photos by Kurt Christensen

Wilco has wrapped up their most recent run of North American shows in support of Wilco (The Album). One of the final performances took place July 18th at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, NY. Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band opened the show. Previously on that tour, Wilco played Coney Island with Yo La Tengo on July 13th. Feist and Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear joined Wilco on stage during that show (and Feist on Letterman that same week). No special guests in Dutchess County.

Coming up, Wilco has mostly European dates, with a short set of US shows in October. Those dates are below. Guitarist Nels Cline will also be making a series of non-Wilco appearances, mostly in NYC, starting with a July 30th show at the Stone.

Conor Oberst and Co. play the last show on their current tour at San Francisco's Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival on August 29th. Oberst goes on tour with the Monsters of Folk this fall (including two NYC shows in November).

All photos and set lists below...

Continue reading "Wilco & Conor Oberst @ Dutchess Stadium, NY - pics, setlist"

UPDATE: pictures from Wilco's show in Coney Island are POSTED.

Wilco @ Baltimore Virgin Fest '08 (more by Bao Nguyen)

Wilco will play Brooklyn's Keyspan Park tonight (June 13th) with Yo La Tengo. Tickets are sold out (no tickets at the door even), but there are still tickets available to Wilco's July 18th show at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, NY (about an hour and a half north of NYC). That show pairs the band with opener Conor Oberst & the Magic Family Band (who played NYC on July 4th with Jenny Lewis). Oberst recently opened other shows for Wilco, including Friday, July 10th in Wilmington, Delaware.

In Friday's opener, "Wilco (the song)," a generous-spirited rocker, the raspy-voiced Tweedy volunteered his accomplished band as "a sonic shoulder to cry on," and promised the intergenerational crowd, "Wilco will love ya, baby."

That affection was expressed in a career-spanning set that reached back as far as 1994's underrated A.M. for the bittersweet "Box Full of Letters." But rather than a shoulder to cry on, Wilco's songs typically offered a chance to bond over shared anxieties.

Tweedy is not always the most articulate lyricist; I'm not quite sure what it means to be "cold as gasoline," as he sings on the new disc's "Solitaire." But his band, whose standout star is avant guitarist Nels Cline, is expert at expressing its leader's discomfort in songs such as "Muzzle of Bees."

Even a song that declares "I'm Always in Love" finds reason to worry. The only carefree tune after the opener was the closer, the deliriously happy "Hoodoo Voodoo," whose lyrics were not written by Tweedy but by Woody Guthrie... [Philadelphia Inquirer]

All those Ballpark gigs are part of Wilco's summer tour in support of the now-out Wilco (The Album). In August, they'll be touring behind the record in Europe.

Tuesday night, July 14th, Wilco will perform "You and I" from Wilco (the album) on The Late Show with David Letterman with special guest vocalist Feist. Feist also recently played guest with Grizzly Bear (who she has also played on TV with), and joined her old band Broken Social Scene on stage in Toronto.

All the above-mentioned videos, and tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Wilco - w/ Yo La Tengo in Coney Island tonight, on Letterman w/ Feist Tuesday, Dutchess County on 7/18"