Wilco — 9 October 2023, Santa Monica, CA (Apogee Studios)

[Brian F.]

This was an invitation-only gig for local public-radio station KCRW in Santa Monica. The 54-minute set was:

 

Pittsburgh

Infinite Surprise

Handshake Drugs

I Am My Mother

Cruel Country

Sunlight Ends

Soldier Child

Evicted

Bird without a Tail/Base of My Skull

Meant to Be

 

The set was preceded by a hilariously awkward ten-minute conversation between Jeff and Anthony Valadez of KCRW. Anthony: "So I understand something particularly special happened in Dallas on September 27. Tell us about that." Jeff: Confused stare. Anthony leans over and whispers something in Jeff's ear. Jeff: "Oh, yeah, the open-mic thing. Yeah, Glenn signed us up at an open-mic night, and most of us were around so we did it." Next question: "You've just released your thirteenth album, and it has a unique feature among the Wilco catalog. Can you talk about that?" Jeff: Confused stare. Anthony whispers in Jeff's ear again. Jeff: "Oh, yes, it was produced by Cate LeBon." Anthony: "I understand her dad is a big Wilco fan." Jeff: "Apparently, yes." Ultimately, the highlight of this conversation was a thoughtful answer Jeff gave to a question about whether or not Wilco should be in the world in these crazy mixed-up times. (His answer: yes, but expressed more poetically than that.)

 

The room was very small. There were about 150 people in attendance, including some in an upstairs loft area. On the floor, there was no empty space. I don't know if I've ever seen the full band in a space so small. From the stage to the back wall, it was only about six or seven people deep with little room in between each row of people. The stage was set up at an angle in one corner of the room. From Nels to Pat, it couldn't have been more than fifteen feet.  The only smaller room I can recall seeing a Wilco-related performance was a show by Jeff with Jay Bennett at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, Mass., in November 1997.

 

The sound was incredible. "Sunlight Ends," played for (I think) only the second time was gorgeous again. At the end, someone shouted, "Play that every night!," which Jeff heard as "Play here every night!" He said, "It's nice to be here but, um, I think once is good." Before playing "Evicted," he said, "This is the tenth time we've played this today" (likely referring to soundchecks and performances of the song for Jimmy Kimmel's show and the Santa Monica gig). After the song, someone said, "Best one today!" Jeff said, "Have you seen the others? Actually, I believe you have. I see some familiar faces." He then proceeded to a non sequitur extolling the majestic hair of a gentleman near the front of the stage by Nels. He said the guy's hair was a beacon that had been guiding them all night.

 

The set consisted entirely of material from the last two albums except for "Handshake Drugs." The crowd seemed largely unfamiliar with the new material, but received each song enthusiastically. Once again, "Bird without a Tail/Base of My Skull" was blistering and it elicited loud applause.

 

 

[bböp]

On 10/9/2023 at 11:16 PM, Brian F. said:

This was an invitation-only gig for local public-radio station KCRW in Santa Monica. The 54-minute set was:

 

Pittsburgh

Infinite Surprise

Handshake Drugs

I Am My Mother

Cruel Country

Sunlight Ends

Soldier Child

Evicted

Bird without a Tail/Base of My Skull

Meant to Be

 

The set was preceded by a hilariously awkward ten-minute conversation between Jeff and Anthony Valadez of KCRW. Anthony: "So I understand something particularly special happened in Dallas on September 27. Tell us about that." Jeff: Confused stare. Anthony leans over and whispers something in Jeff's ear. Jeff: "Oh, yeah, the open-mic thing. Yeah, Glenn signed us up at an open-mic night, and most of us were around so we did it." Next question: "You've just released your thirteenth album, and it has a unique feature among the Wilco catalog. Can you talk about that?" Jeff: Confused stare. Anthony whispers in Jeff's ear again. Jeff: "Oh, yes, it was produced by Cate LeBon." Anthony: "I understand her dad is a big Wilco fan." Jeff: "Apparently, yes." Ultimately, the highlight of this conversation was a thoughtful answer Jeff gave to a question about whether or not Wilco should be in the world in these crazy mixed-up times. (His answer: yes, but expressed more poetically than that.)

Thanks for the setlists and report(s) all week, especially at a private gig like this from which we don’t always get good details.

 

That interview sounds like it was super awkward, indeed. From your description of it, it seems like Jeff and the interviewer were just on different wavelengths, or was it that Jeff just seemed distracted? I can’t really imagine what he and Susie are going through with the situation in Israel and Sammy being over there. Perhaps that question about Wilco’s role in these crazy times brought things more into focus…

[Brian F.]

I think they were on different wavelengths, for sure, but the first two questions were very vague. I doubt Jeff catalogued the open-mic night in his mind as "September 27, Dallas." The interviewer presented the date as if were the events of November 22 in Dallas. Jeff seemed genuinely confused as opposed to distracted, and I can't blame him for that.

 

There's a chance video and/or audio of this will be posted online (unless Wilco doesn't permit it). KCRW did another one of these shows on October 6 with Say She She and it was already online as of October 9. Or maybe Wilco will hold it in reserve for the Cousin box set in 2044 (a la the KCRW set included in the Being There deluxe set).

 

By the way, when I mentioned that this gig was invitation-only, I didn't mean to imply that I was invited to it. I only got in through a combination of shoe-leather reporting, patience and the serendipity of knowing someone who got asked to be the Plus-One by one of the high muckety-mucks who was invited. I've learned over the years that there tend to be no-shows to these events, especially in L.A., but I think that was moot because there were only two of us trying to get in so the organizers seemed happy to accommodate us once showtime arrived.

[Albert Tatlock]

13 hours ago, bböp said:

Thanks for the setlists and report(s) all week, especially at a private gig like this from which we don’t always get good details.

Top tip - you can save yourself some time and effort - just say Ta. It says it all.

[TweedyShowFan]

It was finally posted, over three months later, today: https://youtu.be/azPw5KKUfmU?si=rcWgxFv6rQdKk1m6 

Minus Soldier Child. Do you remember that being subpar?

[Brian F.]

I do not remember it being subpar.