Jeff Tweedy (Band) — 16 January 2026, Riviera Maya, Mexico (Hard Rock Hotel) [Sky Blue Sky Festival; Day 2 of 4]

[bböp]

Complete setlist, as played:

1. One Tiny Flower

2. Caught Up In The Past

3. Flowering

4. New Orleans

5. Forever Never Ends

6. This Is How It Ends

7. Low Key

8. World Away

9. Mirror

10. Stray Cats In Spain

11. Out In The Dark

12. Cry Baby Cry

13. Diamond Light, Pt. 1

14. No One’s Moving On

15. Feel Free

16. Lou Reed Was My Babysitter

17. Mexico [Sammy Tweedy]

18. Enough

 

Number of Twilight Override songs played (out of 30): 13.

 

“Special” song(s): This was the surprise of the set when Jeff announced that a) there would indeed be a “special” song for this show (since it was a shorter festival set without an encore, which is when the “special” song(s) usually come); and b) it would be a song written by Sammy. Appropriately enough, the probable first single off Sammy’s completed debut solo album, About Us, is called Mexico and so it made perfect sense that it would be performed here. Although I’ve heard the album version a couple of times and even seen Sammy and Spencer play it live, it was nice to hear it with the backing of the full Tweedy band as well as on the big PA system of the Sky Blue Sky main stage. The lyric “Thought you should know/there’s a lot of snow/blocking the roads/back home in Chicago” drew a particularly hearty cheer from the crowd, including yours truly.

 

Support report: None. In fact, this was a rare occasion when the Tweedy band was actually supporting someone else. Well, technically, it was a festival so they weren’t really supporting anyone, though Jeff said it was “such a thrill to get to play on this stage, opening for MJ (Lenderman And The Wind) and Dr. Dog.”

 

Venue vibes: As Jeff alluded to, this was finally the year that the Tweedy band got to perform on Sky Blue Sky’s main courtyard stage after playing the festival’s two smaller stages in previous years. However, I’m pretty sure only Sammy was actually making his main-stage debut since the five other band members had all performed on this stage before — Jeff obviously with Wilco, Spencer on drums with Waxahatchee earlier in the festival and Sima, Macie and Liam as part of the three-headed “Young Jorgenstein” monster that capably filled in with Wilco when Mikael Jorgensen tested positive for COVID prior to the 2022 edition of Sky Blue Sky and couldn’t attend.

 

Bits of tid, including Banter Corner:

• I don’t even know why I’m writing this recap since Susie live streamed the entire set on her stuffinourhouse Instagram account, where you can watch it for yourself. But in any case, I guess I shall proceed because, well, I guess not everyone has social media (gasp!) or a few intrepid souls would rather listen to me prattle on for a few more minutes.

• The Tweedy band performance was scheduled for 75 minutes, from 6:30-7:45 p.m., but as the clock wound down on the 18-song set with two still left to play, Jeff realized they might go a little over time. “I’m really sorry (we might go a little late),” Jeff said, “but…we really, really want to play these two songs, so I’ll make it up to MJ. I’ll help him change the stage over.”

• It probably had to do with the rush at the end of the set and I’m sure literally no one but me noticed, but Jeff had a very insignificant flub in Enough when he sang the “Is your heart hiding/From your fire?” line twice. The first time through, of course, the chorus goes “Is your heart higher/Than your mind?” Normally I probably wouldn’t even mention it, but since Susie’s video was available for me to double check and I noted it in the moment, I’m making one tiny, uh, note of it here.

• Jeff’s best one-liner of a set that was admittedly short on visits to Banter Corner probably came just before Out In The Dark when he quipped, “All right, we’ve got a few more. We’d really like to thank Wilco for inviting us.”

• Of the few non-Twilight Override songs that have become a regular part of the TO tour setlist, World Away has probably morphed the most in terms of how this lineup plays it and I was once again reminded of this when Sima, Macie and Liam take over the vocals in the second half of the song so that Jeff can focus on the lead guitar shredding and then today it seemed like the band added a newish coda where they all get in a nice little collective jam before bringing the song home.

• Though several “slower” songs were part of this festival set, I did notice that once again Ain’t It A Shame failed to make the cut with its lyric about wanting to “die on the beach in the sun.” It reminded me of the last (I think?) SBS when the Tweedy band was actually performing on the “beach stage,” and Jeff joked about how he had wanted to play that song, maybe even start the set with it, but Spencer and Sammy talked him out of it.

[Albert Tatlock]

3 hours ago, bböp said:

a few intrepid souls would rather listen to me

Every time. Ta.

My heart did leap when I saw Mexico on the setlist. If only it could have been this. One of my 60s easy listening favourites, and the BBC theme song from the 68 Olympics.