Wilco — 3 December 2023, Riviera Maya, México (Hard Rock Hotel) [Sky Blue Sky Festival; Day 2 of 4]

[bböp]

Someone asked me after tonight's second of three Wilco sets at this year's edition of the Sky Blue Sky Festival whether I liked the previous night's performance or tonight's better, and obviously it's difficult to argue against the latter. Jeff seemingly felt much better after having to cut Night 1's set short due to some symptoms of heat exhaustion. And while both night's setlists were filled with more than a few deeper cuts and/or songs that don't get played as often these days, Night 2 just felt more like a typical Wilco show in terms of pacing, antics and the like.

 

Just as a point of comparison, however, the two nights clocked in at almost identical lengths (1 hour, 48 minutes for Night 1 vs. 1:49 for Night 2). And I actually enjoyed the zany side of Jeff and his bandmates that the Night 1 theme of "album openers" — and perhaps also some technical problems — seemed to bring out in which they were more willing to try something that maybe they hadn't rehearsed or could definitely go wrong.

 

That said, Night 2 simply felt like a delightful performance by the band most people traveled here to see — even if only sporadic pockets of audience members in the already-sparse crowd at the Hard Rock Hotel seemed genuinely enthusiastic. I think more people honestly got into the "Blue" theme night, as designated by event promoter Cloud 9; the word about the theme didn't really get out in a very efficient manner, IMHO, though more than a few folks clearly did get the message. Shoutout to the Blues Brothers-costumed couple in the front row, Brian and Sue, who Jeff briefly mentioned early on.

 

Though Jeff didn't explicitly announce a theme for tonight's setlist, it seemed almost obvious from the start that there would be a country-ish bent to the proceedings with Hesitating Beauty and the twangy waltz-ified version of Box Full Of Letters kicking things off. That opening duo led into the by-now familiar Cruel Country opening pair of I Am My Mother and Cruel Country, and the show was off and running.

 

Wearing just a plain black T-shirt, unusually sans any outer layer, Jeff showed he was feeling better almost immediately. Aside from joking about the "Blue Night" theme, he also took aim at the noisemakers that some people had created earlier in the day during a workshop with Glenn. "OK, everybody with their crafts that they made with Glenn...let's hear them before they get confiscated," Jeff quipped, while Glenn made some defiant faces behind him. A few songs later, Jeff also noted to no one in particular, "There's a little more air blowing around here tonight."

 

Another visit to Banter Corner involved Jeff being unsympathetic toward anyone who had gotten a bit too much sun. "Is anyone sunburnt?" Jeff asked about halfway through the set. "That's on you. I've got a neighbor who's here who's a skin doctor, and he frowns on that."

 

Of course one thing that had been missing from the opening-night set that had been a highlight of the last Sky Blue Sky event were some collaborations between Wilco and some of the other artists on the bill. The most obvious candidate was Cate Le Bon, who produced the band's most recent album Cousin and performed her own subdued set earlier in the afternoon on the Beach Stage. Fortunately, we were treated to Le Bon joining Wilco on vocals on Evicted. Another guest appeared on stage in the form of Dr. Dog/Waxahatchee/Kevin Morby drummer Eric Slick, who contributed maracas to California Stars (and got jokingly called Morby by Jeff when someone asked who he was). Unfortunately there was no return to the stage by Lucinda Williams, who had performed a rocking 75-minute set on the Main Stage with her band — overcoming an early hiccup with her vocals — prior to Wilco.

 

Another letdown was the absence of It's Just That Simple from what purported to be a country-ish set, though we later learned that it indeed had been on the printed setlist but simply not played. Which made John's saying something to Jeff on stage around that time make more sense in retrospect; perhaps he just wasn't feeling up to singing the song tonight, but who knows? At any rate, not long after that, the "country" theme seemed to grow to include "silly songs" as well as Walken and Kingpin closed the main set (and later, I'm A Wheel was added as an impromptu second encore).

 

Two Wilco sets down and one to go, and I'm learning that this festival continues to be as enjoyable as ever and seems to bring out a different energy in the band but also maybe attracts a different kind of audience as well. Of course there are regulars I see at a lot of shows and some I've gotten to know over the years, but I'm also surprised by how "dead" the crowd can seem at times. In part I'm basing that on the relative lack of participation on, for example, the clapping bits in Casino Queen and Kingpin or should-be singalongs on songs like Someday Soon, Give Back The Key To My Heart or even, God forbid, California Stars. "Were you singing along?" Jeff asked after What Light. "That's kind of the point of everything." And later, when apparently not enough people were responding on the call-and-response part of Kingpin, Jeff chided the non-participants by saying in part, "If you think you're too cool to do this, you're at a resort in Cancun."

 

Touché, sir...

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played, for Night 2 at Sky Blue Sky 2023 (It's Just That Simple was on the printed setlist but not played, while I'm A Wheel wasn't on the printed list but was added as a second encore):

 

Hesitating Beauty

Box Full Of Letters (waltz version)

I Am My Mother

Cruel Country

If I Ever Was A Child

What Light

Shouldn't Be Ashamed

Evicted (with Cate Le Bon on vocals)

Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull

Tired Of Taking It Out On You

Forget The Flowers

Someday Soon

I'll Fight

Someone To Lose

California Stars (with Eric Slick on maracas)

A Lifetime To Find

Walken

Kingpin

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

Red-Eyed And Blue>

I Got You (At The End Of The Century)

Casino Queen

Falling Apart (Right Now)

Give Back The Key To My Heart [Doug Sahm]

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

I'm A Wheel

[Albert Tatlock]

2 hours ago, bböp said:

sporadic pockets of audience members in the already-sparse crowd at the Hard Rock Hotel seemed genuinely enthusiastic

Strange. You mentioned a 'different' atmosphere last night too. Wonder if people are partied out by the evening or whether there is some audience filtering at this event based on recent economic events (not sure if that is so much of a thing in the USA) that gives a different vibe.

2 hours ago, bböp said:

her own subdued set earlier

Probably as Cardiff lost to Llanelli at the weekend, with Ellis getting sent off. Our youngsters are doing well though with an exciting brand of rugby. But as she's from West Wales originally maybe she's still a Turk and was just guilty that he should not have been sent off.

 

[nalafej]

On paper that's a fantastic and different Wilco set. Sounds like a great time too. Thanks for the reporting, bbop!

[bböp]

7 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

Strange. You mentioned a 'different' atmosphere last night too. Wonder if people are partied out by the evening or whether there is some audience filtering at this event based on recent economic events (not sure if that is so much of a thing in the USA) that gives a different vibe.

Probably as Cardiff lost to Llanelli at the weekend, with Ellis getting sent off. Our youngsters are doing well though with an exciting brand of rugby. But as she's from West Wales originally maybe she's still a Turk and was just guilty that he should not have been sent off.

 

 

Re: the ruggers, yes, I'm sure that's it. Have I ever mentioned I love the Welsh accent?

 

As to your more serious question, I'm not sure what it is. I've been trying to put my finger on it. I mean, the event definitely feels undersold...no matter what the room tallies on the event and/or resort sites might indicate. It also just seems to me that there are a lot of people here who I might categorize as a certain type of middle-aged music fan, to whom Wilco might be a band they would categorize as one of their favorites (or even their "favorite") but to whom the idea of a music vacation is more of the appeal. If the headlining band were another "favorite" and/or "cool" band, like say The National or someone like that, they would also make the trip. So as a result you get some people who aren't necessarily as ardently into Wilco or something but are just happy to be somewhere tropical and enjoying the tunes, brah. Or couples looking for a getaway from the kids. And I'm sure other categories as well...

 

There also seems to be quite a few friends/family/guests of artists, crew and people who have some association with Wilco, too, I'm guessing (booking agents, etc.) and that also adds to the numbers of attendees, but not necessarily the truly rabid fans.

[Albert Tatlock]

2 hours ago, bböp said:

Re: the ruggers, yes, I'm sure that's it. Have I ever mentioned I love the Welsh accent?

How many times do I have to tell you? Only the (posh) English say 'rugger'.

 

50th Anniversary just the other week. Where's the quadruple album bonus-tracked multi-format box set? Wonder if it's in your collection? Used to get my Dad Max's album every year for Christmas. You should request one of his songs from Cate le Bon. Sure she'd have a fit wondering where that request came from :-) Every one knows some of his songs so she should be able to reel one off no problem. Apart from the comedy songs, he did have a few touching folk songs too.

 

[Brian F.]

I can only speak for myself as an ardent fan who goes to as many Wilco shows as he can but has never made this trip-- it is outrageously expensive for single-occupancy.

[Amandatory]

On 12/4/2023 at 9:32 AM, bböp said:

There also seems to be quite a few friends/family/guests of artists, crew and people who have some association with Wilco, too, I'm guessing (booking agents, etc.) and that also adds to the numbers of attendees, but not necessarily the truly rabid fans.

During the Wilco sets each night I found myself surrounded by other fans who were into Wilco, so didn’t notice this feeling you were getting. However, I was taking it easy during the openers by hanging near the sound booth, which also had a fenced off area for peeps with badges. I ended up having to forgo leaning on the nice fence as those people never stopped talking. I did assume that some of the rooms were taken up by people who were there for the vacation or what have you. But assumed those were the people hanging back at the shows. 

[tinnitus photography]

On 12/4/2023 at 12:32 PM, bböp said:

As to your more serious question, I'm not sure what it is. I've been trying to put my finger on it. I mean, the event definitely feels undersold...no matter what the room tallies on the event and/or resort sites might indicate. It also just seems to me that there are a lot of people here who I might categorize as a certain type of middle-aged music fan, to whom Wilco might be a band they would categorize as one of their favorites (or even their "favorite") but to whom the idea of a music vacation is more of the appeal. If the headlining band were another "favorite" and/or "cool" band, like say The National or someone like that, they would also make the trip. So as a result you get some people who aren't necessarily as ardently into Wilco or something but are just happy to be somewhere tropical and enjoying the tunes, brah. Or couples looking for a getaway from the kids. And I'm sure other categories as well...

 

There also seems to be quite a few friends/family/guests of artists, crew and people who have some association with Wilco, too, I'm guessing (booking agents, etc.) and that also adds to the numbers of attendees, but not necessarily the truly rabid fans.

 

i definitely noticed this too, and i can't figure out what the difference was between the other two. there was definitely a palpable lack of energy though, and it was pretty easy to navigate through the crowd unless the rail was your destination.