Wilco — 19 August 2025, Jackson, WY (Snow King Mountain)

[bböp]

If a rock band plays a show on top of a mountain and hardly anyone stays until the end to see it, does it even count? To paraphrase that old philosophical conundrum, that question must have entered Jeff’s mind during the later stages of Wilco’s show atop Snow King Mountain tonight when he looked out at what remained of the audience and realized that a significant portion of it had split to catch the gondola back to the base.

 

Let’s rewind a bit to set the scene. As part of a summer series of concerts atop the nearly 8,000-foot peak, Wilco’s latest stop on its “An August Evening With…” tour featured the unique experience of having to board a gondola that ascends more than 1,500 feet in about five minutes to a simple amphitheater that boasts stunning views of the surrounding Teton mountain range and the town of Jackson below. The only problem with that aspect of the show is that with probably at least 1,000 people, maybe more, in attendance, the gondola gets quite backed up at the end of the night and it can take a while to get on one at the busiest times. (Apparently you can also hike down the mountain, but that also takes a decent amount of time and you are warned not to do it unless you know the route, have appropriate footwear, haven’t had too much to drink, etc.)

 

So given all that, not to mention the fact that it was a weeknight (Tuesday) and a decent part of the crowd was probably made up of people who weren’t even necessarily big Wilco fans but simply locals who enjoy quality live music in general, it’s perhaps not entirely surprising that some would try and beat the traffic, as it were. But I think even Jeff was caught a little off guard by just how many early departures there were. It’s hard for me to assess from where I was standing, but it was clearly enough for Jeff to make a comment on it before the show-closing cover of U.S. Blues.

 

“Can we get the lights on one more time?” Jeff asked, surveying the scene and speaking to the relatively small but enthusiastic group of diehards gathered at the front of the stage. “Wow, this is the most people that’s ever left our show. You guys are troupers. Does the gondola stop (running) at a certain time?”

 

That’s the dichotomy of a show in a tertiary market, I suppose. You get a wide range of attendees, from people super eager to see a band that doesn’t stop through very often to casual fans who are mostly interested in a social outing. This was only Wilco’s second-ever full-band appearance in Wyoming following a headlining appearance — with Son Volt(!), among others — at the inaugural Jackson Hole Music Festival in 2008, though Jeff played a somewhat testy solo show in Jackson just last fall. Almost certainly the two things that will be remembered about this Snow King Mountain show will be the early-departing crowd and the spectacular setting.

 

It was the latter that formed the basis of much of Jeff’s noteworthy visits to Banter Corner during the show. Early on, he asked rhetorically, “What are we doing here?” and added, “This is pretty great.” He also remarked on how the conditions had gotten “real nice real fast,” once the sun started going down (and, indeed, you could see by the temperature on the clock that’s always at stage right that it was a pleasant 79 degrees midway through the first set and had dropped to 69 by early in the second). Jeff felt compelled to comment on the band getting a ride in a golf cart about 100 feet downhill from a building that apparently served as the green room to the stage — in full view of anyone who was paying attention. “If anybody saw us come down from up there on a golf cart, I just want to say we could’ve walked,” Jeff said. “We didn’t wanna disillusion anyone any more than what’s necessary.”

 

Another funny line came a few songs after Spiders (Kidsmoke) when Jeff poked a bit of fun at himself for his little guitar freakout during the first breakdown of the song. I don’t really remember him taking a solo at that point in the acoustic arrangement, and certainly not one as visceral as he did tonight (which I caught Nels subtly admiring), but as Jeff quipped, “I just wanna say something about my solo in Spiders: It makes a lot more sense at sea level.” A bit earlier, Jeff also responded to some apparent clatter from behind him and turned around and asked Glenn if he was OK. That somehow turned into Jeff jokingly telling the audience that the drummer “just threw a drumstick off the mountain.”

 

From a setlist perspective, we didn’t get the obvious Remember The Mountain Bed but Jeff did make a subtle gesture at the “if I had a mountain…” lyric in Sunken Treasure (during which he also added the line “I’m not ashamed of rock ‘n’ roll.”) Other highlights included Muzzle Of Bees, which apparently was a request, as well as a very plaintive version of the acoustic arrangement of I’m Always In Love.

 

Generally speaking, the band has been sticking to a pretty static setlist as this August run has gone on (in terms of the songs played, although, of course, there are usually one or two curveballs per show whether it’s a song that isn’t in the standard rotation, such as Muzzle, or the placement of a song, such as I’m The Man Who Loves You kicking off the second set). Jeff usually explains the two-set format at some point relatively early on and that led to one other interesting suggestion that I hadn’t heard Jeff say before. “We’re gonna do a completely different set of songs in the second set, no extra charge,” he said. “Or we’ll write a completely new song (during the 20-minute intermission) and do that. No, we can’t do that. I thought it would be cool…but we can’t do it.”

 

Maybe that would have gotten a few more people to stick around. Probably not, but at any rate it was still quite an enjoyable evening. Part of that was the setting, obviously, and also the stage setup, which featured a fan-friendly low stage with the band set up relatively close to the audience, which is always nice. It just felt pretty intimate despite being an outdoor amphitheater with a good-sized lawn. There wasn’t even a rail up front, as we’re accustomed to, but just a wooden fence and some subwoofers separating the stage from the front row. Nice to see some familiar faces who made the trip out west; shout out to the “state collectors.” Personally, I’m glad I stayed all the way until the end — even if it meant waiting an extra 20 or 30 minutes for that return gondola ride.

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played (in terms of changes/omissions from the printed setlist, I think there was only one: Quiet Amplifier was on the printed list in Set 2, but was scratched out in favor of Whole Love):

 

Set 1

Story To Tell

Handshake Drugs

Muzzle Of Bees

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

If I Ever Was A Child

Cruel Country

Forget The Flowers

Evicted

Spiders (Kidsmoke) (acoustic arrangement)

Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull

I'm Always In Love (acoustic arrangement; Jeff on acoustic)

Falling Apart (Right Now)

California Stars

Via Chicago

It's Just That Simple

Hesitating Beauty

Hummingbird

 

Set 2

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Whole Love

The Late Greats

Theologians

Side With The Seeds

Box Full Of Letters

Annihilation

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

Either Way

Impossible Germany

Jesus, etc.

Hate It Here

Heavy Metal Drummer

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

Walken

I Got You (At The End Of The Century)

U.S. Blues [Grateful Dead]

[Albert Tatlock]

You slipped 'teton' past the censors.

Ta(tas)

[bböp]

37 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:

You slipped 'teton' past the censors.

Ta(tas)

I knew I shouldn’t have cut out that bit about the teensy (A cup?) teeter-totter…

[nalafej]

I had the best time at this show.

 

I've used a lot of means of transportation to arrive at a Wilco show (walking, biking, scooter, bus, train, plane, pedicab, cab, car), but gondola is a new one for my 101st Wilco show in my 45th U.S. state. The Teton Mountains backdrop was pretty astounding. I've been to Red Rocks and this was comparable. 

 

Word was that the band didn't get a soundcheck in, but, to my ears, they didn't need it. Sound was great. Band is well-tuned and was in fine form.

 

The setlist is certainly road-tested and heavy on the most played songs and that makes it really enjoyable. I loved seeing I'm the Man as the first song of set 2. Way to get right into it. It was fun seeing John do It's Just That Simple again. It doesn't look like I'll get to see another Wilco show for quite a while and who knows when the next time this gem of a song will pop back into rotation. That podcast episode on Heavy Metal Drummer mentioned elsewhere here on VC, and it's host's opinion that the best song on AM is sung by the bassist becomes a lot more realistic as an argument when you are watching the band, lead by John, nail it live.

 

Great seeing our trusted reporter on the rail, meeting another 40+ stater and some other new folks at the show.