bböp Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 As the appointed 8:30 p.m. hour for Wilco to take the stage approached tonight, on what was technically the final night of a grueling period of touring over the past couple of months, I couldn't help but get one more strong feeling of déja vu on this run. First of all, we were standing outdoors on a large lawn area outside of a contemporary art museum. And it was lightly raining. And then suddenly, there was Joe Thompson (the eponym of Joe's Field at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass.) on stage introducing — and gushing over — Jeff and his bandmates. Wait, had the time/space continuum somehow bent and relocated the Solid Sound Festival from the Berkshires of Massachusetts to the Ozarks of northwest Arkansas? About the only thing missing was a train blowing its horn as it rumbled past — and, of course, a stupid rainbow. The steady drip of rain from the lip of the stage overhang jolted me back into reality, but it was still an eerily similar scene at the Momentary in Bentonville, whose "Green" has hosted live music since its opening in 2020. To be sure, if Wilco ever wanted to move Solid Sound away from Mass MoCA or hold a version of it in a different part of the country, this place would certainly seem to be among the prime candidates to host. I wasn't aware before tonight, but apparently the folks who run the Momentary (including interim director Thompson), which is a satellite of the nearby Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, have had a longstanding relationship and collaboration with Mass MoCA. More to come. but for now, here was the complete setlist as played at the Momentary (Meant To Be was on the printed setlist near the end of the main set, but wasn't played): Infinite Surprise Handshake Drugs Pittsburgh I Am My Mother Cruel Country I Am Trying To Break Your Heart> One Wing Cousin Hummingbird Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull Soldier Child Whole Love Via Chicago Impossible Germany Evicted Jesus, etc. California Stars Box Full Of Letters Heavy Metal Drummer A Shot In The Arm ------------------------------------ At Least That's What You Said Falling Apart (Right Now) Spiders (Kidsmoke) 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Tatlock Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 Uncanny. Ta(rizona) 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian F. Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 Not for the first time, Wilcoworld has the set list all wrong. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nalafej Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 My third show of the tour and it didn't disappoint. I spent the afternoon at the nearby and absolutely outstanding Crystal Bridges museum as did 5/6 of Wilco who I saw there. No surprise - we've heard at least two other stories of band members touring an art museums on this tour. The show itself was a blast. It was really nice to see Jeff sharing his appreciation of their hardworking crew during a break in the action (with the rest of the band non-verbally relaying their gratitude as well) and the band members throughout the show trading smiles, laughs, goofiness and (I might be reading a little too much into at this point) doing their bast to capture the moment for themselves given that this is the end for a while. The new songs are just so good live and this setlist is a fine tuned and crowd pleasing machine from my perspective. How many other bands nearly thirty years into their career can pull off playing 9 songs from the past 2 years out of a 23 song set??!!! Among many standout moments, I have to remark on Glenn's drumming during Bird Without a Tail/ Base of My Skull - it was just insane. How does one human being create so much unique, glorious and loud rhythm and not steel the show from the dueling guitars? We might have missed counting 'nothings' in Misunderstood last night (or even counting a single song from Being There - a serious/ criminal act) but did anybody count the number of times Jeff Tweedy raised his arms in the air in a celebratory fashion? I lost count very early in the show. Cheers to Wilco, their crew and fans for a show to remember. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian F. Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 46 minutes ago, nalafej said: How many other bands nearly thirty years into their career can pull off playing 9 songs from the past 2 years out of a 23 song set??!!! I can think of at least one: Pearl Jam. They released an album in March 2020 and, when they finally got to play a few festival shows in support of it in the fall of 2021, they came out and rattled off six of the first eight songs in the set from that album. On the first show of their proper tour in the spring of 2022, they played eight songs from that album. I don't know if there's any band of '90s vintage that goes as deep as Pearl Jam in their live show in terms of new songs and catalog songs. On their recent eight-show tour, they played over 100 different songs (and this is in spite of the fact that, since the pandemic, they have cut their shows back from three hours or more to two hours-and-fifteen or so). By comparison, Wilco has played 44 different songs on the 23-show Tour to Infinity. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nalafej Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 Just now, Brian F. said: I can think of at least one: Pearl Jam. They released an album in March 2020 and, when they finally got to play a few festival shows in support of it in the fall of 2021, they came out and rattled off six of the first eight songs in the set from that album. On the first show of their proper tour in the spring of 2022, they played eight songs from that album. I don't know if there's any band of '90s vintage that goes as deep as Pearl Jam in their live show in terms of new songs and catalog songs. On their recent eight-show tour, they played over 100 different songs (and this is in spite of the fact that, since the pandemic, they have cut their shows back from three hours or more to two hours-and-fifteen or so). By comparison, Wilco has played 44 different songs on the 23-show Tour to Infinity. Good answer! I wish I liked PJ's newer material. I went to the first Chicago show at United Center this year (3+ years after Gigaton release/ 4 of it's songs played) and found it to be a drag. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian F. Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 I really love that album. My only problem with it is that I got my copy of it on March 18, 2020, and listened to it every day thereafter for months, so it still kind of feels like the soundtrack of the world falling apart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted October 30, 2023 Author Share Posted October 30, 2023 On 10/28/2023 at 3:03 PM, Brian F. said: Not for the first time, Wilcoworld has the set list all wrong. They put the St. Louis setlist in for Bentonville, it looks like. And haven't corrected it. Oof. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unposedquestion Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 On 10/28/2023 at 6:01 AM, bböp said: As the appointed 8:30 p.m. hour for Wilco to take the stage approached tonight, on what was technically the final night of a grueling period of touring over the past couple of months, I couldn't help but get one more strong feeling of déja vu on this run. First of all, we were standing outdoors on a large lawn area outside of a contemporary art museum. And it was lightly raining. And then suddenly, there was Joe Thompson (the eponym of Joe's Field at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass.) on stage introducing — and gushing over — Jeff and his bandmates. Wait, had the time/space continuum somehow bent and relocated the Solid Sound Festival from the Berkshires of Massachusetts to the Ozarks of northwest Arkansas? About the only thing missing was a train blowing its horn as it rumbled past — and, of course, a stupid rainbow. The steady drip of rain from the lip of the stage overhang jolted me back into reality, but it was still an eerily similar scene at the Momentary in Bentonville, whose "Green" has hosted live music since its opening in 2020. To be sure, if Wilco ever wanted to move Solid Sound away from Mass MoCA or hold a version of it in a different part of the country, this place would certainly seem to be among the prime candidates to host. I wasn't aware before tonight, but apparently the folks who run the Momentary (including interim director Thompson), which is a satellite of the nearby Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, have had a longstanding relationship and collaboration with Mass MoCA. More to come. but for now, here was the complete setlist as played at the Momentary (Meant To Be was on the printed setlist near the end of the main set, but wasn't played): Infinite Surprise Handshake Drugs Pittsburgh I Am My Mother Cruel Country I Am Trying To Break Your Heart> One Wing Cousin Hummingbird Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull Soldier Child Whole Love Via Chicago Impossible Germany Evicted Jesus, etc. California Stars Box Full Of Letters Heavy Metal Drummer A Shot In The Arm ------------------------------------ At Least That's What You Said Falling Apart (Right Now) Spiders (Kidsmoke) I was wondering if they were going to play ALTWYS during this tour! To see that with Spiders, wow! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian F. Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 1 hour ago, unposedquestion said: I was wondering if they were going to play ALTWYS during this tour! To see that with Spiders, wow! They had also played it in L.A. at the first Bellwether show. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unposedquestion Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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