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Wilco’s Setlist:

1 One Sunday Morning
2 Poor Places
3 Art Of Almost
4 I Might
5 I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
6 One Wing
7 Rising Red Lung
8 Impossible Germany
9 Born Alone
10 Laminated Cat (Loose Fur cover)
11 Pot Kettle Black
12 She’s A Jar
13 Misunderstood
14 California Stars
15 Box Full Of Letters
16 Standing O
17 A Magazine Called Sunset
18 Nothing’severgonnastandinmyway(again)
19 Dawned On Me
Encore:
20 Whole Love
21 Heavy Metal Drummer
22 I’m the Man Who Loves You
23 Casino Queen
24 Hoodoo Voodoo

George Harrison – Brainwashed
Bob Dylan – Modern Times
Beck – Sea Change
Dramarama – Everybody Dies
The Stooges – The Weirdness
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Jorma Kaukonen – Blue Country Heart
The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House
Neil Young – Prairie Wind
Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

-Mark Englert

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Jon Brion – Meaningless

RTX – Transmanicon

Wilco – Sky Blue Sky

Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine

Sparklehorse -  It’s a Wonderful Life

Jim O’Rourke - Insignificance

Wilco -  A Ghost Is Born

Elliot Smith -  Figure 8

Wilco -  Wilco

-Bobb Bruno

Download: Wilco “(The Song)”

(off (The Album) out now on Nonesuch Records)

I am truly saddened to learn of the death of Sky Saxon. As a boy growing up in Los Angeles, Sky Saxon was my first rock idol of sorts. The Seeds’ music was important to me, sure, but Sky’s amazing charisma—as he appeared rather ubiquitously on TV shows like “Boss City” and “The Groovy Show” around 1966—was galvanizing. I would stare in disbelief as he—clad in shiny satin Nehru shirts bedazzled with some gaudy brooch—would gyrate around lasciviously, holding the microphone in every cool way imaginable. He seemed from another planet. I thought he was amazing.

Years later, in the late ’70s, Sky became known as “Sunlight,” and manifested a few eccentric and quite acid-soaked (or so they sounded) recordings that led credence to the rampant stories of his decaying mind and artistry. He came into the record store I worked at for years and—with his face covered in a long mane of hair, massive beard, and shades—went silently through the stacks with wraith-like fingers. I was dismayed and a bit freaked out by this creature—the former beautiful god of rock ‘n’ roll otherness.

But only a few years ago as my friend and colleague Carla Bozulich and I were going into our local Trader Joe’s, we ran into a bass player friend of mine named Rick, who had in tow a gray-haired, aging hippie type of man with an unavoidably compelling face and style. Carla, not normally interested in old hippies, immediately whispered to me, “Who’s THAT?!” Of course, you know it was Sky Saxon. And Rick was playing in the new version of the Seeds, recording just down the street from Carla’s house! Long story short, I went and hung out a bit, ended up recording a song about a corrupt judge on the then-upcoming Seeds record. (Sorry that the titles escape me today.) Sky was really quite deferential to me. Plus he seemed to be in quite good shape. He gave me a record, recently issued, of some of his pre-Seeds 1950s doo-wop-ish rock songs. How old IS this guy? I wondered.

We ended up doing a duo gig of almost totally improvised music one night at Zen Sushi. I was ecstatic. I suggested we call ourselves the Flower Lady & Her Assistant, but Sky immediately countered with the Flower God Men and Their Assistants. I had gear problems on the gig, and Sky had a bit too much sake before we played, but it was amazing to me. There were barely 30 people there anyway! I started plotting ways to do some more improvising with him. He was going off in a very Beat-style manner. I thought of collaborations with my trio, The Singers, but then Sky went off to more European touring, headed back to Shasta. Rick moved to New York…

I won’t ever be able to do those things with Sky. I feel lucky to have ever even seen him on TV, yet alone to have played some wild, extemporaneous psychedelia with him. They say Mick Jagger copped tons of his moves and style, and I believe it. But there was so much more to this man that remains to be revealed.

- Nels Cline
Glendale, CA
6/25/09

Wilco by Ben Hoste

At one point during Wilco’s rousing set at Pomona’s recently renovated Fox Theater, Jeff Tweedy stepped away from the mic and cupped his ear to elicit the crowd to take a verse during Yankee Hotel Foxtrot favorite “Jesus Etc.”  It was not the only instance of a massive crowd singalong during the band’s one-and-half-hour set.  If any alt-country-leaning band could ever be legitimately described as “arena-ready,” Wilco certainly made a case for itself on Saturday evening.

Walking on stage to the ubiquitous theme to “The Price is Right,” perhaps as an ironic nod to the grandeur afforded to a band that trades mostly in earnest songcraft, the six-piece got the show underway by tearing into “Wilco (The Song),” the opening track of their latest record.  The band interspersed selections from Wilco (The Album) between a variety of songs from their vast catalog, a wise move presumably designed to keep audience members not familiar with the only recently-released material engaged throughout the entire set.  Crowd pleasers such as “I’m the Man Who Loves You,” “You Are My Face,” and “Can’t Stand It” kept the energized crowd ecstatically swaying about.  “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” sounded more anthemic than anyone could possibly imagine from simply listening to the recording, as the crowd’s singing nearly drowned out Tweedy’s passionate yelp.  A Ghost is Born standout “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” was performed during the first encore, showcasing the sextet’s musical virtuosity and penchant for spacey yet urgent psych-jams.

The band was in very fine shape instrumentally, as each musician on stage made crucial contributions to the unified sonic assault.  Despite the numerous lineup changes throughout their history, they somehow manage to retain the spirit of the older material while integrating new musical personalities into their sound.  Wilco’s muscular guitar attack was led by lanky David Lynch doppelganger Nels Cline, who alternately churned out sweet, melodic leads and wrenching, feedback-laden drones from his full rack of guitars.  Drummer Glenn Kotche hammered out precise syncopations and steady rock beats augmented by bassist John Stirratt’s bouncy low end accents.  Keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone (whose birthday was marked by a crowd singalong of “Happy Birthday,” naturally) anchored the textural aspects and vocal harmonies of the performance.  Jeff Tweedy’s vocals were pitch perfect, and his stage presence and effortless charm easily commanded the attention of the crowd.  With its fiery rockers and heartfelt ballads, Wilco proved themselves a genuinely versatile outfit whose roars were just as poignant as their whispers.

—Amorn Bholsangngam

Wilco killed it on Saturday at the recently renovated Fox Theatre in Pomona playing for over two hours. You can read LA Record’s live review here.

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Cold War Kids did their first-ever interview with L.A. RECORD—over burritos at night at Brite Spot—and we always knew they’d end up doing something pretty great because they showed up to the photo shoot in full perfect costume. Today they release an interactive version of their video for “I’ve Seen Enough,” made with Wilco doc director Sam Jones. Each band member was filmed playing four different tracks—guitarist Jonnie Russell plays vibrophone, guitar, piano and organ, for example—and once the video loads, you can switch each member between their four different tracks or mute them completely, all in real time. This is one step closer to making every song on MTV sound like Lee Perry mixed it. Try it yourself here and read on for more info:

New York, NY – May 20, 2009 – MTVMusic.com is the exclusive home for the debut of the Cold War Kids’ hyper-interactive new video, “I’ve Seen Enough,”. The video, directed by Tool of North America’s Sam Jones, (Wilco’s I Am Trying to Break Your Heart), was designed specifically to be presented in parallel parts online and then remixed by fans, even mid-play – and is being released solely for the Web.

Music fans can visit coldwarkids.mtvmusic.com to experience the video, whose core feature is the four distinctly different versions of the song played by the band’s four members. Each member was filmed on a darkly lit stage, playing their parts on vibraphone, guitar, bass, keyboard, standup bass, and more. These versions were recorded so the parts can be mixed together or played on their own.

Every change the fan makes happens in real time, including every stop, start, or mid-stream instrument change. Without skipping a beat, a fan can silence everything but the vocals and bring in the drums, or start with the full band, pull the keyboard and add the xylophone, or sweep away the standup bass at the last minute and cue the bass guitar for the song’s closing notes. The remix possibilities are endless. The video is experienced in a more “full-screen” environment, truly allowing the viewer controlling the action from “inside” the studio, and it will be seamlessly weaved into the look and feel of the MTVMusic.com fabric.

“The idea was that fans would be able to create an interesting new variation of the track every time, a new listening experience,” says director Sam Jones, of Tool. “Plus, it’s just fun to play with – there are so many ways to mix the instruments and vocals, and so many chances to get creative.”