Wow. Spectacular show. No one got beat up. Two thumbs up. I have to say that at first when I heard that Nels was joining the band I was a bit hesitant. I liked him solo and in his improv stylings, but I didn't know whether Wilco's rock would suit him. Well, after last night's performance, all doubts were wiped completely clean from the slate. His playing has added such a dimension to the band, that in previous incarnations wasn't there.
The band played a solid 2+ hours with 2 encores. As Tweedy said, the crowd wasn't the largest, but apparently we were the best smelling of the tour so far. Go figure. The venue was literally a ballroom with some acoustic tiles on the walls and hardwood floors, which probably helped the cavernous inside sound a bit better. Not bad sound really though.
Excited for the new songs and I wasn't let down. My favorite is "Impossible Germany". Great song. If I can get an mp3 I'll post it at some point.
Here's the setlist in case anyone is interested:
Quote:
1. Muzzle of Bees
2. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
3. Handshake Drugs
4. Shot In The Arm
5. Impossible Germany
6. Company In My Back
7. Poor Places
8. War on War
9. At Least That's What You Said
10. Jesus Etc.
11. Forget The Flowers
12. Walken
13. Theologians
14. I'm The Man Who Loves You
15. Via Chicago
-Encore Break
16. Hummingbird
17. Sunken Treasure
18. Late Greats
19. Kingpin
20. Heavy Metal Drummer
21. Let's Not Get Carried Away
Someone on Via Chicago was saying that Sunken Treasure was finally reinstated to the set. Love the song, know Tweedy did it extensively on his solo (hence DVD title).
Great, great night despite having to drive back over the mtn in thick soupy fog, and heading pillow at 4am to wake back up for work at 8am.
edit--forgot to add 2 fave moments:
1)Tweedy leading crowd in singalong and saying "ok, this is the point where I tell you something to yell, and you yell it back, I say that sucked, you yell it again. I say its getting better, and then you yell it a third time and I say there you go"
2)Tweedy donning a WVU jersey with Tweedy emblazoned across the back.