Wilco — 23 April 2023, Athens, GA (The Classic Center [Auditorium])

[bböp]

As I was gathering my stuff after tonight's show and trying to let the people who were further down the row exit past me, the woman who had been in the seat next to me turned to me on her way out and said, "Best show ever?" And I looked back at her and replied, "Was it?" I swear I wasn't necessarily trying to be snarky in the moment, and I don't think she took it that way since she sort of muttered, "Yeah," and continued on her way. This is the kind of interaction I find somewhat fascinating since this was a lady who, from our seats just off center in the second row, remained seated for nearly the entire show and displayed almost no discernible emotion whatsoever (while I was obviously "into it," standing for most of the show and singing along).

 

Now I have nothing against this lady and, frankly, barely noticed her during the show. But collectively, she was sort of representative of the crowd around me, which unfortunately didn't do much to boost the energy level in the room or give much back to the band. I could just as easily have mentioned the couple who couldn't be bothered to get to their front-row seats in front of me until three songs into Wilco's set or the couple next to them, who sat there like stones for most of the night — clearly, the female half of the couple was one of those people who had been dragged to the show by their partner and couldn't wait to leave — and then took off right after the main set.

 

I'm willing to concede that this could have just been limited to the immediate crowd around me (and luckily, I wasn't "shouted down" by anyone for standing up, as a friend of mine elsewhere in the pit later told me she was) and I certainly am aware that people enjoy things in different ways. As Jeff himself has previously suggested, it would be pretty terrible to perform for an audience of people like him who internalize their emotions and keep everything inside. Different strokes for different folks and all that, I get it. But in my experience, Wilco is a band that gives back what it gets and when the band and an audience really get in sync, it can make for a truly transcendent experience. And when they don't, well, let's just say it's OK, too — but it's most definitely not the "best show ever."

 

Which is too bad, because Athens, Ga., certainly is a special place for American music and a place that has surely witnessed any number of legendary musical evenings. Even Jeff couldn't believe that it had been so long since Wilco had last played a show here, noting that it had been 13 or 14 years and quipping, "You guys graduate yet?" A little later, Jeff was still talking about how he couldn't believe Wilco hadn't played in town since 2009 since "Athens is a place that means so much to us...and we wouldn't be here without you all, really."

 

Like that show in 2009, Jeff and Co. also welcomed a special guest to sing a song with them. Back then it had been R.E.M.'s Peter Buck (as well as Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin), who unsurprisingly joined for California Stars. This time, however, it was a newer friend — rising Atlanta singer-songwriter Faye Webster, who incidentally was 11 years old back in 2009. Webster, dressed in an orange fleece pullover and baggy pants, lent her vocals to Jesus, etc., taking an entire verse on her own, and gave Jeff and Nels hugs and Mike a high five afterward on her way off stage. Unfortunately from where I was standing, the sound mix wasn't too sharp for the guest appearance and you kind of had to struggle to make out Webster's vocals, which can be pretty quiet anyway, but it was still fun to see her collaborate with Wilco.

 

The other big to-do during the show was, as usual on this tour, the nightly trophy presentation for the "Best Behaved" fan. Jeff actually didn't make too much of it tonight, but he clearly had already earmarked the award for a young woman named Airy (spelling?) at stage right who had been up and dancing for most of the show. After that, however, there was some hubbub on that side of the room and, before long, a trophy that someone had apparently brought for the band was making its way up on stage. Jeff cheerfully accepted the trophy, which was a bit larger than the ones the band is giving out and appeared to have a golfing figure on it, and announced that it was labeled "Best Rock Band 1993." "You know we weren't a band in 1993, right?" Jeff asked. "We do appreciate it when audiences give back."

 

A trophy was one thing, but apparently participation was another, as Jeff noted a few songs later after a relatively ho-hum rendition of The Late Greats. "Just because you gave us a trophy doesn't mean you don't have to clap," Jeff said, with a mild touch of annoyance. "It's stupid, but let's do it. What else do you have to do with your lives?"

 

It wouldn't be the only time over the course of the Sunday-night show that Jeff dropped a thinly veiled (though, I'm sure, lost on most of the crowd) comment that revealed something about his state of mind vis a vis the audience. Earlier he had joked that "this is the best Monday night audience we've had in a long time," and had also tried to almost will the audience into loosening up a bit when he said, "We're gonna have fun." He also checked in at least one other time to ask if "everybody is having fun" and added, "Really?" before joking that it was his duty to check in periodically.

 

If not everyone in the audience seemed to be visibly enjoying themselves, at least it was heartening to see the band still being playful with one another. It put a smile on my face to see, for instance, Mike throw a pillow at Glenn literally just seconds before the latter was supposed to hit the cowbell to kick off I Got You (At The End Of The Century). Glenn caught the pillow and threw it aside, shaking his head at Mike and giving him a playfully annoyed look, before striking the cowbell right on cue. It's small moments like that, which are probably missed by most of the audience, that help me understand how the band members keep things entertaining for themselves night after night, regardless of what any given audience might bring to the proceedings.

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played (I'm pretty sure there were no changes/omissions from the printed list):

 

Via Chicago

I Am My Mother

Cruel Country

Handshake Drugs

Muzzle Of Bees

Hummingbird

Love Is Everywhere (Beware)

Pot Kettle Black

Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull

Say You Miss Me

Box Full Of Letters

Impossible Germany

Story To Tell

Jesus, etc. (with Faye Webster on vocals)

Hate It Here

The Late Greats

Heavy Metal Drummer

A Shot In The Arm

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

Falling Apart (Right Now)

California Stars

I Got You (At The End Of The Century)>
Monday

[Albert Tatlock]

Ta. Yes indeed. I can remember back before the internets when Athens Georgia was a far off mystical place only associated with R.E.M. album covers, but now you, in the words of Steve Forbert, make it all so real.

 

EDIT: Which to me, after listening to it on YouTube for the first time in a very long time, has the repeated riff feel of One Sunday Morning. Mildly interesting.

[nalafej]

How are the A's go over in the opening slot?

 

Found them through Tiny Desk - really loved their episode there.

[Brian F.]

5 hours ago, nalafej said:

How are the A's go over in the opening slot?

 

Found them through Tiny Desk - really loved their episode there.

 

I thought the A's were moving to Vegas...

 

As for the sitters, you know where I, um, stand on this. As Jeff has said many times, including on this topic, "Don't postpone happiness," which is pretty clearly an anagram of "HOP ONTO PEPPINESS: STAND!"

[bböp]

11 hours ago, nalafej said:

How are the A's go over in the opening slot?

 

Found them through Tiny Desk - really loved their episode there.

 

I think there has been some level of either indifference or bemusement, unfortunately — indifference in the sense that it seems like a lot of people haven't even arrived yet by the time they go on, and bemusement because a lot of the people who are there don't seem to know what to make of them. The latter could be because they kind of have adopted this stage presence that is like a combination of, like, 1950s-era "sister" groups with their matching pink dresses and songs featuring yodeling and harmonies and a comedic duo act with their kooky banter and minimal instrumentation.

 

And for people who had maybe looked them up and taken note of the fact that Amelia Meath is one half of Sylvan Esso, there might have some preconceived notions based on that band and The A's are nothing like that.

 

Then again, maybe I'm being too cynical. Certainly there have been at least a few open-minded folks each night who have seemed to genuinely dig them — one of them being Jeff, who has watched from side stage at least once or twice so far.

[nalafej]

4 hours ago, bböp said:

 

I think there has been some level of either indifference or bemusement, unfortunately — indifference in the sense that it seems like a lot of people haven't even arrived yet by the time they go on, and bemusement because a lot of the people who are there don't seem to know what to make of them. The latter could be because they kind of have adopted this stage presence that is like a combination of, like, 1950s-era "sister" groups with their matching pink dresses and songs featuring yodeling and harmonies and a comedic duo act with their kooky banter and minimal instrumentation.

 

And for people who had maybe looked them up and taken note of the fact that Amelia Meath is one half of Sylvan Esso, there might have some preconceived notions based on that band and The A's are nothing like that.

 

Then again, maybe I'm being too cynical. Certainly there have been at least a few open-minded folks each night who have seemed to genuinely dig them — one of them being Jeff, who has watched from side stage at least once or twice so far.

 

Thanks! Exactly what I expected. Bummed to not catch any of the shows on the tour that they are supporting.