Wilco — 12 September 2022, Sioux Falls, SD (Washington Pavilion Of Arts And Sciences)

[bböp]

Wilco made its long-awaited (by me, at least!) return to South Dakota tonight, four days shy of 19 years since its one and only previous show in the state and in (I think) the very same room. I look forward to another performance in the Mount Rushmore State sometime in, let's say, 2041! Come on, Jeff's hips...hold on!

 

All kidding aside, though, I'd say this was about as enjoyable a show as one had any reason to expect on a Monday night in a way-beyond-tertiary market. The Washington Pavilion Of Arts And Sciences — for the record, the event actually took place in the 1,800-capacity Mary W. Sommervold Hall, the centerpiece of the Husby Performing Arts Center located within the WPOAAS — was far from sold out, but those in attendance were on their feet from the start and seemed enthusiastic enough. A few folks even had some direct interactions with Jeff that ranged from amusing to cringey.

 

For instance, after saying next to nothing for the first half of the set, Jeff acknowledged the crowd before Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull. "Thanks for inviting us here," he said, with arms outstretched. "It's a pleasure to address the Galactic Council in person." It's a line he has used before in venues that are particularly steep-looking, almost forboding, which this room was, with its concrete balconies looming over the main floor. Anyway, it didn't take long before someone in the audience corrected Jeff that the term is actually "Galactic Federation." To which Jeff replied, with a smirk: "Nerd. ... Nerd recognizes nerd. What does that come from, one of your space movies? I don't know anything about that." That interaction seemed to open up the floor for other people to yell out, which of course led Jeff to say, "Guess we're gonna have a conversation. Let's go one by one..." And that, in turn, seemed to cause people to pipe down. "That worked out well," Jeff said.

 

A few songs later, Jeff gave tonight's version of the pep talk he has been delivering lately about how he understood some people not wanting to participate in a show through actions like clapping or singing along. "If I was here seeing me, I'm a little reserved in general," Jeff said. "I'm not the life of the party, you know?" But he added that recently he had been trying to open up a bit more and that folks in the audience should too, because "you're not going to go to your death bed thinking, 'Wow, I'm really glad I didn't clap along at that show in Sioux Falls.'" He added that the band came with a little spirit in the form of their music and they fed off the spirit of the audience and that exchange is "not like anything else on earth." (Sincere moments like that are usually tinged with at least some humor, though, as Jeff qualified his remarks a song or two later by joking that "people going 'Whooo' might regret that on your death bed.")

 

Just before Jeff and Co. started the next song, however, some guy yelled out for the band to "play some Son Volt." Why do people still do that? Is it just because Wilco hasn't played here in two decades that some of the heckles are also approximately two decades behind? I can't remember if Jeff said anything in response, though he clearly heard it. I also don't know if it was related, but I noted that just then Jeff called an audible for a bit later in the set when he spread the word to the crew and his bandmates that they would be switching from the planned Passenger Side to Box Full Of Letters. (I was standing right in front of John and Pat and I could clearly see John mouth to Pat, "Box, not Passenger.") When that slot came up, Jeff said to the crowd, "Wanna hear a song off our first record? Probably as close to Son Volt as we're gonna get."

 

From that point on, as the rest of the main set wound down, the band seemed to get progressively looser and/or goofier, culminating with I'm The Man Who Loves You. No, person who cares about such things, Glenn did not stand on his drum stool or engage in other shenanigans that you might enjoy, but this was an especially goofy version of the song. First, Jeff started playing slightly early, while the outro to Heavy Metal Drummer was still finishing — usually, they make that transition pretty seamlessly — and then for some reason, Pat went over to Glenn during the opening chords and the two were sort of having a little stare-off until Jeff noticed and gave them a look, like, "What's going on?" Pat simply replied with a shrug and a little smile. I'm pretty sure John and Pat also both collectively forgot to sing the first set of "ooh oohs" as they've been doing while playing the album version of the song, but then both recovered to execute the subsequent "woo hoos." Almost no one notices or cares about this part except me, I'm fairly certain.

 

The encore, meanwhile, was another series of moving parts. I didn't actually notice this myself, but I guess the techs initially brought out guitars for Jeff and Nels that could possibly be used for a certain song suggested by the show's official poster — which caused one fan in particular who was right up front within earshot of Jeff to comment that he liked that combination of instruments. To which Jeff replied, "It's not what you think." Haha. Anyway, the whole thing became a moot point anyway, when the techs were sent scrambling to bring out a different set of guitars for another song entirely.

 

And then the show came to a close with what I secretly hoped it would: the Monday>Outtasite finale. Monday on a Monday should always be a thing, no? I vote yes. Anyway, Jeff didn't utter the "son of a..." transition, but Glenn might have. It was a fun way to close out a pretty representative set for this Cruel Country run — though, ironically, it was also the exact same way the other South Dakota show concluded back in 2003 — even if it wasn't actually planned this time. Sometimes I wonder what causes Jeff to change his mind like that in the moment from what he had planned on doing earlier on. Is it just reading the crowd and/or the room, or something else? After all these years, there are still Wilco mysteries to unpack, which, I suppose, is a good thing.

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played (there were several changes from the printed list, including a shakeup of the encore, which was listed as The Late Greats>Falling Apart>I Got You, as well as the aforementioned swapping-in of Box Full Of Letters for Passenger Side):

 

Handshake Drugs

I Am My Mother

Cruel Country

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

Hints

War On War

How To Fight Loneliness

Via Chicago>

Many Worlds (coda only)

At Least That's What You Said

Story To Tell

Hummingbird

Tired Of Taking It Out On You

Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull

Jesus, etc.

Impossible Germany

Love Is Everywhere (Beware)

California Stars

A Lifetime To Find

Box Full Of Letters

Heavy Metal Drummer>

I'm The Man Who Loves You

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

Falling Apart (Right Now)

Monday>

Outtasite (Outta Mind)

[Albert Tatlock]

[bböp]

3 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

 

I am not proficient in your memes or clip art or whatnot, but I will just say...you can hit unpause now!

 

Or not! Whatever floats your tenter hook...

[Albert Tatlock]

13 hours ago, bböp said:

 

I am not proficient in your memes or clip art or whatnot, but I will just say...you can hit unpause now!

 

Or not! Whatever floats your tenter hook...

 

Comfortably unhooked now thanks. My life is like the Hiroshima clock - stuck on hold until your report is completed. As a Brit I am a stickler for tradition, schedules, and procedures.

[TCP]

Great recap for a great show, thanks Paul!

[theashtraysays]

On 9/13/2022 at 7:32 AM, bböp said:

The encore, meanwhile, was another series of moving parts. I didn't actually notice this myself, but I guess the techs initially brought out guitars for Jeff and Nels that could possibly be used for a certain song suggested by the show's official poster — which caused one fan in particular who was right up front within earshot of Jeff to comment that he liked that combination of instruments. To which Jeff replied, "It's not what you think." Haha. Anyway, the whole thing became a moot point anyway, when the techs were sent scrambling to bring out a different set of guitars for another song entirely.

 

Not that I pay attention to these things (OK, yes I do), but during the last tour in the PNW, Bull Black Nova was on the setlist maybe 1/3 of the time.  And Laminated Cat was almost always there if Nova wasn't.  And for those two songs, Jeff and Nels both use a similar guitar for both songs (same tuning I suppose), each using a very well worn sunburst-like pattern Fender.  So when the techs brought out those two guitars during the encore break and put them in Jeff and Nels' guitar stands, I did indeed notice.  And the prominently placed black bison/bull on that night's poster was another potential clue that the CC Nova-drought could perhaps be coming to an end. 

IMAGINE MY DISAPPOINTMENT though, when Jeff calls over the techs to bring them something else, and those two guitars get relegated back to the case unplayed.  Hence the comment to Jeff "Hey, I like that one!", and the "it's not what you think" reply (which I believe means that they were intended for "The Late Greats", which was on the printed setlist as the first song of the encore but then got scratched in order to add "Monday").  Alas. 

 

One of the very noticeable things I saw was how close the band was to the audience.  The venue has a rather low stage, and there were seats in the true orchestra pit section what went right up the the stage lip (no rail).  The band was set up fairly close to the front of the stage, something we didn't see at all during the PNW run last fall, when they were always set back a good 10-15 feet.  Those of us in the front row were pretty good about hanging back against our seats (while standing) and not doing the elbows-on-the-stage thing to keep from getting a little too up close in the wake of the pandemic.  (Less than 1% masks at this indoor space btw). 

The only other noteworthy point here is that the band didn't hit the stage until 8:32!  The promptest band in rock squandered 120 seconds!! I'm sure there was hell to pay at the post-show debrief for whatever caused that little hiccup.