Wilco — 30 April 2025, St. Augustine, FL (St. Augustine Amphitheatre)

[bböp]

For its final show of this mini-Sunshine State tour within a tour, Wilco returned to relatively familiar territory at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. If it feels like it was just yesterday, that the band performed here with a memorable surprise cameo by Warren Haynes Derek Trucks in the encore, well, it kind of was — in touring time, anyway. That show only happened a little bit over two years ago when Jeff and Co. were promoting Cruel Country, though obviously since then they have released an entire new record and EP.

Looking back, The Amp (as it bills itself) has been a pretty common stop for Wilco over the past dozen or so years. In addition to that 2023 show with Haynes, the band also visited in 2012 and 2015. Perhaps that’s why the venue appeared far from sold out this go round, even on Wilco Wednesday. You can’t win ‘em all, I guess.

Still, it’s easy to understand why the 4000-capacity Amp is a pretty popular destination both for bands of a certain stature and their fans. It’s an outdoor shed-type venue, but a relatively intimate one if that’s possible, with a low (four-foot) stage and a standing-room floor surrounded by a couple of tiers of stadium seating. And while entities like LiveNation control many venues of this sort around the country, this venue is still owned and operated by St. Johns County and staffed by a lot of volunteers (I think).

So what would Wilco deliver on this visit? Well, it was basically a version of the set the band has been performing thus far on this “Sweet And Sour” tour and that meant a little something for everybody — greatest hits, a deep cut or two, a couple of newer tunes. What we didn’t get was much at all from its last full-length album Cousin, nor two of its most popular older records, Being There and Summerteeth. In fact, if the sextet hadn’t tacked on a frenetic A Shot In The Arm to conclude the show, there would have been exactly zero songs played from its second or third studio efforts.

One highlight, as it has been at each stop on this tour, was the Ode To Joy rarity Quiet Amplifier. Despite being performed every night of the run thus far, it still has been played less than 10 times live ever. It might not be everyone’s favorite, of course, but it’s a really a marvel to watch Glenn’s thunderous percussion mesh with the rest of his bandmates’ contributions.

“We didn’t get to play that song very much (when it was released),” Jeff said afterward. “It came out on an album called Ode To Joy that came out when all the joy happened and we had to come home. So thanks for letting us play it now.”

It was one of the few visits to Banter Corner made on this lovely evening by Jeff, who shed his usual dark and/or denim wardrobe for one night in favor of a cream-colored jacket that was more in keeping with the coastal Florida setting. In fact, the only other significant comment he really made concerned one of the show’s other highlights, Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull.

I haven’t heard Jeff call attention to the lyrics of that song very often since its release, but perhaps because of the historical significance of St. Augustine — which was founded in 1565 and is recognized as the longest continually inhabited European-founded city in the continental United States — he did tonight. I’m not sure if some people just assume that Jeff wrote the lyrics, or never really gave it any thought, but it’s at least a good trivia question: Other than Woody Guthrie/Mermaid Avenue material, what’s the only Wilco song on which Jeff didn’t have at least a hand in writing the words? “The lyrics of this (next) song are almost as old as this place — not this venue, but this area, this settlement,” Jeff said by way of introducing the Cruel Country cut. “I know you think I’m joking, but they’re from the 16^th century or something like that.” I’m sure someone is going to chime in with My Darling or another Jay Bennett-centric tune here, so I guess we can debate.

But anyway, I digress. That really was about it for anything notable from a banter standpoint. And there really wasn’t much else to discuss otherwise, with perhaps the exception of Walken coming out of nowhere in the encore. The show clocked in at 1 hour, 57 minutes, was over before 10 p.m. and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves for the most part. Another successful Wilco Wednesday in the books. Now get me out of FLA…*

*NB: Fwiw, I am getting out of FLA but am going to miss the next couple of shows on this run (in Birmingham and New Orleans). However I will start the show threads here, assuming no one else does in good time. See y’all from Texas!

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

 

Wishful Thinking

Evicted

Handshake Drugs

At Least That's What You Said

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart>

Hints

Side With The Seeds

Hummingbird

Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull

Whole Love

I Am My Mother

Cruel Country

Quiet Amplifier

Jesus, etc.

Impossible Germany

Box Full Of Letters

Annihilation

Heavy Metal Drummer>

I'm The Man Who Loves You

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

California Stars

Walken

Falling Apart (Right Now)

A Shot In The Arm

[bböp]

And here was Waxahatchee's opening set, for anyone who might be interested:

 

3 Sisters

Evil Spawn

Ice Cold

Can't Do Much

Problem With It [Plains]

RIght Back To it

Crowbar

The Wolves

Lilacs

Tigers Blood

Fire

[worldrecordplayer]

Thanks for the recaps. A very enjoyable night in this very pleasant outdoor venue. I had often heard that The Amp is a great venue and it did not disappoint (although the sound was better in the confines of the Jackie Gleason Theater). According to my usher, it is perenially voted the #2 outdoor venue after Red Rocks. I was surprised the show wasn't better attended, which the Usher attributed to it being a Wednesday night. They rely on Orlando and Jacksonville folks to come out and fewer make the drive on a weeknight. I don't know if I've ever seen a Wilco show with zero Being There tunes. Pretty much the same show as the night before but no complaints here. Quiet Amplifier was a highlight both nights. Heading back to Boston very happy to have caught two shows. And P. S., Waxahatchie is a great band. Excellent double bill. 

[worldrecordplayer]

6 hours ago, bböp said:

For its final show of this mini-Sunshine State tour within a tour, Wilco returned to relatively familiar territory at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. If it feels like it was just yesterday, that the band performed here with a memorable surprise cameo by Warren Haynes in the encore, well, it kind of was — in touring time, anyway. That show only happened a little bit over two years ago when Jeff and Co. were promoting Cruel Country, though obviously since then they have released an entire new record and EP.

Looking back, The Amp (as it bills itself) has been a pretty common stop for Wilco over the past dozen or so years. In addition to that 2023 show with Haynes, the band also visited in 2012 and 2015. Perhaps that’s why the venue appeared far from sold out this go round, even on Wilco Wednesday. You can’t win ‘em all, I guess.

Still, it’s easy to understand why the 4000-capacity Amp is a pretty popular destination both for bands of a certain stature and their fans. It’s an outdoor shed-type venue, but a relatively intimate one if that’s possible, with a low (four-foot) stage and a standing-room floor surrounded by a couple of tiers of stadium seating. And while entities like LiveNation control many venues of this sort around the country, this venue is still owned and operated by St. Johns County and staffed by a lot of volunteers (I think).

So what would Wilco deliver on this visit? Well, it was basically a version of the set the band has been performing thus far on this “Sweet And Sour” tour and that meant a little something for everybody — greatest hits, a deep cut or two, a couple of newer tunes. What we didn’t get was much at all from its last full-length album Cousin, nor two of its most popular older records, Being There and Summerteeth. In fact, if the sextet hadn’t tacked on a frenetic A Shot In The Arm to conclude the show, there would have been exactly zero songs played from its second or third studio efforts.

One highlight, as it has been at each stop on this tour, was the Ode To Joy rarity Quiet Amplifier. Despite being performed every night of the run thus far, it still has been played less than 10 times live ever. It might not be everyone’s favorite, of course, but it’s a really a marvel to watch Glenn’s thunderous percussion mesh with the rest of his bandmates’ contributions.

“We didn’t get to play that song very much (when it was released),” Jeff said afterward. “It came out on an album called Ode To Joy that came out when all the joy happened and we had to come home. So thanks for letting us play it now.”

It was one of the few visits to Banter Corner made on this lovely evening by Jeff, who shed his usual dark and/or denim wardrobe for one night in favor of a cream-colored jacket that was more in keeping with the coastal Florida setting. In fact, the only other significant comment he really made concerned one of the show’s other highlights, Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull.

I haven’t heard Jeff call attention to the lyrics of that song very often since its release, but perhaps because of the historical significance of St. Augustine — which was founded in 1565 and is recognized as the longest continually inhabited European-founded city in the continental United States — he did tonight. I’m not sure if some people just assume that Jeff wrote the lyrics, or never really gave it any thought, but it’s at least a good trivia question: Other than Woody Guthrie/Mermaid Avenue material, what’s the only Wilco song on which Jeff didn’t have at least a hand in writing the words? “The lyrics of this (next) song are almost as old as this place — not this venue, but this area, this settlement,” Jeff said by way of introducing the Cruel Country cut. “I know you think I’m joking, but they’re from the 16^th century or something like that.” I’m sure someone is going to chime in with My Darling or another Jay Bennett-centric tune here, so I guess we can debate.

But anyway, I digress. That really was about it for anything notable from a banter standpoint. And there really wasn’t much else to discuss otherwise, with perhaps the exception of Walken coming out of nowhere in the encore. The show clocked in at 1 hour, 57 minutes, was over before 10 p.m. and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves for the most part. Another successful Wilco Wednesday in the books. Now get me out of FLA…*

*NB: Fwiw, I am getting out of FLA but am going to miss the next couple of shows on this run (in Birmingham and New Orleans). However I will start the show threads here, assuming no one else does in good time. See y’all from Texas!

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

 

Wishful Thinking

Evicted

Handshake Drugs

At Least That's What You Said

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart>

Hints

Side With The Seeds

Hummingbird

Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull

Whole Love

I Am My Mother

Cruel Country

Quiet Amplifier

Jesus, etc.

Impossible Germany

Box Full Of Letters

Annihilation

Heavy Metal Drummer>

I'm The Man Who Loves You

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

California Stars

Walken

Falling Apart (Right Now)

A Shot In The Arm

It was Derek Trucks in 2023, not Warren Haynes. 

[bböp]

1 hour ago, worldrecordplayer said:

It was Derek Trucks in 2023, not Warren Haynes. 

Yeah, whoops my bad. That’s what happens when you try and write these things at like 6 a.m. when you have a flight to catch. Will correct.

[worldrecordplayer]

12 minutes ago, bböp said:

Yeah, whoops my bad. That’s what happens when you try and write these things at like 6 a.m. when you have a flight to catch. Will correct.

Ha! I just assumed it was because they're not your musical thing and a Warren is the same as a Derek  Not in my world!