Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight: “Hold Me Anyway”

Most of the previous entries have been excerpts from Wilcopedia, but since the band has released two records, Ode to Joy and Cruel Country, since my book’s release in 2019, songs from those albums are now being included in this series. This will give folks a bit of a preview of the second edition of Wilcopedia (btw the first edition is at a cool discount price on Amazon!).

This installment of the Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight shines on the next to last song on Wilco’s eleventh studio album, Ode to Joy (2019):

 

“Hold Me Anyway” (Jeff Tweedy)

 

The delicious hook in the form of an infectious chorus helps to make this the album’s most friendly and personable song. Like many of the tracks on Ode to Joy, “Hold Me Anyway” commences with Tweedy’s lone guitar which goes on to accompany the singer’s ponderings. In a couplet reminiscent of “Theologians, Tweedy soberly states “I’m like a hologram / Light is all I am.”

 

While I wrote that this track is a warm one, it does have dark lines about “freaking the fuck out,” and equating oneself with a plastic bag ‘high in an old dead tree.” Such thoughts clear away when the chorus comes around to answer the question, “Are we all in love just because’ with the joyous refrain: “No! I think it’s poetry and magic / Something too big to have a name.”

 

The seemingly bleak lines that follow about how love is still tragic, and wondering who’s to blame when you die, are sung in the same uplifting manner as the “poetry and magic” moment, with Nels Cline’s fuzzy guitar riffing coming in to punctuate the proceedings. The chorus is repeated three times, with no further verses added, but it’s still a winning song structure that results in one of the album’s most memorable moments.

 

“Hold Me Anyway” made its live debut at USF Verftet in Bergen, Norway on September 7, 2019 and, like most of the songs on the album, it has been performed over 60 times through the Ode to Joy tour of 2019-2021. 

Watch the third live performance of “Hold Me Anyway” at Den Grå Hal in Copenhagen, Denmark on Sept. 10, 2019:

“Hold Me Anyway” has also popped up three times on The Tweedy Show, the popular Instagram program featuring the songs and shenanigans of the Tweedy family. Tweedy responded to the many requests for the song from viewers, who the family refer to as “clients,” with a sweet solo version of the song on Episode 20 (April 9, 2020), then it was performed (again solo) as the opening number for Episode 92 (September 3, 2020), dedicated to a client named Kathy; and was lastly strummed on Episode 183 (June 10, 2021).

But since the song concluded Wilco’s set before the encore at the KettleHouse Amphitheater, in Bonner, Montana on August 7, 2021, it has gone into hiding.

 

During the tour for Ode to Joy, a large sign held up by a fan, or a client, quoting the song’s key line, “Thanks for the poetry and magic,” appeared at a few shows. Certainly it’s a sentiment that all Wilco fans can agree with.

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Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight: “Everyone Hides”

Previous editions of Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight have featured excerpts from my 2019 book, Wilcopedia, but this is a never before published entry (for a future second edition) about a track that was released on the band’s 11th studio album, Ode to Joy:

“Everyone Hides” (Jeff Tweedy)

One of Ode to Joy’s most accessible tracks, this jaunty tune was released on September 17, 2019 as the album’s second single. With its finger-picked guitar figure, and bouncy bass-line, the song lightens the mood of the album as if it’s saying that things don’t always need to be so heavy. 

 

But then you pay attention to the lyrics, sung by Tweedy with a casual flippancy enhanced by double tracking, one realizes that it’s a very personal tune  epitomized in lines like “If you’re selling yourself on a vision / A dream of who you are / An idea of how it should be / And a wish upon a star.”

 

“Everyone Hides” begins delicately, with a subtle rhythmic progression, as more and more spare layers get added to the mix. It gets itself worked up towards the end as instruments’ paths collide, but in a restrained yet still melodic manner that is wrapped up quite pleasingly.

 

If “Everyone Hides” sounds more like a Tweedy solo song than the work of Wilco, that’s because it originated with his band, Tweedy. The film was featured in the Theodore Melfi’s 2014 comedy “St. Vincent,” starring Bill Murray, and appeared as the lead off track on the film’s soundtrack. As this is the only place that this version of ‘Everyone Hides’ can be found, it’s worth a purchase for completist fans (it also contains another Tweedy exclusive, “Why Why Why”).

 

The same day that the song was released online, a video for “Everyone Hides”dropped that quickly made the rounds through many music and pop culture sites. The video concerned the members of Wilco traipsing around Chicago playing hide-and-seek while their leader was cozy back at the Loft. It’s fitting for the song’s premise about people concealing their true natures to inspire a setting for a citywide hide-and-seek game.

In early October 2019, Tweedy talked with All Songs Considered host, Bob Boilen, about the making of the video for “Everyone Hides”: “We had asked around for some treatments, from different directors of what to do with a song like that with a video, and at the end of the day we just said ‘why don’t we just play hide ‘n seek in Chicago, and I thought it would be funny if everyone else in the band went to hide and I just locked the door and sat on the couch and watched TV.”

 

“Everyone Hides” was first performed live by Wilco at Tapperiet Scene in Trondheim, Norway on September 19, 2019. Later that month, on September 30, the band played the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert:

As of this writing, there have been over 100 airings of “Everyone Hides” by Wilco, with Tweedy also contributing a solo version of it on Episode 39 of the Instagram program, The Tweedy Show, on May 1, 2020. 

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The Finish Line For Wilco's Fall Tour Approaches - Here's The Latest Setlist Stats

Designed by Justin Froning/Housebear Design

Hey folks, yet again I’ve got a slew of Wilco setlists as their Fall tour is coming to an end. As I’ve talked about repeatedly, many fans have bitched at the similarity of the setlists, and the fact that this is supposed to be the Ode to Joy tour, in which their last album gets the focus that it lost when the pandemic stole their 2020 jaunt’s thunder, but they are only playing a few songs from the record at every show.

 

That’s fine by me as I saw a concert in 2019 that featured a lot of Ode to Joy. Also, they have mixed it up more than they have been given credit for as older tunes have been popping up regularly. So, as I’ve got five setlists to sum up - let’s get right to the the last shows for Jeff Tweedy and Company of 2021.

Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA 10/20/21

 

“A Shot in the Arm” / “Random Name Generator” / “Side with the Seeds” / “One and a Half Stars” / “War on War” / “Art of Almost” / “If I Ever Was a Child” / “Impossible Germany” / “Sunken Treasure” / “Laminated Cat (aka “Not For The Season”) / “Love is Everywhere (Beware)” / “Hummingbird” / “One by One” / “Everyone Hides” / “Box Full of Letters” / “Dawned on Me” / “Jesus, Etc.” / “Theologians” / “Heavy Metal Drummer” / “I’m the Man Who Loves You” / “California Stars”

 

Encore: “Spiders (Kidsmoke) / “The Late Greats”

 

Brooklyn Bowl, Las Vegas, NV 10/22/21

Designed & Printed by Justin Helton

“Bright Leaves” / “A Shot in the Arm” / “Random Name Generator” / “Wishful Thinking” / “War on War” / “One and a Half Stars” / “At Least That’s What You Said” / “Bull Black Nova” / “Love is Everywhere (Beware)” / “Pot Kettle Black” / “Impossible Germany” / “Misunderstood” / “Forget the Flowers” / “Box Full of Letters” / ““Hummingbird” / “Everyone Hides” / “Born Alone / “Jesus, Etc.” / “Hate it Here” / “Theologians”

 

Encore: “The Late Greats” / “California Stars” / “Heavy Metal Drummer” / “I’m the Man Who Loves You” / “Outta Mind (Outta Sight)”

 

Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA 10/23/21

Designed by Matt Pfahlert/SilentP

“Bright Leaves” / “A Shot in the Arm” / “Random Name Generator” / “Side with the Seeds” / “One and a Half Stars” / “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” / “Art of Almost” / “How to Fight Loneliness” / “Sunken Treasure” / “Laminated Cat” / “Pot Kettle Black” / “Impossible Germany” / “Love is Everywhere (Beware)” / “Someone to Lose” / “Hummingbird” / “Everyone Hides” / “Dawned on Me” / “Jesus Etc.” / “Theologians” / “I’m the Man Who Loves You” 

Encore: “California Stars” / “Red-Eyed and Blue” / “I Got You (At the End of the Century” / “Outtasite (Outta Mind)” 

 

Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles 10/25/21

 

“Bright Leaves” / “A Shot in the Arm” / “Random Name Generator” / “Wishful Thinking” / “War on War” / “One and a Half Stars” / “At Least That’s What You Said” / “Bull Black Nova” / “Love is Everywhere (Beware)” / “Pot Kettle Black” / “Impossible Germany” / “Misunderstood” / “Forget the Flowers” / “Box Full of Letters” / “Everyone Hides” / “Hummingbird” / “Born Alone” / “Jesus, Etc.” / “Theologians” / “I’m the Man Who Loves You” / “Poor Places” / “Reservations”

 

Encore: “Monday” / “Outtasite (Outta Mind)”

 

Orpheum, Los Angeles 10/26/21

Designed by Zoca Design

“A Shot in the Arm” / Random Name Generator” / “Muzzle of Bees” / “One and a Half Stars” / “Ashes of American Flags” / “Art of Almost” / “How to Fight Loneliness” / “Sunken Treasure” / “Laminated Cat” (Aka “Not For the Season)” / “If I Ever Was A Child” / “Impossible Germany” / “Love is Everywhere (Beware)” / “Hummingbird” / “Box Full of Letters” / “Everyone Hides” / “Either Way” / “Dawned on Me” / “Heavy Metal Drummer” / “I’m the Man Who Loves You” / “Poor Places” / “Reservations” / “California Stars” / “Jesus, Etc.” / “Red Eyed and Blue” / “I Got You (At the End of the Century)” / “I’m A Wheel”

Next up: ACL Hall of Fame, Moody Theater, Austin, TX 10/28/21: Wilco's final performance only consists of a few song, but I'll report about what I can when I can.

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Wilco Setlists: Des Moines 9/16, Ashwaubenon 9/17, & Welch 9/18

Official show poster by Nick Van Berkum

Here are three more setlists from Wilco’s current tour, which apparently is no longer the “It’s Time” tour, and is made up of a handful of shows under no name. However, in early October, the excursion will be dubbed the “Ode to Joy” tour. This is because the original “Ode” excursion was cut short by the pandemic. In the meantime, we’ve got here three gigs with no “Ode” tunes and a roster of songs that are familiar to those following these concerts.

But I’m sure fans were happy with the tour debut “Forget the Flowers,” which was performed at all three of the shows below. Since Wilco only played one song from their second album Being There (1996), the rave-up “Outtasite (Outta Mind),” it’s great that another has popped up, especially since setlist.fm noted that it contains “electric interludes.” It’s also nice to see “Bull Black Nova” getting a few more airings.

Okay, so let’s get down to the last trio of shows of this brief leg, in which Minnesotan bluegrass band, Trampled by Turtles, opened: 

Lauridsen Amphitheater at Water Works Park, Des Moines, IA 9/16/21

    Official show poster by Zoca Design

Buy it Now

“A Shot in the Arm” / “Random Name Generator” / “At Least That’s What You Said” /  “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” / “Art of Almost”/ “If I Ever Was A Child” / “Via Chicago” / “Bull Black Nova” / “Forget the Flowers” / “Impossible Germany”/ “Love is Everywhere (Beware)” / “Hummingbird” / “Everyone Hides” / “Box Full of Letters” / “Dawned On Me” / “Jesus, Etc.” / “Heavy Metal Drummer” / “I’m the Man Who Loves You” / “California Stars”

 

Capital Credit Union Park, Ashwaubenon, WI 9/17/21

 

“A Shot in the Arm” / “Random Name Generator” / “Side with the Seeds” / “One and a Half Stars” / “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” / “Art of Almost” / “If I Ever Was A Child” / “Impossible Germany” /“Hummingbird” / “Everyone Hides” / “Box Full of Letters”/ “Via Chicago” / “Bull Black Nova” / “Forget the Flowers” / “Love is Everywhere (Beware)” / “Dawned On Me” / “Jesus, Etc.” / “Theologians” / “I’m the Man Who Loves You” / “Heavy Metal Drummer” / “I’m Always In Love” 

 

Treasure Island Resort & Casino, Welch, MN 9/18/21

 

“A Shot in the Arm” / “Random Name Generator” / “At Least That's What You Said” / “Love Is Everywhere (Beware)” / “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”/ “Art of Almost” / “If I Ever Was a Child” / “Impossible Germany” / “Hummingbird” / “Everyone Hides”/ “Jesus Etc.” / “Forget the Flowers” / “Box Full of Letters” / “Heavy Metal Drummer” / “I’m the Man Who Loves You” / “I’m Always In Love”/ “California Stars”

Next up, Wilco returns on October 5 for the ostensible “Ode” tour, which, with hope, will actually feature more “Ode” songs. We shall wait and see.

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Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight: “Tell Your Friends”

This time, the Spotlight shines on Wilco’s latest release, “Tell Your Friends,” which made its debut on the Minnesota Public Radio program, Live From Here With Chris Thile, on May 16th.

The plodding yet dreamy dirge, which would’ve fit right in on the band’s last album, Ode to Joy, could be seen as Jeff Tweedy and company’s pandemic quarantine song. That’s because it simply advises the listener to not forget letting your friends know that you love them and will see them again when this crisis ends.

A few days after its premiere, “Tell Your Friends” was performed by Tweedy on the 29th episode of The Tweedy Show, the family’s Instagram video series that began in the early days of the coronavirus lockdown.

Tweedy family friend Nick Offerman, best known as Ron Swanson from the acclaimed sitcom Parks and Recreation, requested the song, but Jeff started played it before the request was relayed to him.

After Jeff performed a great solo acoustic version of “Tell Your Friends,” Susie Tweedy asked how her husband knew that that was Nick’s request.

“I’ve been sharing that song with Nick,” he replied. Susie then said, “Ah, a little off-the-grid communicado.” Then Susie said, “Nick wants to hear, ‘C’mon let’s twist again.’”

This refers to the song outright saying, “C’mon, let’s twist again,” but the context being that that is something we all need to do when this is all over is what makes that work.

It’ll probably be a long time until we are able to hear “Tell Your Friends” performed live by Wilco, but the fact that they are gifting us now with such a thoughtful tune will surely help us get through.

Post note: “Tell Your Friends” is available for immediate download with a charitable contribution. Donations will go directly to World Central Kitchen, an organization working across America to safely distribute fresh meals in communities that need support.

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A history of Wilco being labeled “dad rock”

Dad Rock: Rock music that appeals to an older generation, or that is heavily influenced by that of an earlier era. (Oxford Dictionary)

Dad Rock: Classic rock you first heard from your dad’s old record collection. (Urban Dictionary)

When I was writing my book, Wilcopedia, I really wanted to avoid the term “dad rock,” which has long ago become critical shorthand for the music of Wilco. I disliked the moniker greatly and didn’t want to give it further credibility.

Nevertheless, I did end up using the phrase in reference to a scene in Richard Linklater’s 2014 film BOYHOOD, in which dad Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) plays Wilco’s “Hate it Here” to his son (Ellar Coltrane).

“Hate it Here” comes from Wilco’s 2007 album, Sky Blue Sky, reviews of which have been cited as where the term “dad rock” originated. Wilco founder/front man Jeff Tweedy thought so himself:

“I remember the first time it was said about Wilco. It was particularly unflattering and hurtful. It was a Pitchfork review for Sky Blue Sky. I had never heard that term or seen it and I was like ‘Ouch. Wow. Okay. That’s not very fair.’ I don't know what you can do about somebody calling you something. You can’t win. You can address it, argue with it, bitch and moan about it, or throw a fit every damn chance you have, but ultimately it’s just another stupid thing that’s out there.” (Esquire, 2014)

While that was where Tweedy first heard the term, as Rob Mitchum (the writer of the Pitchfork review of which Tweedy refers) notes that “dad rock” was used before by the UK press to describe the bands Kula Shaker and Oasis. After Mitchum utilized it in his review, the phrase has been common in rock scribe circles to label a bunch of other bands as evidenced in articles like these:

The 9 bands that are now classed as ‘Dad Rock’ from Oasis to Arctic Monkeys (thesun.co.uk) 

The 19 most dad-rock albums of all time (oregonlive.com) 

20 Dad-Rock Albums You Should Learn to Love (Flavorwire) 

Although these pieces cite a plethora of different bands from classic rock warhorses to more recent alternative artists, it doesn’t take much research to see that Wilco is the band that is most associated with “dad rock” in scores of reviews of their output. But the connotation has bled over into other mediums. In a 2013 episode (“The American Dream”) of the Showtime series, Shameless, a character named Lip, played by Jeremy Allen White, puts Wilco down by saying: 

While Lip, who I already thought was a glib douche in previous episodes of the show, doesn’t actually say “dad rock,” it’s obvious that he is echoing what many have said about Wilco over the years. Last year, Mitchum wrote a piece in Esquire in which he atoned for his part in popularizing the phrase:

I Introduced the Term ‘Dad-Rock’ to the World. I Have Regrets. (Esguire, 2019)

Mitchum writes that “watching it evolve from a snarky aside to a signifier of generational style has been truly weird,” and concludes that “maybe just as we all become our dads, we all eventually come to dad-rock.”

But while many have embraced and have defended the term, it still comes across as derisive. Tweedy’s son, Spencer, said so himself in a 2015 interview in the Chicago Tribune:

“I think it’s dismissive and snarky. I try to have a good sense of humor about it. My Dad is graceful and diplomatic, and he refuses to be prickly in public about that term. I, on the other hand, am a little bit farther removed from it. I’m scrappy little dude and I don't have a problem saying it makes me upset sometimes. I don’t like what it insinuates, and frankly, I think it’s bullshit.”

In an example of Spencer’s dad, Jeff, being graceful and diplomatic about “dad rock” is evidenced in a 2011 interview with Men’s Journal in which he says he had a revelation about it:

“When people say dad rock, they actually just mean rock. There are a lot of things today that don’t have anything to do with rock music, so when people hear something that makes them think, ‘This is derived from some sort of continuation of the rock ethos,’ it gets labeled dad rock. And, to me, those people are misguided. I don’t find anything undignified about being a dad or being rocking, you know?”

It’s easy to see why fans take offense at the term as it seems to not only take a potshot at Wilco but at their following.

However, to be fair, a lot of their fans are dads or at least the age of dads. I’m not a dad, but many of the people I know who like Wilco are fathers who cling both to the music of their youth and more recent music that sounds like the music of their youth.

That may sound like I’m defending dad rock, but I’m really not. I don’t approve of such generalizations and strongly agree with Spencer Tweedy that the phrase is “dismissive and snarky.” Whether you embrace or hate the label, it has spread like a virus (too soon?) throughout the rock critic community, and it appears that it’s here to stay.

It was even used in some reviews of Wilco’s most recent album 2019’s Ode to Joy, which to my ears sounds about as far from “dad rock” as you can get. With hope, all of us fans can all dismiss the dismissive label as lazy shorthand.

That especially pertains to the dads who just want to continue to rock further into adulthood and don’t want to be made fun of for it.

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Wilco setlist: Teatro Metropólitan, Mexico City, Mexico 1/25/20

Wilco’s last show for over a month was a special one as it was the final concert for their stage manager/Jeff Tweedy’s guitar tech, Matthew McNamara. McNamara has worked for the band for over a dozen years, and was well known to fans so it was fitting that Tweedy and company give him a proper send off. During the first song of the encore, “Kingpin,” Tweedy informed the audience of McNamara’s leaving, encouraged them to sing “Goodbye,” and changed one of the lines to “How can I say goodbye to you/when I don't know what to do?”

As for the rest of the show, the band returned to the type of setlists they were doing over the first leg of the Ode to Joy tour, but, perhaps inspired by the reception to the three nights at the Sky Blue Sky festival when they played 76 songs with no repeats, they packed the show with a lot of choice crowd pleasers.

It went like this: 

Teatro Metropólitan, Mexico City, Mexico 1/25/20

“Before Us”

“I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”

“War on War”

“Handshake Drugs”

“At Least That’s What You Said”

“One and a Half Stars”

“Can’t Stand it”

“Hummingbird”

“Via Chicago”

“Bull Black Nova”

“Random Name Generator”

“Reservations”

“Impossible Germany”

“Jesus, Etc.”

“Love is Everywhere (Beware)”

“Box Full of Letters”

“Everyone Hides”

“Heavy Metal Drummer”

“I’m the Man Who Loves You”

“Hold Me Anyway”

“Misunderstood”

“Spiders (Kidsmoke)”

“The Late Greats”

Encore:

“Kingpin”

“California Stars”

“Red Eyed and Blue”

“I Got You (At the End of the Century)”

“Outtasite (Outta Mind)”

“A Shot in the Arm”

Wilco’s next show will be at The Sylvee in Madison, Wisconsin on March 9, 2020.

Official show poster at the top of this post created by Jose Garcia / Zoca

Daniel Cook Johnson’s Wilcopedia: A Comprehensive Guide to the Music of America’s Best Band is available for order here.

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The first 2 nights of Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky Fest returned diversity to their sets

Wilco’s new Sky Blue Blue festival at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, which began over the weekend, has so far featured the band’s most diverse setlists since 2017. During the first leg of the Ode to Joy tour, fans complained about how samey each show’s song choices were. The first two nights of Wilco’s new festival appeared to be devised for those fans with rosters that were made up of over 50 different tunes with no repeats.

Check ‘em out:

Hard Rock Hotel, Riviera Maya, Mexico 1/18/20

“Bright Leaves” / “Either Way” / “Handshake Drugs” / “Side with the Seeds” / “One and a Half Stars” / “I Must Be High” / “The Joke Explained” / “I’ll Fight” / “Too Far Apart” / “Someone to Lose” / “Secret of the Sea” / “Hotel Arizona” / “Ashes of American Flags” / “Hummingbird” / “Passenger Side” / “Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again)” / “Someday Soon” / “I’m Always in Love” / “Hold Me Anyway” / “Red Eyed and Blue” / “I Got You (At the End of the Century)” / “Hate it Here” / “Heavy Metal Drummer” / “I’m the Man Who Loves You”

Encore: “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”

Hard Rock Hotel, Riviera Maya, Mexico 1/19/20

“Wilco (The Song)” / “Wishful Thinking” / “Can’t Stand it” / “Before Us” / “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” / “Kamera” / “If I Ever Was a Child” / “That’s Not the Issue” / “Walken” / “White Wooden Cross” / “Pot Kettle Black” / “How to Fight Loneliness” / “Bull Black Nova” / “Random Name Generator” / “Sky Blue Sky” / “Kingpin” / “Box Full of Letters” / “Theologians” / “Jesus Etc.”/ “We Were Lucky” / “Love is Everywhere (Beware)” / “The Late Greats” / “Misunderstood”

Encore: “Monday” / “Hoodoo Voodoo”

Wilco’s next show is on Tuesday night, the 21st. It sure will be interesting to see what they break out then.

Daniel Cook Johnson’s Wilcopedia: A Comprehensive Guide to the Music of America’s Best Band is available for order here.

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Wilco setlist: Winterlude Night 4, Chicago Theatre 12/19/19

Thursday night, Wilco concluded Winterlude, their four night residency at the Chicago Theatre, which was also their last concert of 2019. While the main set won’t surprise any fan that's been following the Ode to Joy tour, the encore should've satisfied both the casual and hardcore. 

After the obvious crowd-pleaser that is “California Stars,” Jeff Tweedy and company broke out “Spiders (Kidsmoke),” in its electric arrangement, for the first time in two years. Then they launched into the Plastic Ono Band’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” aided by a bunch of musician friends that you can see listed below.

Wilco’s farewell to 2019 set went a little something like this:

“Bright Leaves”

“Before Us”      

“I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”

“War on War”

“Handshake Drugs”

“At Least That’s What You Said”

“One and a Half Stars”

“I Might”

“Hummingbird”

“Via Chicago”

“Bull Black Nova”

“Random Name Generator”

“Reservations”

“Impossible Germany”

“Jesus, Etc.”

“We Were Lucky”

“Love is Everywhere (Beware)”

“Box Full of Letters”

“Everyone Hides”

“Dawned on Me”

“Monday”

“Outtasite (Outta Mind)”

“I’m the Man Who Loves You”

“Hold Me Anyway”

“Misunderstood”

Encore:

“California Stars” (w/James Elkington on electric guitar)

“Spiders (Kidsmoke)”

“Happy Xmas (War is Over)” * (w/Sharon Van Etten, Sylvan Esso'sAmelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, Ohmme's Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, and Casey Gomez Walker, Spencer Tweedy and Liam Kazar)

* John Lennon/Yoko Ono

Official show poster at the top of this post created by Zoca/Jose Garcia

Daniel Cook Johnson’s Wilcopedia: A Comprehensive Guide to the Music of America’s Best Band is available for order here.

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Wilco setlist: Winterlude, Chicago Theatre 12/15/19

Last night, Wilco returned from a three-week break, to kick off Winterlude, a four-show residency at the Chicago Theatre in their hometown of Chicago. Fans wishing they would mix up their Ode to Joy-heavy setlist a bit may have been disappointed, but the encore in which they were joined by opener Robyn Hitchcock for covers of songs by the Beatles and the Soft Boys (Hitchcock’s former band) surely made up for it. Here's a video of their cover of the Soft Boys’ “I Wanna Destroy You”:

Here’s what Jeff Tweedy and company brought to the table for Winterlude night #1:

“Bright Leaves”
“Before Us”
“I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”
“War on War”
“One and a Half Stars”
“Handshake Drugs”
“Side With the Seeds”
“Hummingbird”
“White Wooden Cross”
“Via Chicago”
“Bull Black Nova”
“Random Name Generator”
“Reservations”
“Impossible Germany”
“Jesus, Etc.”
“We Were Lucky”
“Love Is Everywhere (Beware)”
“Box Full of Letters”
“Everyone Hides”
“Theologians”
“I’m The Man Who Loves You”
“Hold Me Anyway”
“Misunderstood”

Encore:

“I’m Always in Love”
“California Stars”
“The Late Greats”
“Tomorrow Never Knows” (w/Robyn Hitchcock) *
“I Wanna Destroy You” (w/Robyn Hitchcock) **

*Lennon/McCartney (The Beatles)

*Robyn Hitchcock (The Soft Boys)

Stay tuned as Winterlude continues.

Daniel Cook Johnson’s Wilcopedia: A Comprehensive Guide to the Music of America’s Best Band is available for order here.

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