perfect the new arrangements of older songs?  It seems to me they have done that.  Locator, Someone To Lose, and Random Name Generator have gotten much better and they contain some hot jamming, too!  Wilco is not a jam band (jam bands to me are pale imitations of the pioneers of ensemble rock based on a wide range of American musical traditions, namely The Grateful Dead, The Allmans and the Band). What I heard at these show was a band that is STILL improving their craft, still writing new songs and adding to their already large repertoire.  I heard a band that I think are the torchbearers for the approach to music that the Dead Allmans and the Band took, with the guiding principle of a group of people playing cooperatively, can achieve more than a solo artist.  They listen to one another.  They know how to leave space in between the parts and they know how to not play on top of each other.  There is a fantastic separation between instruments.  If I Ever Was A Child sounded to me like Grateful Dead playing acoustic, just a beauty of an ensemble performance.  Plus they have a genius singer songwriter who is in the same conversation as Bob Dylan, in my mind.  Quite simply, Wilco are the best live band currently playing, in my book.  Nels is as good as Duane Allman and Garcia. His gorgeous lyrical melodic soloing on Impossible Germany is STILL getting better, even after all these years, it just blew me away night after night, it always seems like Nels tops himself every time.  The band is as tight as the Allmans, whether they are playing simple folk music or complicated free jazz art rock with the sometimes subtle but supportive and lovely beyond words keyboard playing of Michael and Pat.  They can sing like The Band with a killer vocal blend from Pat, John and Jeff.  They can play nearly any American style of music like the Dead did in addition to the Euro Kraut rock and 80s and 90s indie pop sounds that Wilco are into.

 

I agree with most of this, however when it comes down to it, Jeff is a relatively weak singer, especially when you are comparing with greats like The Band. He does well with the voice that God gave him, and I like it. but it is not really a thing of wonder.

[calvino]

The wife and I had great time on Saturday. We were up in the balcony - towards the front - from Heavy Metal Drummer onward, everyone was on their feet. For the most part everyone around me was great, though two girls by us sat down the whole show and were on there phone the entire concert - which was fine with me, because they were quiet - it did bug my wife, though - mostly because she couldn't believe they could just sit there the entire night.

 

I was fine with the set list - sound wise was fine - guess it could have been a tad bit louder.

 

Definitely seemed like an older crowd, perhaps that's because it was a seated theater, as oppose to a general admission show.

 

Anyway a nice, great date night - dinner and drinks at the Dearborn, then the show, and finally a aftershow nightcap at the Green Door Tavern/Drifter.

[Shug]

I agree with most of this, however when it comes down to it, Jeff is a relatively weak singer, especially when you are comparing with greats like The Band. He does well with the voice that God gave him, and I like it. but it is not really a thing of wonder.

As a lead singer, he's more like Dylan, mostly character with little prettiness, but the vocal blend they achieve (Pat and John are sweet and Jeff provides the eccentric character) can be gorgeous and similar to The Band, but there is no lead vocalist like Richard Manuel or Levon Helm in Wilco, I agree.