Wilco — 16 June 2025, Antwerp, Belgium (OLT Rivierenhof) [Night 1 of 2]

[bböp]

You couldn’t have asked for much more in terms of setting and weather than what we got for the first night of Wilco’s two-night run at the OLT Rivierenhof, a charming and relatively intimate outdoor amphitheater in the middle of the leafy Provincial Domain Rivierenhof park about two and a half miles outside the city center of Antwerp.

 

Moreover, this might have been — if I’m not mistaken — the first-ever “Evening With…” show by the band in Europe. Not that Jeff and Co. haven’t performed without support on this side of the Atlantic before, but in terms of the two-sets-with-interval format that they have been playing in the U.S. since last year, I can’t remember there having been a show like that over here at least since I’ve been seeing Wilco. So the anticipation level was pretty high, or at least it seemed high by the standards of the relatively reserved European audience (Brazil or Argentina, this is not) by the time the band took the stage just after 8 p.m. and launched into the noisy prelude to Wishful Thinking.

 

As often has been the case with these more recent “Evening With…” shows, the first set actually has proven to be a bit more interesting from a setlist perspective (IMHO) and that held true tonight as well. Though Jeff played acoustic guitar almost exclusively in the first set, the songs were far from the typically folksier sort you might expect given such a stipulation. In addition to the aforementioned Wishful Thinking, we also got the rearranged acoustic versions of Art Of Almost and Everyone Hides that the band premiered at the “Winterlude on the road” shows last December as well as the always-welcome Sunken Treasure.

 

Almost from the start, you could tell Jeff was in a pretty good mood as he introduced the “Evening With…” format by informing the crowd that there would be two sets and joking that “if this set isn’t as good, it’s not supposed to be because we’re opening for ourselves.” Then after a brief pause, “No, this is gonna be a fucking great (set).” A few songs later, Jeff took a moment to bask in the beautiful conditions. “What could be better than this weather?” he asked rhetorically. “What could be better than this? Honestly, this is the best weather day I’ve ever had in my life. All the other days in my life are shit compared with this one.”

 

What made the night even better was the surprise appearance of special guest (and friend of the band and Finom co-founder) Macie Stewart near the end of Set One. Stewart, who is playing her own show at a different venue in Antwerp later this week, emerged with her violin in hand and proceeded to add another dimension to the last four songs of the first set, including the Cruel Country two-fer of I Am My Mother and the title track as well as a rousing Quiet Amplifier.

 

Following a 30-minute interval that is slightly longer than the one Jeff and his bandmates usually take at these shows in the U.S., they returned with an 11-song second set that interestingly featured both You Are My Face and Side With The Seeds among the first four tunes. One amusing moment came toward the denouement of Seeds when Jeff (I think) hit a skronky note during a part when he was playing in unison with Nels and the two exchanged a bemused “Who, me?” sort of look, cracking each other up. Then Macie returned for a couple more songs, Hummingbird and of course Jesus, etc., before Wilco finished up with some of the hits.

 

There wasn’t much chit chat during Set Two, though Jeff did reiterate a couple of his usual jokes. Like between Box Full Of Letters and Annihilation, he joked about the progress of the band from one of its earliest songs to one of its most recent. “Hold onto your hats,” he quipped. “You’re not gonna believe…how much artistic growth there is between those two songs.” And he also delivered his standard line about it being “very close to the end. I just mean in general.”

 

While the encore didn’t hold any surprises if you’ve been following the band’s recent setlists, one final appearance by Macie on California Stars was a nice way to cap her guest spot for the night. There was a little hiccup when she came in with her solo a little early, having apparently misread a visual cue from Nels, and Jeff had to correct her. But that very minor mistake was far outweighed by her contributions throughout, not only musically but also just the positive energy she radiated.

 

And that energy permeated the audience, too, it seemed. There was one slightly awkward moment early on when Jeff singled out one gentleman toward the front who had apparently been taking photos, which Jeff said he didn’t mind. But for whatever reason, the man was also somehow turning his camera around so Jeff could catch sight of some of the pictures he was capturing. “I don’t need to see that shit,” Jeff joked good-naturedly. “Take it home with you. That’s for you.” And late in the show, the peanut gallery (in the form of one wiseacre Scottish VCer, ahem) chimed in with a comment that Jeff heard: “Is this still the second set?” Jeff responded yes, and the “heckler” shot back, “When are Wilco coming on?”

 

It was all in good fun, though, and hopefully it bodes well for Night 2 and some changes in the setlist. Even though Jeff acknowledged that “tomorrow’s not gonna be as nice,” he said he hoped that people would come back anyway. Realizing how that might have sounded, Jeff clarified his comment by saying, “I just meant the weather (probably won’t be as nice). This is perfect.”

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played, for Night 1 (I glimpsed a printed setlist for Set Two and there were no changes/omissions; can't say for sure about Set One, but I would bet the same):

 

Set 1

Wishful Thinking

Evicted

Art Of Almost (acoustic arrangement)

Handshake Drugs

Via Chicago

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

If I Ever Was A Child

Sunken Treasure (acoustic arrangement; Jeff on acoustic with no harmonica)

Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull

Everyone Hides

War On War

I Am My Mother*

Cruel Country*

Quiet Amplifier*

Either Way*

 

Set 2

The Late Greats

You Are My Face>

Whole Love

Side With The Seeds

Hummingbird*

Jesus, etc.*

Impossible Germany

Box Full Of Letters

Annihilation

Heavy Metal Drummer>

I'm The Man Who Loves You

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

California Stars*

Falling Apart (Right Now)

Walken

I Got You (At The End Of The Century)

 

* — with Macie Stewart on violin

[Albert Tatlock]

Ta. Your work is done for today, now get back to the beer and chocolate. There may even be a few Welsh fans lingering on from last weeks football for those reasons . . .

[Ghost Of Bob Cumming]

These shows are coinciding with some warm and sunny weather in Europe.

 

I'm slightly trepidatious about the 30 degrees-plus forecast for London on Sunday. That's a bit too hot for me for me to be wandering around for 5-6 hours prior to showtime.

A very minor grumble in the greater scheme of things though 

[Philippe De Cleen]

anybody know where I might find audio for this show?