Okay, the venue was this incredibly uptight, sit-down-type of venue--an "alcohol free" venue. I expected the show to be full of stuffy old people who would sit through the entire performance. Nope. It was mostly college-aged students, and that can be both good and bad. They are young enough to have a lot of energy (and that is good), but they have no sense of what should and should not not be done in a public space (and that is bad). Like text messaging. I made it a point to slightly nudge the kid next to me every time he would start texting. And not once did I tell anyone to shut up--that may be a first for me.
Anyway... on to the show.
It was awesome. Wilco rocked it. The crowd, however, was fairly lame. During "Kingpin," Tweedy had to give instruction on how to "rock" and said something like -- it won't kill you to fucking scream for a few seconds. That's not an exact quote, but you get the idea. And then he talked about how there needed to more alcohol and that he could "smell the sober" in the room (and he doesn't drink). He also gave examples of how not to rock: standing with your arms crossed; standing with your hand on your chin, contemplating; looking at your neighbor to see how hard (or not) they are rocking. All good advice, really. I expected Tweedy to be a bit more irritated about the lack of "rock-ness" of the crowd. I was towards the back, and I was all over the place, but still somewhat reserved, for me. And I can tell you right now, I am very sore. And my feet hurt. Part of me feels old and part of me doesn't because I can still get out there with a bunch of twenty-somethings and seriously enjoy myself. Of course, today in the library I will wonder how many, if any, people will recognize and remember me, because it is pretty normal for me to make an absolute fool out of myself at a concert.
I am not sure if this is the entire playlist, but here is the best I can remember, in no particular order:
- Handshake Drugs (this was the opening song)
- A Shot in the Arm (and this was song number two -- and one of my absolute Wilco favorites. Best opening line ever: The ashtray says / you were up all night)
- I'm the Man Who Loves you
- Jesus Etc
- Kingpin (this may have been part of one of the encores, and it was excellent to hear something from Being There)
- Hummingbird
- I am Trying to Break Your Heart
- Heavy Metal Drummer (I miss the innocence I've known / playing KISS covers beautiful and stoned)
- War on War
- Theologians
- The Late Greats
- At Least That's What You Said
- She's a Jar
- Kamera
- Passenger Side (The final song, it was awesome to hear something from A.M., when they were still Alt.Country)
I wanted to hear, but didn't: "Via Chicago" and "Misunderstood." And something from one of the Mermaid Avenue albums. And pretty much the entire Wilco catalog.
Tweedy didn't look like Grizzly Adams like he did when I saw them in August.
There was an opening band. The something-or-other Statesman. The were from Nashville, I think. Very twangy, very alt.country. They were good, but they were a bit too low key for the crowd of semi-sober college students waiting to see Wilco. And old people (like me). They would be good in a smaller club. But y'all, I actually took a bit of a nap during their performance. And that's not normal.
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