Wilco @ Capital Credit Union Park [Green Bay, WI] - 09/17/21
Jeff Tweedy performing their rescheduled show with WIlco at Capital Credit Union Park in Green Bay, WI (Photo ©2021 Kevin Hill)
It’s been a long time – over 2 years to be exact – but on Friday night it was finally time to test the waters at a “big” show in this pandemic hellscape that we’ve all grown to love are doing our best to get through. And for me, if there was going to be a band to give it a go with, it was going to be Wilco.
The show at Capital Credit Union Park with Duluth’s Trampled by Turtles opening was supposed to happen last year – we were supposed to hang with our long-time Wilco show buddies – but our collective national immune response had other plans. For everything. At the beginning of the year the rescheduled show was announced. And even though skepticism was high as to if it would actually happen, it was a dim beacon of hope that we may get back to normal eventually. As recently as a week before the show it was still looking iffy but given the protocols that bands have put in place and assumptions about fan behavior, the trigger was pulled and suddenly the prospect of seeing live music – seeing WILCO – felt exciting again. Life affirming.
Why all the background on this? Go on and get to the recap, you say? Because it’s important to note that literally zero covid protocols were in place for this show at Capital Credit Union Park:
No vax check. No masks. Nothing. If that scares or bothers you, then good. It means you’re at least mildly concerned about people other than yourself. You’re invested in the community.
So that happened.
But if you can put that in the back of your mind, let’s talk about the ecstatic “rebirth” of Wilco.
The current lineup of the band as it exists today has been in place for almost 15 years at this point. Their “debut” of Sky Blue Sky – which is probably their best album (sorry YHF stans) – can be divisive among fans. And that’s nothing to say of the albums that followed. Regardless of what ended up on record though, this band has continued to be one of the best in the business. And one thing they have ALWAYS been great at is playing Wilco songs. The side projects of guitarist Nels Cline (2016’s Lovers especially) or John Stirrat (bass) and Pat Sansome’s (guitar/keys) bely an even weirder and richer undercurrent to what lands on a Wilco record, but when they come together, they are singular in their vision. And there’s really nothing quite like them in rock n’ roll.
And now they’re just having fun.
The Wilco catalog at this point has become so vast, varied, and (mostly) satisfying that shows could just be a paint-by-numbers affair. Instead, the experience is joyful and executes the amazing trick of shifting our collective Wilco nostalgia to a glowing remembrance of things yet to come. Some songs in their catalog will never change – “Shot In The Arm”, “Impossible Germany”, “California Stars” – but just when you get comfortable along comes a psychedelic, horror-show version of “Heavy Metal Drummer” ala The Doors “The End”, or a track like “Love Is Everywhere (Beware)” (from their latest album Ode To Joy) that push their performance to unexplored heights. Simply put, there’s still a LOT of gas left in the Wilco tank.
Like everyone, Wilco has had to re-learn how we do things. What Wilco seems to have learned is just how vital their work, and every musician or artist who is brave enough to get out in front of people, is to our collective well-being. Their set in Green Bay, despite the Covid protocol failures, was a triumph of joy and, for the first time in a LONG time, togetherness.
And that’s the goal, friends. To be together.
We’ve got a long way to go to get fully out of this mess of a pandemic, but there are lights out there to guide us. So don’t give up. Do your best. Do better when and where you can. Even when it’s messy, a life filled with music and friends is a pretty darn good one.
It was great to be reminded of that after far too long.
Photos by Kevin Hill
SETLIST
A Shot in the Arm
Random Name Generator
Side With the Seeds
One and a Half Stars
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Art of Almost
If I Ever Was a Child
Impossible Germany
Hummingbird
Everyone Hides
Box Full of Letters
Via Chicago
Bull Black Nova
Forget the Flowers
Love Is Everywhere (Beware)
Dawned on Me
Jesus, Etc.
Theologians
I'm the Man Who Loves You
Heavy Metal Drummer
I'm Always in Love
The Late Greats
Outtasite (Outta Mind
California Stars
Covid Safety Rating
Venue Check for Proof of Vaccination? Nope
Masks required? Nope
Was the audience wearing masks? Nope
But at least the staff was wearing masks, right? Nope
Huh. Was there anything redeeming in regards to Covid?: It was completely outside and not very full
