bböp Posted June 28 Share Posted June 28 Once again, I'm going to have to circle back later to fill in the details on this second of two Spanish gigs under the umbrella of the Alma Festival. For now, I will just say that despite the wilting heat all day long, the energy level from both band and audience seemed significantly better than the previous night in Barcelona. It was still not necessarily a show that reached the heights of some previous performances in Spain, IMHO, but definitely still an enjoyable way to spend an evening. OK, where were we? As with the previous night’s gig in Barcelona, the format of these Alma Festival shows seems to be to open the amphitheater gates several hours before the headliner takes the stage so as to give people plenty of time to partake of a number of food and beverage options as well as watch a local band on a different, smaller stage. There’s also at least three separate tiers of tickets — a VIP option, a “front stage” pass and a general ticket, with the folks who had purchased the front stage tickets able to enter a separate pit area closer to the stage. And while it was still hot just in general, at least that pit area was mostly out of the direct sunlight, which made the relatively long wait until Wilco started much more tolerable. After a bit of a rushed feeling in Barcelona, Jeff and Co. actually took the stage in Madrid a couple of minutes early and with Handshake Drugs kicking things off, it seemed like they weren’t wasting any time getting into the meat of their set. I was kind of hoping all of this would pay off later by giving the band a bit more time to play a couple more songs than usual in the encore (hello, Monday…one of these days?) but it didn’t materialize. The Wilcomen actually ended up playing one less song total than in Barcelona, though in this heat, I guess who can blame them? For his part, Jeff was definitely a bit more chatty than the night before, even if several of his comments were basically expressions of gratitude. “I wish I could say more than gracias,” Jeff said in his final comments before the end of the show. “Spain…has been one of the best places in the world for us for a long time. You always lift us up, so thank you very much.” Earlier, Jeff had remarked on how it was “so nice to be back in Madrid. It’s one of our favorite places. It might be our favorite place.” Other visits to Banter Corner included a quip about Box Full Of Letters. Referring to the previous song, Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull, while introducing Box, Jeff noted how “that song was from the 16th century. This song is even older.” Then with Annihilation following Box as usual, Jeff gave his spiel about the two songs demonstrating Wilco’s artistic growth over the past 30 years and joking that the two tunes “sound nothing alike.” I don’t know If Jeff was actually a bit more engaged with the Madrileño audience in general, or if it just felt that way to me, but he did encourage people to sing along with Jesus, etc. in a kind of funny way, telling people to sing “if you know the words, or if you don’t, make sounds.” One song earlier, after Nels had received a nice extended ovation — complete with “Oeeee, oee, oee” chants — following Impossible Germany, Jeff deadpanned before Jesus, “(Nels has) had enough. He’s gonna take a seat.” On the main set-closing Spiders (Kidsmoke), of course, Jeff didn’t have to say anything at all to get the crowd to participate. He simply led the proverbial horse to water and let it drink. I had forgotten that the band wasn’t really playing Spiders last time around in Spain, including two shows in Madrid, so tonight was the first time in a while for that particular crowd pleaser here. And while the response was not necessarily ear-splitting, it did lead to another brief round of “Oee oee” chants during the encore break. Only Jeff and Co. can say for sure what role the oven-like conditions played in terms of their performance, but I can’t imagine it was easy to remain constantly focused out there. Jeff only had one real lyric flub that I could detect, botching the start of one verse in Hate It Here. It couldn’t have been easy to get guitars to cooperate throughout the show, though, and I noticed that Jeff seemed to spend about half of Walken trying to get his Telecaster in tune. That’s pretty much all I’ve got as far as pertinent details from this one. Ultimately, the show clocked in at 1 hour, 56 minutes, and though there seemed to be an opening for an Outtasite (Outta Mind) or A Shot In The Arm sendoff, perhaps it was for the best that things ended where they did. I mean, after all, hadn’t we collectively (and individually) expended enough sweat already? For now, 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): Handshake Drugs Evicted I Am Trying To Break Your Heart If I Ever Was A Child Pot Kettle Black You Are My Face> Whole Love Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull Box Full Of Letters Annihilation Hummingbird Quiet Amplifier Either Way Impossible Germany Jesus, etc. Hate It Here Walken Spiders (Kidsmoke) ------------------------------------ California Stars Falling Apart (Right Now) I Got You (At The End Of The Century) 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Albert Tatlock Posted June 28 Share Posted June 28 Scorchio! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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