Wilco June 18, and maybe in your town.
Photo by Mark A. Martinez
It was a stunning Wilco show here in Tucson last night at Centennial Hall. I haven’t seen them in too, too long. How they’ve grown! I think they’re headed for the stratosphere. They’ve got the gear, the lights and the swarm of techs for it, for sure.
I also think the band’s out for fun on this tour. They seemed to be having a lot of it, themselves, anyway, starting with that goofy camel on Glen Kotche’s kick drum. It has the spotlight on it until the band comes onstage. Has anyone ever seen a more athletic drummer, by the way? I just think he’s brilliant. I can’t imagine how he thinks of the things he does.
And I’m amazed how great the pre-2004 stuff sounds. All the newer players brought their considerable insight and sensitivity, not to mention first-rate skill, and made it their own.
In the fun department, by the way, here’s a tip: go ahead and spend $8 at the merch table for Wilco’s first ever tour program. There’s much fun stuff in it–cartoons, watercolors, poetry, lots of photos, some random top fives including Nels Cline’s top five 7″ singles, how to make a mani-tom, crew bios and, believe it or not, more.
Do I sound like I’m shilling? Forget it then.
If Wilco’s coming to your town, you can make requests. Just go here and find your show. Click the little box next to it that says either “Info” or “Sold Out”. A pop-up will come up; look for the box that says “Requests” and click on that. When you do, you’ll get a little form to fill out and a pull-down menu with songs to choose from. There are songs from every Wilco record and even some Jeff songs from Uncle Tupelo days.
Here’s most of the set list from Tucson, but if you haven’t seen Wilco for a while, you can’t imagine how big everything sounds.
(June 20 update: Many thanks to Andrew at WilcoBase for filling in the blanks!)
Main Set
Hell Is Chrome
Handshake Drugs
Wilco (The Song)
Muzzle of Bees
You Are My Face
Black Bull Nova
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Country Disappeared
One Wing
Shot in The Arm
Side with the Seeds
Via Chicago
Jesus, etc.
Impossible Germany
Poor Places
Reservations
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Hummingbird
Encore
Hotel Arizona
Late Greats
Hate It Here
Walken
I’m The Man Who Loves You
King Pin
I’m a Wheel