Jeff Tweedy — 4 January 2026, Los Angeles, CA (Largo At The Coronet) [Night 1 of 4]

[bböp]

New year, new me? Don’t count on it, at least as far as these show recap thingies go. Though I slacked a bit in the latter part of 2025, I shall endeavo(u)r to do better moving forward as we enter what promises to be another busy year of Wilco/Jeff activity with both Sky Blue Sky and Solid Sound festivals returning as well as a steady dose of Twilight Override dates already on the calendar and what seems to be some Wilco shows lining up in the second half of the year.

 

The one new thing, I suppose, is me grudgingly trying to move into the modern world of publishing by posting this on my own Substack — first post, woo hoo! — in addition to Via Chicago. I actually did this a long time ago when I briefly cross posted to a blog I started, but sort of abandoned that after a while. I can’t remember why. But after mentioning it to a couple of pals/regular readers, I figure it’s worth doing, if only to hedge my bets against the inevitable(?) downfall of VC (and maybe Internet message boards in general, though I hope that doesn’t happen anytime soon). But I have noticed that VC has had more outages recently than it ever has — in fact, it seems to be down right now — and who knows what the future holds. Does anyone need another Substack? Probably not, and I don’t plan on trying to monetize or even really publicize this one for the time being. It just seems like a thing to do, so I guess I will. Feel free to subscribe, read, comment…or whatever.

 

Anyway, without further ado, onto the recapping (or blatherings of an idiot, depending on your viewpoint)...

 

It was nice to be back in West Hollywood, WeHo in the local parlance, for the start of Jeff’s annual run of shows at the beloved Largo at the Coronet. I haven’t missed too many of them since Jeff started playing there in 2017 in 2013, but I had to sit out last year’s edition (because they conflicted with Hanukkah and I was already committed to attending Yo La Tengo’s annual Hanukkah run of shows in New York and couldn’t change my plans, blah, blah, blah). But when this year’s batch of shows got announced, the timing was great for me and so I’m happy to be in that room again this week.

 

As was Jeff. At least he said so on Night 1 of this year’s four-night stand, despite just “getting over kind of a nasty cold.” He added, “I’m not making any excuses for the show having low energy or anything. I’m really excited to be here. I look forward to these shows so much.” This came about halfway through his 18-song, 77-minute set, just before he played Evicted. On that song, he struggled a bit with its signature guitar line and explained afterward that he was trying to add a little more to it than the way he plays it with Wilco and it didn’t quite come together the way he wanted. “I’ve been practicing, I really have,” Jeff said.

 

From my seat, I guess, that was one of the most surprising — or at least unexpected — aspects of tonight’s show. Since Twilight Override came out in October, I had gotten so used to hearing those songs that I almost forgot what it was like hearing Jeff play Wilco songs solo acoustic. For instance, I certainly didn’t expect that his second song of the show would be Side With The Seeds, which he introduced by saying, “I don’t think I’ve done this song acoustically…for people.” He had a bit of a false start with it when he began to sing it in the higher register he normally uses when he sings it with the band, but pretty quickly he decided that wouldn’t work, so he restarted and declared, “I’m gonna sing it low.” It was not exactly a perfect rendition of the song since Jeff had a couple of lyric flubs and wound up omitting one of its key lines — “I’ll side with you/If you side with me” (which he explained in part by saying, “I don’t feel that way anymore.”)

 

That comment wasn’t uttered as seriously, perhaps, as I’m making it sound, though Jeff did seem to have a bit of world weariness about him in the wake of the recent news about the U.S. invasion of Venezuela. “Happy New War,” he deadpanned as part of a little flurry of banter after his first song of the night. That first song was This Is How It Ends, and immediately after, Jeff joked, “Get it? Because that was the first song. That’s it. That’s the only bit I’ve got.” He did add a joke about getting his period early, a callback to something comedian Emily Catalano said during her opening set.

As usual, there are just way too many little things (quips, audience interactions, etc.) during these Largo shows to fully recount them all. Some of what Jeff utters are versions of things he has previously said at other shows. Some things, frankly, you kind of just have to be there. And then sometimes you’re left shaking your head.

 

Allow me to try and trace the arc of one such visit to Banter Corner. After a delightful performance of Western Clear Skies, which kind of has a nebulous ending, Jeff remarked that a number of his songs conclude that way and there is just enough time between the end of a song like that and the start of an audience’s applause “for me to shit my pants,” which is something he has said before. (I guess one of his fears is that he will play a song and no one will clap, or something?) Anyway, Jeff clarified he didn’t mean he was literally shitting his pants. But from there, he went on a tangent about how, if you knew someone whose car was stuck in the mud and you were trying to help them, you would have to rock it back and forth to try and get it out. “I have poop like that,” Jeff declared, before realizing he had maybe gone a bit too far. “I’m sorry. Thank you, good night.” Then he apologized to Susie out the audience. “I’m sorry, Susie,” he said with a bit of a sheepish look on his face. She shot back, “You should be.” It was all highly amusing, if a bit cringe-inducing.

 

Jeff would then go onto talk about how his “inner dialogue” was telling him that the next song had “better be really good.” “What’s a song everybody likes?” he said. “I really don’t know.” That transitioned into an anecdote he has frequently discussed about how every night on the song request form on Wilco’s Web site, each song receives exactly one vote so he never can get a consensus on what songs most people want to hear.

 

One song that almost always gets requested at Largo, as you might expect, is California Stars. And Jeff often hesitates and questions whether anyone really wants to hear him play that song yet again. He mentioned to the woman who requested it that there are a thousand versions of him playing it on the Internet, so he opted for something else. But true to form, after initially pooh-pooing (ahem) her request, Jeff came out — with Spencer and Sammy on backing vocals — at the start of the encore and sang it. Well, kind of. Whether it was intentional or not, the Tweedy trio sang the verses once but not the second time. “That’s a compromise,” Jeff said afterward. “I just figured it out. That song (repeats twice), so I’m just gonna play half of it.” (Jeff then told a funny semi-related story about Wilco once playing a show in Norway where he and his bandmates were tired of playing Box Full Of Letters so they decided to do a waltz version of it. A few songs later, a Norse gentleman yelled out for Box again. Jeff told him they had just played it. “Yes, but my box is only half full,” the guy apparently replied.)

 

Another humorous moment that happened — maybe you just had to be there, but I’ll try to recount it anyway — was during the flurry of requests toward the end of the main set when a particularly vocal plea for The Ruling Class came from somewhere toward the middle or back of the theater from two male voices that were remarkably in unison. “Did you guys sync your request?” Jeff asked. Once again in unison came the reply: “Yes.” Jeff granted the request, but not before likening the requesters to the Sklar Brothers (identical twin brother comedians). Perhaps the most amusing aspect of this was during the final song of the show, Lou Reed Was My Babysitter, when after Jeff suggested to the audience they could try “whoo-ing” at the appropriate point in the song, he asked to hear it once from just the twin requesters. Unfortunately they dropped the ball on this occasion, even after Jeff gave them another chance. Oh well, better luck next time.

 

Jeff did preface LRWMB by saying he thought Largo might have been the first room in which he publicly played that song (it was, on Feb. 26, 2022) and how it was the only song he played multiple times during Largo runs when he was otherwise not repeating any songs because “I feel like it belongs to this room.” When it comes to this current Largo run, however, Jeff made it a point to declare that these shows would not be the “no repeats” variety. After asking how many people would be attending all four shows this time around and receiving a smattering of applause in response, Jeff deadpanned, “That’s not enough to deny people (coming other nights) the bangers.”

 

I’m not sure the Twilight Override deep cut Wedding Cake qualifies as one of those bangers, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we got the live debut of that song tonight. Jeff mentioned how it came from an album with 30 songs and how some might be thinking that album would have been better with 29 songs on it. “But that song serves a purpose, whether you like it or not,” Jeff said, without further elaborating. Here’s hoping we get at least one more live debut during this Largo run. Blank Baby or Secret Door, anyone?

 

Here was the complete setlist, as played, for Night 1 at Largo 2026:

1. This Is How It Ends

2. Side With The Seeds

3. Caught Up In The Past

4. Parking Lot

5. Laminated Cat (aka Not For The Season)

6. Sky Blue Sky

7. Please Tell My Brother

8. One By One

9. Western Clear Skies

10. Impossible Germany

11. Evicted

12. Handshake Drugs

13. Wedding Cake (live debut)

14. The Ruling Class

15. I’m The Man Who Loves You

    ---

    Encore:

16. California Stars (w/Spencer and Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals)

17. Stray Cats In Spain (w/Spencer and Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals)

18. Lou Reed Was My Babysitter (w/Spencer and Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals)

[Brian F.]

Great recap, bbop. Two small quibbles: Largo is, as I think we've discussed before, in Los Angeles, not West Hollywood. (It's really, really close to West Hollywood, but it is beyond its city limits.) And Jeff's first run of Largo shows was in December 2013, not 2017.

 

The story about the Norwegian reminded me of a Wilco show in February 1997 at Avalon in Boston where they played "Box Full of Letters" in its entirely three consecutive times. The first was the aforementioned waltz version. It was followed by a polka version and then an "arena-rock" version. It was a rollicking night.

 

I look forward to your recap of Night Two. I'll just note that, if my count is correct, Jeff has already played half the tracks on Twilight Override through two nights. There were seven played on Night One and eight others on Night Two-- six of which were in the encore with Sammy and Spencer on harmonies.

[bböp]

2 hours ago, Brian F. said:

Great recap, bbop. Two small quibbles: Largo is, as I think we've discussed before, in Los Angeles, not West Hollywood. (It's really, really close to West Hollywood, but it is beyond its city limits.) And Jeff's first run of Largo shows was in December 2013, not 2017.

 

Brian, Brian, Brian...haven't we been down this road before lol? I put Los Angeles in the title of the post, but I will still always think of Largo as being in West Hollywood even if it technically isn't. I will note, though, that I parked a block away the other day and there were City of West Hollywood sawhorses (or whatever those things are) next to my car, so aren't we being a bit pedantic here? If it makes you happy, though, please continue. You're a lawyer, aren't you? If so, [insert lawyer joke here]. 

 

Thank you for the correction on 2013 versus 2017, though. I appreciate it. I was trying to get at when Jeff started doing annual runs of shows at Largo, which I think may have been in 2017. He did start to play at Largo in 2013, as you correctly stated (and I corrected in my earlier post). Although technically, if we're being pedantic, I believe Jeff's first appearance at Largo was actually in 2012 when he appeared with Jeff Garlin for a taping of a podcast. I can't remember why he didn't play at Largo from 2013-2016, if there even was any particular reason, but anyway...

 

[Brian F.]

I apologize for glossing over the post title, Paul. I noted that I thought we had discussed this before. Anyway, I wasn't intending to be pedantic. Largo is proud to be in Los Angeles. Its website is largo-la.com. Its Instagram handle is @largolosangeles. Indeed, as I noted, and as your parking experience confirmed, one doesn't have to go very far from Largo to get to West Hollywood (in a couple of different directions). Ironically, speaking of parking, parking rules are different in the two jurisdictions, and permits in one city are not valid in the other, so knowing which city you're in can be anything but pedantic. I used to live across the street from West Hollywood in Beverly Hills. If I tried to park on the other side of my street with my Beverly Hills parking permit, West Hollywood parking enforcement would have gleefully written me a ticket. The same goes for the streets around Largo. Different rules and restrictions apply depending on whether you're in WeHo or in L.A., even on opposite sides of the same street.

 

I'm not sure why you're so sensitive about this. You do a great job with these writeups (including this one, as I said, and thanked you for it), and they are very appreciated. My sense is that you are careful to get things right, and these posts serve as an important archive of Wilco's/Tweedy's career, so that's why I mentioned these two small things. It doesn't "make me happy" to do so. If I wrote something and made a similar mistake, I would want someone to bring it to my attention. That's all there is to it. As someone near and dear to you once weirdly said, "It's not a competition." There's no need to bang your head against a brick wall over it.

 

You are correct about Jeff's 2012 interview appearance with other Jeff-- who, in a bit of counterprogramming, is performing at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank tomorrow night opposite our man Jeff. It's been a while since Mr. Garlin last opened for Mr. Tweedy at Largo, but we can probably assume he won't be the special guest tomorrow night.

[bböp]

12 hours ago, Brian F. said:

I'm not sure why you're so sensitive about this. You do a great job with these writeups (including this one, as I said, and thanked you for it), and they are very appreciated. My sense is that you are careful to get things right, and these posts serve as an important archive of Wilco's/Tweedy's career, so that's why I mentioned these two small things. It doesn't "make me happy" to do so. If I wrote something and made a similar mistake, I would want someone to bring it to my attention. That's all there is to it. As someone near and dear to you once weirdly said, "It's not a competition." There's no need to bang your head against a brick wall over it.

 

Oh, believe me...I'm not trying to compete with anyone. If anyone else wants to post a recap, whether I'm at the show or not, I'm more than happy to hear their take on things. I'm not trying to get anything out of these posts, nor asking for anything in return (other than that I hope at least a few people read and get something out of them). So thanks for the kind words on that front.

 

With respect to the Los Angeles/WeHo thing, it's not sensitivity (as you labeled it). I guess I'm just amused and/or curious as to why this continues to be something you seem so invested in. A hill you're going to die on, if you will. Can we just agree that while Largo might technically be in Los Angeles (and I acknowledge that it is), it's also extremely close to West Hollywood and that's the neighborhood that people would use to describe where it is generally located? Or if we can't agree on that, I guess we can at least join forces try and defeat our common nemesis, I'll Fight Guy. 

[Albert Tatlock]

Ta. Will keep SubStack in mind as a back-up option for future tea break VC outage crises. I wonder if you're going to retrospectively copy/paste all you old reports there to make it a full archive back-up. That would really be a Wilco MVP labour of love.