Wilco — 25 April 2025, Fairhope, AL (Halstead Amphitheater)

[bböp]

And so it begins. Again. The first Wilco show of 2025 was an “Evening With…” performance on a muggy Friday night in the unlikely locale of Fairhope, Ala., a charming bedroom community a short distance east of Mobile. There is apparently a regular schedule of concerts at the Halstead Amphitheater here — the Live At Five series — and judging by the lines to get in, they seem to draw the entire town for a pleasant night of music under the Alabama stars. More on that later.

In Wilco’s case, of course, there were plenty of people who had traveled from near and far to attend. On my way to the pit, I even ran into the host of the Shoving Wilco podcast (shout out to Todd) who lives several hours away in Louisiana. And I know there were at least a few other out-of-towners there. So although there were also a number of folks there who had little to no idea who Wilco is, almost certainly, the excitement level nevertheless grew as show time approached.

By way of setting the scene, the amphitheater was basically a big lawn upon which attendees happily brought in their folding chairs and various picnics I’m sure were had. Fortunately there was an established pit area in front of the stage for those who wished to stand and it was relatively empty until just before the show began when, after some encouragement from a promoter, some people finally abandoned their seating setups to fill it up.

The band finally emerged shortly after 7, with Jeff dressed smartly in a blue suit that made him appear almost like a professor at a small Southern college, and launched into Company In My Back. After a couple more interesting selections — Should’ve Been In Love and the full-band acoustic arrangement of Art Of Almost that the band premiered last December at one of the Austin, Tex., Winterlude shows — Jeff spelled out how the night would unfold in case anyone hadn’t gotten the memo. “This is an ‘Evening With Wilco,’ so we’re gonna do two sets — this one and then another one,” Jeff said. “That’s two. I majored in math, not meth. I minored in meth.”

Following the loose format of those Winterlude shows, it quickly became clear that the first set would feature Jeff almost exclusively playing acoustic guitar (with the exception of when he switched to electric on Handshake Drugs). Not that Set 1 would be a typically “quiet” set by any stretch. In addition to the aforementioned Handshake Drugs, Jeff and his bandmates also thundered through a version of the rarely played Quiet Amplifier that might be the best I’ve ever heard them play it — it was only the fifth time it had ever been performed live, as a matter of fact — before finishing the set with a soaring jam on Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull.

Other highlights from the 86-minute Set 1 included the rearranged Everyone Hides that also premiered during Winterlude and a version of Hints that made the political statement that needed to be made without otherwise explicitly bringing politics into this show deep within a red state. Before departing for a brief intermission, Jeff brought the focus back to music when he said, “I hope everybody sticks around. The second set might get loud. It’s plausible.”

Set 2 ultimately did live up to Jeff’s suggestion of getting louder, though it followed perhaps a bit more of a conventional path — at least for those who have seen the band fairly regularly. Kicking off with a pair of Wilco’s most recently recorded tunes, Infinite Surprise and Annihilation, the set eventually veered into greatest hits and crowd-pleasing territory by the end. Not that it was bad to hear old chestnuts like Impossible Germany, Heavy Metal Drummer and I Got You (At The End Of The Century)>Outtasite (Outta Mind), but those felt like givens based on the setting.

One welcomed exception to the run of greatest hits in Set 2 was Panthers, which Jeff prefaced by saying that one of the fun things about these “Evening With…” shows for he and his bandmates was getting to play some songs they don’t often get to play. “This is a deep, deep cut,” Jeff said. “It’s for folks that have seen us probably a lot.” Another cool moment came when Jeff dedicated The Late Greats to “one of my favorite artists from Alabama, Sun Ra.”

Generally speaking, though, it seemed like Wilco could have played just about anything and the enthusiastic audience would probably have been receptive. Though a number of requests were shouted out, I got the vibe that most everyone was just happy to be there.

And Jeff didn’t even have to pander to achieve that, which came up during the show-closing California Stars. When it became evident that’s what the band was going to play, someone in the crowd shouted the suggestion of “Alabama Stars” (a modification I’m pretty sure the band has made when they’ve played in the state before). That comment caused Jeff to step back and smile. “Alabama Stars…I’m not gonna sing that, but you can. Because if I sang that, it’d be pandering.” Then he briefly tested it out before admitting, “Yeah, it works. It works. But we’re gonna stick to Woody’s lyrics.” Either way, I’d say that most everyone headed home — before 10 p.m., no less — with their Wilco fix pretty well achieved.

Here was the complete setlist, as played (didn't get a look at a printed setlist, so can't say if there were any changes/omissions, but it didn't appear there were):

Set 1

Company In My Back

Should've Been In Love

Art Of Almost (acoustic arrangement)

Evicted

Handshake Drugs

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart>

Hints

Everyone Hides

Shouldn't Be Ashamed

Pot Kettle Black

I Am My Mother

Cruel Country

Quiet Amplifier

If I Ever Was A Child

Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull

 

Set 2

Infinite Surprise

Annihilation

At Least That's What You Said

Hummingbird

Panthers

You Are My Face

Whole Love

Impossible Germany

Jesus, etc.

Dawned On Me

Box Full Of Letters

Heavy Metal Drummer

The Late Greats

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

Outtasite (Outta Mind)

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

Hesitating Beauty

Falling Apart (Right Now)

California Stars

[Albert Tatlock]

Ta.

[knotgreen]

He’s back! 

I definitely didn’t have Quiet Amplifier on my bingo card for the first night of this tour. A good sign, I think! 
 

Thanks, as always, for the reporting, Bbop. I look forward to following along for these southern shows.