Wilco at the Fillmore

"You don't seem like a Tuesday night crowd," Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy remarked at their April 29th show at the Fillmore in Miami Beach.  The audience was loud.  Hoots, whistles, requests for various songs.  Very responsive.  Easily the most energetic of the three I've been in to see this band.  Not too obnoxious, though.  What an amazing few hours.

Opening was Waxahatchee, named after a river in Alabama, from which Kathryn Crutchfield and her band hail.  Their style can be described as folky rock, a nice pairing with our boys from Chicago.  Their set was well received.  Tweedy later ridiculed the guy ("That was dumb!") who yelled out during their performance, requesting "California Stars".  That's a Wilco tune......

....And the final encore.  I think the audience would've rioted otherwise.  Other fan favorites like "Jesus, Etc.", "I'm the Man Who Loves You",  "Handshake Drugs", and "Heavy Metal Drummer" alternated with newer material.    A few songs from their album Cruel Country, even more timely now than during their release in 2022, were included. "Annihilation" is from their latest, an EP called Hot Sun Cool Shroud.  I'll admit it was one of few songs I sat down for (this was a mostly SRO concert) but I'm sure it will be a grower. I was really pleased to hear the title track from Whole Love, an underrated album.

The entire band was tighter than ever.  Especially Glenn Kotche on drums.  During "Via Chicago", he went quite crazy, an amusing counterpoint to the song's gentleness.  And I can't forget the great Nels Cline on guitar.  His solo at the close of "Impossible Germany"? Unbelievable.

Tweedy was loose and really seemed to enjoy himself.  After the first tune ("Wishful Thinking") he exclaimed "We have a lot of songs to play, so there will be minimal chit chat." But...he did crack a few jokes, stating that he had spent time in the ocean the day before, his hair smelling like "a mermaid's toilet".  He also had fun with Kotche, "He told me I did a good job." Then joked that the drummer never said as much to Cline.  Some malcontent in my row yelled out, "I thought there wasn't going to be any banter!" Sheesh.  Hope he enjoyed the show as I much as I did.