BY JILL POOLE June 20, 2007 was the first time I got to see Wilco live and Saturday night at DPAC it was the same lineup: Jeff Tweedy, ...
BY JILL POOLE
June 20, 2007 was the first time I got to see Wilco live and Saturday night at DPAC it was the same lineup: Jeff Tweedy, Nels Cline, John Stirratt, Mikael Jorgensen, Pat Sansone, and Glenn Kotche. This group has been recording and touring in this form for over 20 years and they’ve acquired some very loyal fans. This was a sold out show at DPAC and it was a Wilco crowd. All ages, all types of dress, ALL Wilco fans. I saw several “vintage” Wilco tour shirts among the crowd.
With the opening notes of “Handshake Drugs” you could feel everyone settle in for the next few hours, hoping to hear THEIR favorite. Wilco released their first album A.M. in 1995 and their most recent Cousin in 2023 so on any night they choose from around 150 songs. “Hummingbird” began with Tweedy standing in a spotlight with no guitar and his arms held out singing “his goal in life was to be an echo...” it was one of those concert moments that gives you chills. He encouraged the crowd to sing the rest with him. Everyone in that audience knew Jeff Tweedy’s words. He connects with his audience with a dry understated wit and they listen to his spoken words as they do his lyrics. This is a loyal fan base. The band has a request page on their website where you can ask for a specific song at a specific show. After playing “Say You Miss Me” from 1996’s Being There, Tweedy remarked “We haven’t played THAT one in a looong time. I know at least ONE of you wanted to hear it!”
The first set skipped around the years and albums from 2023’s “Evicted” and 1995’s “It’s Just That Simple” to “Via Chicago” from 1999. “California Stars” was next and Tweedy urged the crowd to sing “Carolina Stars” in places - then forgot the words to the next verse. As he laughed about it afterwards he said “Do you know how often I’ve resisted the urge to PANDER like that?” “... just that one small change made me forget the words.” The crowd laughed along with him. After “Falling Apart,” the band left the stage for a break as Tweedy said “See you in a little bit - Wilco’s up next!”
The second set began with crowd favorite “Box Full of Letters” which always sounds like a nod to The Replacements to me, and Tweedy has said many times that he probably wouldn’t be where he is if he hadn’t seen The Replacements open for X when he was a kid. Some of the highlights of the second set: a hauntingly beautiful “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” and “Jesus, Etc.” But honestly - Nels Cline’s guitar solo in “Impossible Germany” just walked away with the second half of the show. Cline is a guitar god disguised as an accountant and he’s amazing to watch on whatever instrument he is playing.
Wilco may hold the record for sheer number of instruments played by 6 guys for 33 songs. Nels Cline and Pat Sansone played multiple different instruments throughout the night: sitar, pedal steel, multiple keyboards, as well as their guitars. Except for drummer, Glenn Kotche, the guys seemed to change instruments for almost every song and the road crew was on top of it all. Friday night’s Charleston, SC show was postponed due to severe weather and the Wilco crew got a shout out from Tweedy (and applause from the audience) for Wilco being able to play at all as the night before their equipment was full of water. There was no rain in the DPAC, just a welcoming crowd, a beautiful venue, and everyone’s favorite band.
Setlist
"Handshake Drugs"
"If Ever I Was a Child"
"Cruel Country"
"Forget the Flowers"
"Evicted"
"Bird Without at Tail/Base of My Skull"
"I’m Always In Love"
"Everyone Hides"
"Hummingbird"
"It’s Just That Simple"
"Say You Miss Me"
"Love is Everywhere"
"War on War"
"Via Chicago"
"California Stars"
"Falling Apart"
[Intermission] "Box Full of Letters"
"Annihilation"
"I Am Trying To Break Your Heart"
"Company in My Back"
"The Late Greats"
"Either Way"
"Impossible Germany"
"Losing Traction"
"Jesus, Etc"
"Hate It Here"
"Theologians"
"Walken"
"Kingpin"
"Heavy Metal Drummer"
"I’m the Man Who Loves You"
"I Got You"
"Outtasight"
- [message]
- JILL POOLE
It’s Christmas. I think I was 7. And there’s an album with my presents. The Everly Brothers Greatest Hits. I was hooked - I still have that record and a few more. On my 16th birthday, I got a job just to buy a real stereo, and more records. I still have all that “vinyl” as we call it today, and my 1977 Advent speakers connect to a Sonos system now.
When I was younger I had a love-hate relationship with live shows but it’s all love now. And I always watched the photographers in the pit. (And tried to take the perfect shot myself on an increasingly capable iphone) But for the last few years I’ve had an actual camera again and it’s so much better.
I want people who couldn’t BE there, who couldn’t get up to the stage - I want them to see what I saw - to feel what I felt.
You can’t hear a photograph, but sometimes... if it’s a good shot - it’s almost as if you could.
Read Jill's posts here.
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