Philzone.org Discussion Board: Archive 2004: Non-PF/Dead Show Reviews Archive 2004: Wilco - Radio City Music Hall 10-6-04

Wilco brought their very special brand of Rock and Roll to New York City this week with two shows at Radio City. They may have been sold out, but extra tickets were everywhere. You could have bought a great seat for $5 before the show.

Supporting their latest disc "A Ghost Is Born", they played a generous set of 16 songs with eight additional songs in the encore set.

This is not your father's Wilco, half of the original band is gone. Thier sound was augmented on this tour by Nels Cline, the much traveled alternative guitar hero. No matter how much people miss the original line-up, it's really Jeff Tweedy's show and he was in good form last night. Looking svelte and healthy after a stint in rehab, he maintained good composure throughout the night and seemed to be enjoying himself.

Absolutely love Radio City but the venue is possibly just on the big side for Wilco. Jef Tweedy even made a joke about "playing the garden" next time.

They tried hard to rock out on the set closer "Spiders" but clearly there are other bands that can rock out harder and better but I do credit them for trying. Wilco's strength in my opinion are the quieter numbers like "She's A Jar". Those songs came off very well. Less successful for me were the songs where they added some weird background noises, squeaks, and buzzes. Fine on record, Kind of contrived in a live setting in my opinion. The major exception to this was "Via Chicago". The quiet touch of this song completely melted into a bomb of noise. Jarring but effective.

Overall, a well paced, well played show. They didn't bring out any rarities (no "Sunken Treasure" or "Bob Dylan's 49th Beard" -- two they have played on this tour) although they did play "Misunderstood" and "Casino Queen" in the second encore, a couple of songs from earlier albums that they've only played once so far on this tour.

Here's the set list (thanks, wilcobase.com):

Wilco 10-6-04
1. At Least That's What You Said
2. Muzzle Of Bees
3. Hummingbird
4. Company In My Back
5. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
6. War On War
7. A Shot In The Arm
8. Hell Is Chrome
9. Handshake Drugs
10. She's A Jar
11. Jesus, Etc.
12. I'm Always In Love
13. I'm The Man Who Loves You
14. Theologians
15. Poor Places
16. Spiders (Kidsmoke)

Encore 1:
17. A Magazine Called Sunset
18. Via Chicago
19. The Late Greats
20. I'm A Wheel

Encore 2:
21. Misunderstood
22. California Stars
23. Casino Queen
24. Be Not So Fearful

Great review. I saw them last week up in Burlington, and they put on a great show, with what looks like a similar setlist to the RCMH show. The place was kinda empty, tho. They played at the Memorial Auditorium, which holds upwards of 3,000 people, and it was only half-filled, with the upstairs balcony closed. The last time they played B-town, they were at the Flynn (capacity around 1200 or so), and I believe that it was sold out. The time before that was at the (now-closed-but-soon-to-be-relocated) Higher Ground, which holds a few hundred tops, and it was PACKED. I prefer my Tweedy in a hot, sweaty, packed club.

I agree with your assessment about Tweedy. He looked much better having been thru rehab.

Got the same vibe from my friend who went to the atlanta show. I have listened to a few of their shows from this tour and it doesn't seem like they are pushing many boundaries in the live format.

I've got tix for the oakland show so I'll throw in my two cents then.

What was tweedy in rehab for?