Wilco brought the Cruel Country to New York for a weekend in the city with a sold-out, three-night run at The Capitol Theatre. The Port Chester takeover featured 69 unique songs from throughout the band’s storied career.
Each night, the Chicago-bred indie rock group delivered a 23-song show spanning its impressive discography. With plenty of love given to the band’s 2022 country double album, Cruel Country, Jeff Tweedy and company also touched on fan-favorite albums like Summerteeth, Being There, A Ghost is Born, and of course Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
The band stuck almost exclusively to its own catalog, with the exception of night three’s “Laminated Cat” from the Loose Fur catalog. Tweedy and drummer Glenn Kotche formed the group in 2000 with Jim O’Rourke (Sonic Youth) and released a pair of albums in the mid-2000s. Additionally, Wilco also delivered its beloved “California Stars” collaboration with Billy Bragg featuring lyrics by Woody Guthrie.
Setting the music aside, the band was in a particularly funny mood on April Fools’ Day. During the closing night of the run, Tweedy introduced the coveted “Best Behaved Audience Member Award,” which he noted “is worth a ton of f–ing money.” The term “best behaved” could mean a lot of different things, the frontman explained, ranging from the person who was the rowdiest to the person who was the quietest during the band’s slow songs.
Related: Jeff Tweedy Shakes Down Fred Armisen, Wilco Performs On ‘Seth Meyers’ [Watch]
Following Nels Clines‘ particularly incendiary solo on “Impossible Germany” later that night, Tweedy gave the band’s lead guitarist the honor of bestowing the “Best Behaved Audience Member Award”. It turns out that the person who embodied the award more than anyone else in the sold-out 2,000-capacity audience was Grateful Dead scholar and Tales From The Golden Road co-host Gary Lambert. “It might be hyperbole to say this was the proudest moment of my life. But not by much,” he later wrote on Facebook.
Wilco Presents The Coveted “Best Behaved Audience Member” Award – 4/1/23
[Video: Gary Lambert]
Next up for Wilco is the band’s inaugural voyage to Iceland for a three-night event at the Harpa Center in Reykjavik. The city’s Eldborg Hall has become a sought-after destination for bands looking to host international concert series, with Umphrey’s McGee staging RÖCKJAVIK last spring and The Disco Biscuits and Greensky Bluegrass looking ahead to runs of their own in Reykjavik.
Check out images of Wilco at The Capitol Theatre over the weekend from photographers Andrew Blackstein and David Gray. After Iceland, the band returns to the U.S. for a run of spring tour dates. Tickets and a full list of shows are available here.
Wilco – “I Got You” – 3/31/23
[Video: remphish1]
Setlist: Wilco | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 3/30/23
Set: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Hints, One Wing, Misunderstood [1]. Far, Far Away, War on War, If I Ever Was a Child, Hearts Hard to Find, Poor Places, Bull Black Nova, Country Disappeared, What Light, Shouldn’t Be Ashamed, I’m the Man Who Loves You, Random Name Generator, Passenger Side, Box Full of Letters, Falling Apart (Right Now)
Encore: Via Chicago [2], Can’t Stand It, You Never Know, Outtasite (Outta Mind), I’m a Wheel
[1] 28 “nothing”s version
[2] with “Many Worlds” coda
Setlist: Wilco | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 3/31/23
I Am My Mother, Cruel Country, Handshake Drugs, Say You Miss Me, I Must Be High, Muzzle of Bees, Hummingbird, Love Is Everywhere (Beware), Pot Kettle Black, Bird Without a Tail / Base of My Skull, She’s a Jar, Company in My Back, Forget the Flowers, Theologians, Ashes of American Flags, The Lonely 1, How to Fight Loneliness, A Lifetime to Find
Encore: I’m Always in Love, California Stars, Red-Eyed and Blue, I Got You (At the End of the Century), Monday
Setlist: Wilco | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY | 4/1/23
Set: At Least That’s What You Said, Spiders (Kidsmoke), The Universe, Jesus, Etc., You Are My Face, Whole Love, Mystery Binds, I’ll Fight, Side With the Seeds, One and a Half Stars, Tired of Taking It Out on You, Everyone Hides, Impossible Germany, Sunken Treasure, Laminated Cat (Loose Fur), Reservations, Either Way, Hate It Here, Dawned on Me
Encore: The Late Greats, Heavy Metal Drummer, A Shot in the Arm, On and On and On
