Wilco — 2 August 2025, Saratoga Springs, NY (Saratoga Performing Arts Center) [Outlaw Music Festival]

[bböp]

Another day, another shed. That could be the tagline for the Outlaw Music Festival tour, to be honest, since each day seems to bring a sense of déja vu in the sense that basically the same schedule takes place in a different — more often than not, Live Nation-run amphitheater. Believe it or not, many of these places even have the same overpriced primary food offerings sold under localized-sounding names such as Mosh Burger, Rebel Hen and Ziggy’s Magic Pizza Shop. Gotta love LiveNation (not).

 

Anyway, of course the lineup of artists changes somewhat between certain Outlaw tour stops — and thank goodness Wilco only agreed to do three of these, because that’s plenty IMHO — but really the only way to distinguish between a lot of these shows is the changes that the artists make themselves in terms of the songs they play and the energy they generate. Certainly the co-headliners of the tour, Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan, don’t seem to deviate from their setlists too much, so it’s nice to see when the bands on the undercard shake things up a bit. Lucinda Williams, to her credit, changed up her set a fair bit from the previous night at Jones Beach, which people would probably understand if she didn’t, given some of her continued post-stroke struggles. And then there are the heroes of our story, Jeff and Co., who swapped out nearly half their set from Jones Beach with different songs.

 

Actually, I’m not exactly sure how Wilco managed to squeeze in a couple more tunes at the famed Saratoga Performing Arts Center (commonly referred to as SPAC) but they actually did. Jeff and his bandmates got through 16 songs in their 75-minute time allotment — as opposed to just 14 at Jones Beach ­— even though they didn’t cut any of the longer tunes and reprised their U.S. Blues show closer with longtime Nelson band member Mickey Raphael on harmonica. That Grateful Dead cover finally got much of the SPAC crowd inside the covered pavilion on their feet, no surprise since SPAC and the Saratoga Springs area has a long association with jam bands (even though the Dead apparently had a somewhat infamous history with SPAC in the 1980s). Raphael had already been on stage for the entirety of Wilco’s penultimate song, California Stars, for which he didn’t come out until near the end the night before.

 

The highlight of Wilco’s set, however, probably was the appearance of the acoustic arrangement of Spiders (Kidsmoke), which sounded really nice in the somewhat cavernous confines of the SPAC pavilion. It’s certainly an abridged version of the song with just the one breakdown coming toward the end, but for me at least, it’s tough to beat this jangly arrangement as much as I love the loud Krautrock version. As for other setlist surprises, I guess I expected to at least hear Annihilation since Glenn’s current kick drum head is the Hot Sun Cool Shroud artwork, but apparently the band couldn’t squeeze it in.

 

Certainly this was once again a festival show for a mass audience not necessarily comprised of a lot of people very familiar with Wilco or its catalog. Jeff’s banter reflected that, with a lot of song introductions and that sort of thing. “This song is called Evicted,” he declared at one point. “It’s on a record we put out sometime — I don’t know — recently.” A bit later, Jeff probably confounded some folks once again when he introduced Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull as “the oldest song we’re gonna play. This is from the 16th century.” And before Hesitating Beauty, Jeff said this was a song Woody Guthrie wrote the lyrics to before clarifying, “I wrote the music to Woody’s lyrics.”

 

Otherwise, Jeff’s only visits to Banter Corner were to express gratitude for the perfect weather conditions and the opportunity to be part of this bill. “Thank you so much,” he said at one point. “What a beautiful night, right?” And a little later, he chimed in again to play the perfect part of a de facto support act. “We’ve got time for a few more,” Jeff told the SPAC audience that extended all the way out of the pavilion up onto a sloped lawn outside. “You’re in for a great night of music. Thanks for letting us play for you.”

 

As with the previous night at Jones Beach, it wouldn’t be the last time we would see Wilco for the evening. Though there were, as usual, no collaborations during Dylan’s performance, it was Glenn who actually stepped on stage first during Nelson’s set to add a little percussion help — I think on a small tambourine? — on the fan favorite Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die. The rest of the band, sans Nels but with a woman who I was told was the girlfriend of opening act and Nelson band member Waylon Payne, followed with some harmonies on the subsequent gospel medley of Will The Circle Be Unbroken? and I’ll Fly Away before everyone but Glenn slowly peeled off while Nelson sang his final number, The Party’s Over.

 

I have to say that it was pretty cool to hear the 92-year-old Nelson himself point over and thank Wilco by name (along with Lucinda Williams) in his distinctive twang before standing up — he played the entire show seated with his four-piece band around him ­— and flinging his hat and various bandannas into the crowd before finally ambling off stage.

 

And with that the party was indeed over for another night on the Outlaw tour, which this year in its 10th anniversary run, consists of 35 shows across 22 states over a four-month span. As I mentioned earlier, I think three shows for Wilco as part of this package tour is plenty — at least from a fan perspective, though I imagine from a band outlook as well — but I’m glad that Jeff and Co. and by extension, those of us who attended, got to bask in the glow of some musical legends for at least a few days.

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played, for Wilco's Outlaw set at SPAC (didn't see a printed setlist, so can't say if there were any changes/omissions):

 

Story To Tell

Handshake Drugs

Cruel Country

Forget The Flowers

Evicted

Spiders (Kidsmoke) (acoustic arrangement)

Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull

Hesitating Beauty

Hummingbird

War On War

Either Way

Impossible Germany

Jesus, etc.

Falling Apart (Right Now)

California Stars (w/Mickey Raphael on harmonica)

U.S. Blues [Grateful Dead] (w/Mickey Raphael on harmonica)

[Albert Tatlock]

Yeah, Live Nation not exactly in the Outlaw spririt. Saratoga party?

 

15 hours ago, bböp said:

it’s tough to beat this jangly arrangement

Seconded.

 

Ta.

[ZiggyBratwurst]

On 8/5/2025 at 1:21 PM, bböp said:

The rest of the band, sans Nels but with a woman who I was told was the girlfriend of opening act and Nelson band member Waylon Payne, followed with some harmonies on the subsequent gospel medley of Will The Circle Be Unbroken? and I’ll Fly Away....

Haha. I was going to text you on Sunday (8/3) to ask who the woman singing with them was, but I went on to other things and forgot about it. I didn't hear Willie identify her (if he did), and we were seated too far away for me to see if she was someone I recognized. Just now got around to reading this, and I see she wasn't familiar to you, either.

[saluqi]

Great write up Paul, I was wondering if you were at the show. I grew up going to shows at SPAC shows, starting in '76 or '77 with Heart opening for Loggins and Messina, and all through the late '70's up until '86 when I moved to NM. All of the Dead shows, multiple Allman Brothers, Dylan, Talking Heads, Tom Petty, you name them and they played SPAC. Back then you could get in for $5 -10 there were no alcohol or food sales, just music. I have to say the Live Nation BS is so over the top in terms of the prices and nonsense about what you can bring into the venue it really detracts from the rock 'n roll experience. I planned my trip this summer to visit family and friends still living in the area to coincide the Outlaw fest, and mostly to see Wilco. The last time I saw them was a few years ago here in Albuquerque and I really needed a fix. We were out on the lawn, which was crowed but not nearly as bad it had been for others shows in the past and the crowd thinned as the night progressed.  Our visuals were provided by the large video screens which did a good job of covering the action on stage, with the exception of Dylan each of the bands and their members got plenty of close ups and airtime. Dylan was just a fixed view of the stage from pretty far back, it was cold and impersonal and really detracted from enjoying a pretty good Dylan set. Needless to say I was elated to hear and see Wilco live again, it truly is a cathartic experience. As Paul said above, the highlight was the acoustic Spiders, my very favorite version of that song. For me it's probably my favorite Wilco song when played that way. Besides Wilco, Lucinda was great, she can still belt out the songs and has made an amazing recovery. Willie was incredible, 92 years old and still kicking ass. Overall it was a great night of live music on a beautiful summer night. 

 

Paul Domski