A brief return for the WIS six-song format in honour of the audience T-shirts spotted at Wilco’s only UK date at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday.
Well I did promise you that, after the long, detailed affairs of the last two weeks’ posts, this week would be a quick and dirty one due to me being so busy in the last seven days. I’m not quite sure if I have delivered on that!
One of the things I was busy doing was attending my first ever gig in the Royal Albert Hall in that there big London Town last Sunday evening. And I’ll not have to get the smelling salts out when I tell you that I travelled the four hundred miles to see the only UK date of a short European tour by Wilco. I could have taken the easy route and scribbled some notes about the gig and playlisted a tune from the setlist but I think even I’m aware that the Chicago band gets more than their fair share of airtime on this blog. So, I’ve gone for an alternative way to mark the event on here.
Firstly a few words on the venue. In short, amazing. Obviously, it’s more ornate than the other round London venue in Chalk Farm Road that I visited for the first time recently, but both are testaments to Victorian engineering. And, although over 150 years old, nothing quite prepares you for the… erm.. majestic space that opens up as you enter the auditorium. We were up in the cheap(ish) seats in the Rausing Circle, just under the iconic arched upper gallery looking straight towards the stage. Yeah, you are a bit away from the band but the acoustics were terrific – every note (and there were many of them) was as clear as a bell. The photos below were ‘zoomed out’ to get the full effect of the setting, particularly the second one – you are ‘closer’ than this in practice.
I’m not going to do my normal gig review because Peter Watts did an excellent job of that in Uncut – the link below even gives you the set-list! He opens by describing the performance as “triumphant”, which is right on the money – certainly, the band seemed thrilled to be making their RAH debut. A bit like me. I will add some personal observations, though. Firstly, it was nice to see the Sky Blue Sky LP get a couple of outings other than Impossible Germany (namely Either Way and Walken in the encore). And sequencing Box Full Of Letters from the band’s 1995 debut album with Annihilation from 2024’s Hot Sun Cool Shroud EP was a neat encapsulation of Jeff Tweedy’s songwriting longevity. My top three were all avian-related. Joint runners up were Pat Sansome’s guitar work on Bird Without A Tail and the “His goal in life was to be an echo” opening line of the jaunty Hummingbird. But the winner, by a beak, was the gentle build of the great One Wing to its fantastic controlled crescendo.
While we were enjoying our pre-gig drinks in one of the circle bars looking out onto the sun-dappled Prince Albert Memorial across the road in Kensington Gardens, I was struck by the number of band t-shirts that were being sported by the audience. An audience that Lynn had to admit was more age and gender diverse than her expected grouping of ageing balding men. While I was..erm… resplendent in an understated plain yellow T, some people had put a bit of thought into their choices. So the idea for a quick six-song playlist jumped into my mind and I began noting the bands down. Excluding Wilco themselves (there were quite a few new T-shirts hot off the mech stall), in a short period I noted 11 different acts emblazoned on the chests of the audience from which I’ve selected the following for the playlist.
The Replacements – Color Me Impressed
A T-shirt worn by someone aware of Jeff Tweedy’s love of the disorderly garage punk sound of Paul Westerberg’s cult Minneapolis band. Wilco performed this track with the band’s Tommy Stinson at their Solid Sound Festival in 2013. Whistling intro klaxon.
Kris Kristofferson – Sunday Morning Comin’ Down
The inspiration for this shirt was probably Kristofferson’s role in the outlaw country style that inspired the pre-Wilco alt-country sound of Uncle Tupelo, where Jeff Tweedy met Wilco bassist John Stirrat. Not a hit for the writer, but others’ versions paid his bills.
Calexico – Black Heart
There are some style overlaps between the two bands but was the T-shirt wearer aware of Calexico joining Wilco on stage in 2013 to add horns to their California Stars encore? Niche! As is the terrific Black Heart from Calexico’s 2003 album Feast of Wire.
The National – Fake Empire
The National were prominent supporters of Barack Obama’s presidential runs, lending the brilliant polyrhythms and horns of this, their breakthrough song, to a campaign video. And Wilco are prominent supporters of the Rock The Vote campaign. That’s all I got!
Misty In Roots – Mankind
OK – I’ve got absolutely nothing to connect this to Wilco other than I had never seen this LP cover on a T-shirt until last Sunday night. I’ve loved the record ever since I got it as a 21st birthday present from a school pal, as advised by John Peel.
Hüsker Dü – Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely
Back to The Replacements as they and Hüsker Dü were at the forefront of the early 80s Minneapolis garage punk scene, neither getting their due. This more polished 1986 single was as close as Hüsker Dü got to a hit record, reaching No96 in the UK.
For completeness, I should record the other T-shirts I spotted in my indeterminate sample of the audience were Johnny Cash, The Delines, The Clash, Fontaines DC and The Rolling Stones. Add Wilco and you have another six-song playlist!
Briefly back to that Uncut Wilco review above – here is that audience sing-along complete with Jeff Tweedy’s encouragement to overcome your shyness and “Participate!” Warning: probably only for the real Wilco nerds out there…
Last Word
Well that was fun, wasn’t it. Not any shorter, but fun. And a six-song playlist with a significantly limited word count on each track. Who knows, maybe that could catch on?
The Master Playlist takes a leap forward to a whopping 675 songs – really must try and tidy that up into smaller chunks…
AR
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