The last and first time I saw Wilco in concert I walked out. That’s right, walked right out the door on one of the best bands playing rock and roll today. This was just after A Ghost is Born came out, so it was well into all the hoopla over Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Frankly, at the time I wasn’t much of a fan; I had only heard the Being There album and attended the show more out of something to do than any real relationship to the band or their music.
They were playing a club way too small for them at the time. It was standing room only, and within a few songs into their set, the place was swelling. Everyone was jostling for position, pushing, squishing, and elbowing in every direction. It was more than my wife and our friend could take.
The final poke was from an enormous young man who was not only pushing for the front row, but talking obnoxiously loud on his cell phone right in front of us. My two companions moved way to the back of the small club. I moved to a friendly section of the crowd but knew my time was coming. After a few more songs I found my people and we decided to walk out. The band was good, but not knowing any songs and the rotten crowd overruled anything our ears were hearing.
Fast forward to last night, I have since become a convert to the Wilco idolatry religion, and am very excited to see them again. Hoping to finally rid myself of the stigma of having once walked out. This time the venue is much larger and more fitting to the band’s status. The IU Auditorium is a medium-sized auditorium with lots of seats and space.
The opening band was local and an odd mix of the Meat Puppets, “Space Oddity”-era David Bowie and Radiohead. They started promptly at 8:00 to a crowd at less than half-capacity.
Opening acts are an odd thing to me. They say they are there to get the crowd jazzed and loosened up, but the crowds I’ve seen are usually bored by an opener and keep looking at their watches hoping those fools will get off the stage so the headliners will appear. I guess it’s a good opportunity to hear bands you might not have heard before.
The opening band played a good 40-minute set. After a long 40-minute pause, Wilco finally took the stage at 9:20. The crowd, now at full capacity, gave the auditorium a good holler.
Article comments
1 - Scott Butki
I'm very jealous you saw them live, Mat.
2 - Mat Brewster
As you should be. It was quite a good show. Tweedy said it was the start of a tour, so maybe they'll be headed your way soon.
3 - Scott Butki
Have you seen the documentary about Foxtrot, which I wrote about loving here, or heard their live album? I've gone from loving them to making them my favorite.
4 - Mat Brewster
I've seen about half of the documentary. Caught it on TV while on my lunch break a few months back. Have been meaning to rent it ever since.
I don't have the official live album, but I've got a couple of bootlegs. Wilco is definitely one of my top bands these days and quickly moving up the all time favorite list.
5 - Scott Butki
The dvd of the documentary has some great extras.
what I love about the movie is it shows how they break down each song and can play it in like 8 different ways. That is so much more interesting to me as a listener than hearing bands play it the same way every time.
6 - Mat Brewster
I'll have to check out that doc very soon. I completely agree with the ability to play a song differently being more intersting. When I go to a concert I get annoyed if the band plays all their songs exactly like the studio version. I always feel like I'm wasting my money since I already have the album.
But when they mix it up and play it differently, or even improvise on the original melody, I love it.
7 - Scott Butki
The funniest thing for me was seeing the Alarm live - they made not only the same changes live as on their live album but they made the same damn between songs speech.
8 - Mat Brewster
That's hilarious.
9 - Scott Butki
I couldn't believe it. It's one thing for fans to sing along with a song, quite another to see fans reciting the between song banter
10 - DJRadiohead
This article was namedropped on BCRadio this week.
11 - Mat Brewster
Sweet. I listened to the TomKat rap with dawn this afternoon. I'll try to check out the rest today/tomorrow.
12 - Eric Berg
I saw this show during freshman year at Ferris State, drove down in 5 hours. Let me tell you, there are zero entrapment laws in Indiana. Good show, great campus, GHOST IS BORN rules!
13 - Mat Brewster
Yeah, this was a great show. It only took me about ten minutes to get there, but I would have made it five hours like yourself if needed.