Show was amazing last night...highlights for me were the guitar solos in "Spiders" and "Handshake Drugs"...great energy in the crowd too.

Tweedy was absolutely hilarious while talking to the crowd between songs...really added a nice element to the night and made me wonder why some artists don't take a few seconds to talk to the crowd more. He cracked a few good jokes and it made a world of a difference.

This band is still severely underrated. Tweedy is one of the best singer/songwriters of our time.

great show. Sound up front was great. Besides a very few mix issues with Jeffs vocal, it was nearly perfect. The instrumental mix was really really clean. I could see how being in the back of the floor or anywhere up in the balconies would suck from an sound/energy standpoint, but up in front things sounded and felt great.

Wish i was going tonight...

show was amazing, it's almost not even worth going to see other bands out there when you see a band that great peform. Nels definitely added some new flavor at the end of Handshake Drugs and the breakdown at the end of Walken was amazing. i felt like tweedy was actually sort of mellow on his jokes/talking between songs although he was still really funny. hoping for some more banter tonight. and the SKY BLUE SKY songs were not boring and really came alive last night just like the A GHOST IS BORN songs come alive more in the live setting. plenty of YHF and 3 from SUMMERTEETH kept the crowd really happy and into the show the whole night.

View from the side balcony sections was great actually. "I'm Always in Love" felt so damn good.

fantastic show last night; the guys' energy level was ten times higher that it was at the kinda snoozy radio city performance we caught in october of '04. back then they stuck mostly to the new stuff from "a ghost is born" - but this set was all over the place, in a very good way. the songs from "sky blue sky" sound much better live than they do on the album, i must say; i'll have to give the CD more attention.

i will say that i died a little inside when i saw wilco onesies for sale in the lobby. i died a little more when i saw that the dude next to me (who was wasted before low took the stage) had purchased one. don't tell me you've bred, sir!

dude...that new album simply is worthless. half of the last album was worthless. this band needs jay bennett back.

i love nels cline...for years in fact but he just doesnt fit into wilco. jeff has an ego problem and needs someone to tell him that his shit stinks. glenn may be an amazing drummer but if you dont give him appropriate material to work with, he sounds useless.

how ass backwards is the security at Hammerstein? I had an overzealous security guard at the door throw away my pack of gum & cough drops because he considered it “outside food” (seriously, wtf!!??!). I actually had to go rooting in the trash to get them back. Meanwhile, once inside the venue they weren’t even bothering to check ids for drinking- they were literally handing out wristbands to anyone who waved a wrist at them; and (as always) the entire place reeked of Otto's jacket as soon as the band came out on stage...

so just to recap Hammerstein's policy:
underage drinking and pot smoking? no problem. Sucking a cough drop? Take it outside, buddy.

(Still a great show though...)

what is underage pot smoking?

yes, the sound was really really good. i hadn't been at hammerstein in over 2 years since new order, and forgot it doesn't suck as much as roseland for that size of a venue.

the band was tight, jeff's voice sounded great. i wished they played more off of SBS because as much as i love YFH, i have heard those songs more than enough...yeah, yeah, complain complain.

i like low a lot, particularly on my ipod, but the constant din of the crowd did them a disservice. they were swallowed up by the venue.

hoping wilco'll hit the other SBS songs tonight at warsaw.

follow-up question:

if you need to go rooting through the trash for gum and cough drops, should you really be spending your money on Wilco tickets?

Matt S: What kind of insanely expensive cough drops and gum did you bring that you were so cheap (or broke) that you actually started rooting through trash to get them back after the show??

There's a Duane Reade about a block from the venue, go splurge the 3 dollars and just buy some more and don't bring them next time.

"This band is still severely underrated."

How are they underrated? They get tons of praise. Sure, they have a few haters, but overall they are highly rated. Did you mean to use another word?

show was fucking awesome. period

This show was great. I was in the mezz though so that kind of sucked from a sound perspective; I mean it just didn't have the same kind of impact. Plus I'm a little jaded from seeing them at small venues like the Bowery.

Wow, the "new" guitarist is nutty! Nice energy though and it's good to see a band change over time. Regardless of whether you liked it better before or not; change is good... I'm glad Tweedy is still soloing though; I kind of prefer the dirty bang and clang methodology to the speedy jazz guitar approach.

show was amazing. i, too, was disappointed by the crowd banter during low's performance. has anyone ever been to a show where the opening band received respect? this isn't a rhetorical question. other than the two people chirping away behind me on the mezzanine for all of low and most of wilco, the crowd was great and very into it. to those two chicks behind me, if you're reading this which i doubt, STAY HOME next time.

When does Low come on? What was the start time for Wilco? Thanks in advance, I know this is the obligatory silly request but it helps those going tonight.

i agree that people bullshitting during Low was awful....not that it was a 'double bill' where people were there for both bands...it was a Wilco show/crowd all the way....although they sounded great through the talking..

quoting anon: show was amazing, it's almost not even worth going to see other bands out there when you see a band that great perform.

I second that, with an *almost* as well... If I were able to follow them around on tour, that would eliminate the need to see other bands. :) As it is, I have to have something to go see in-between the 6-9 mos. of non-Wilco rocking.

I doubt I'll ever see them in NYC, though. At least not at a place that considers cough drops and gum outside "food and drink." WTF?

cheers,
b.s.

why is nels in this band?

seriously, dude needs shoulder-length, bleached hair, spandex and a flying v to play...and another band. his proficency and his willingness to display it, too often, sucked the soul out of a lot of the set last night. it's like watching whitney sing "i will always love you" - everyone knows you can sing, so why do you have to prove it?

to anonymous at 12:31, not everyone stands on stage with their big ego thinking about how they are coming across to the audience. that's his performance style. close your eyes next time.

"i agree that people bullshitting during Low was awful...."

I think the problem is that Low was just awful. God, what a boring band to have before Wilco. That was a mismatch if I ever saw one. I would assume that Low can be fine while listening to the recordings, but seriously... What a boring band to watch and listen to live. Just standing there, hitting the same beat for every song, looking with a dead stare over the crowd... Gee, I wonder why people who were there for a rock show talked the entire time? Really a big mystery to me.

i really enjoyed the show, but they've been playing essentially the same set of tunes (in very similar orders) at nearly every show on this tour. being able to predict the songs is no fun and makes it seem like that the band is just going through the motions. they have so many songs, i wish they would change it up. how about some being there or mermaid avenue?

set list anyone?

Wilco was fucking awesome, Low made me want to take a nap. What a boring, boring band.

if you look at the set lists from the spring tour this year, in a span of 5 days, you'll see they played 37 different songs. including UT and AM.
http://wilcobase.com/songs_played.php?artist_key=2&start_year=2007&start_month=4&start_day=16&end_year=2007&end_month=4&end_day=22&tour_key=57

why is everyone hating on nels? I think he's pretty entertaining to watch. and from a guitar players stand point, hes pretty amazing and brings energy to the songs.

All this jay bennent talk... just because you think your hot shit cause you liked wilco when A.M. came out. He aint coming back. Wilco will still be one of the best bands ever...deal with it.

and before you tell me how stupid I am... I know its jay bennett not bennent.

You are my face
Side with seeds
Shot in the arm
IATTBYH
Kamera
Handshake drugs
Shake it off
Hummingbird
Via Chicago
Jesus etc
Hate it here
Walken
I'm the man who loves you
Poor places
Spiders

Impossible Germany
Sky Blue Sky
California Stars
War on war

Heavy Metal Drummer
Always in love
I'm a wheel

ps-
there's a forum called www.viachicago.org
they have TONS of info.

In a venue that generally sounds like ass, Wilco's crew actually did a superb job with the house sound--clearly the best I've ever heard in the Hammerstein.

Follow bv's link above for my recording, setlist, and review.

Security was indeed bizarre. The bug-eyed new guy was so-hyper aggressive, that when I called for the head of security (at first they wouldn't let me in with my equipment), they took the guy aside and told him to calm down. He was also thisclose to throwing my asthma inhaler in the trash, which is basically inviting a lawsuit.

Nels Cline is a great addition to the band.

ps-
there's a forum called www.viachicago.org
they have TONS of info.

Sure does:
8-845 Low
905~11 Wilco

Thanks!

to hmmm 12:38:

you missed my point completely: nels in wilco is like having joe satriani play in crazy horse. fine if you prefer prowess to grit, but it just doesn't bode well in the overall picture.

wilco could use a little more grit.

well set list info hasn't been updated since mid-june, but during the period june 13 - june 17, they played 26 different songs. over that period they averaged 19 songs per show. so they haven't been doing different stuff recently. i'm not really sure why this is, because when i've seen them back-to-back in the past the shows have been pretty different from each other.

Hey 1:02/1:04, I won't tell how stupid you are since you're just expressing your opinion, but I will tell you that Jay Bennett didn't join the band until Being There and thus didn't play on A.M. :-)

the show was great, wilco was great. as someone who's been seeing them live for 8 or 9 years, i must say that it seems their fan base is getting younger (and more annoying). there was a dude next to us who bragged about being 16, and was literally falling-down drunk... he ricocheted off those around him for the majority of wilco's set, culminating his little performance by WHIPPING IT OUT AND PEEING ON A STRANGER. i kid you not. dude, if you're reading this... i wish someone had punched you in the face. the poor girl was an amazing sport about it, and managed to not let it ruin her show, but come ON...

otherwise, great show. macrame owl, slightly creepy; band, brilliant.

Hoobastank: I didn't go searching in the trash for the cough drops after the show. I went to get them right after he threw them in (so it wasn't like I had my arms deep in trash, sorry if my wording wasn't clear)...I had a friggin sore throat and I didn't think it was necessary to have to 'sneak' a pack of cough drops thru security. It has nothing to do with how cheap a bastard you may think I am (FYI- the gum was gold-plated and the cough drops were diamond-encrusted); it has everything to do with a security guard who clearly was new to the job, didn't know what the fuck he was doing, AND on some weird-ass power trip.

Always good to read the comments from the hardcore fans - sometimes they nail it, sometimes they're blind.
http://forums.viachicago.org/index.php?showtopic=29541

'i am trying to break your heart' was on ifc the other night. made me so sad, as that was a great band making great music.

this band and these songs are just lame.

if someone whipped it out and pissed anywhere near me, they would be leaving the show in an ambulance.

I'm all for peace and love but handle your shit.

http://yourhereblog.mtv.com/2007/06/26/same-ol-wilco-at-new-yorks-hammerstein/#comments

this guy's sentiments are right on. same old shit from wilco last night. why can't they switch things up at all?

macreme is creepy

but wilco is not. and nels was great. thought his voice was a great addition to the band. but wassup w/ the windmills?

hey tweedy lost some weight! good for him! but hell, get a new jacket - anybody got his address?
I can send him a GAP gift card

Low is the WORST band I ever had to sit through, we wanted to slit our wrists-
And to the peeps saying they don't like Wilco's new album, It's their BEST

wilco, unfortunately, fucked themselves with a record as good as YHF. they'll never top it and thus, they'll never be as interesting as they were 3 to 4 years ago.

Ryan Adams was magnificient tonight. The warsaw wilco kids missed something great.

Wilco were so amazing tonight! They played for 2 1/2 hours. Opened with Sunken Treasure, closed with Hoodoo Voodoo. They played a bunch of songs off Ghost is Born. Just incredible.

all you low hating hedonist are sad.

"and nels was great. thought his voice was a great addition to the band. but wassup w/ the windmills?"

that would be pat sansone on keys/guitar/backup vocals doing windmills. he's also in the autumn defense with john (bassist/backup vocals).
nels doesn't sing in wilco nor on his nels cline singers albums.