PICTURE THIS: Wilco doesn't disappoint at GLA
- Tom Dorgan
- 20 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Wilco doesn't disappoint, and their recent stop at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater was no exception. I've been lucky enough to catch this band a handful of times over the years, the last being back in 2010, and I can say without hesitation this was one of the best shows GLA has hosted all season. The rain held off just long enough, and the overcast sky somehow suited the band perfectly. Wilco's music has always had a way of matching gray weather, and Greenfield Lake felt like it was built for exactly this kind of night.
They opened with "Handshake Drugs," which might be my favorite way to kick off a Wilco show. That song has one of my favorite lines in their whole catalog: "I was chewing for something to do." It comes off “A Ghost Is Born,” one of my favorite records of theirs. From there, the first set ranged all over the band's history: "Forget the Flowers" and "It's Just That Simple" from “Being There,” all the way up to "Annihilation" off their latest album, “Cousins.”
A few highlights stood out. "California Stars," off the "Mermaid Avenue" album Wilco made with Billy Bragg setting unused Woody Guthrie lyrics to new music, was a real treat live. But the set's high point for me was "Via Chicago." On record it's a quiet, almost somber ballad, but live, drummer Glenn Kotche throws in these wild, chaotic drum breaks in the middle of the song that catch you completely off guard if you don't know it's coming. Tweedy even joked afterward that they should find a way to work more of those drum freakouts into other songs. Set one closed out with "Falling Apart (Right Now)," off “Cousins."
The second set came out swinging with "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," from the band's landmark "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," and closed with another cut from that same album, "I'm the Man Who Loves You." In between, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and "Sky Blue Sky" made up most of the set, with "Impossible Germany" and "Hate It Here" from "Sky Blue Sky" standing out as two of the night's best.
For the encore, Wilco gave us three more: "The Late Greats" and "Spiders (Kidsmoke)," both from "A Ghost Is Born," bookending "I Got You (At the End of the Century)" from "Being There” (one of my longtime favorites).
As a Wilco fan of many years, this show reminded me why I keep coming back. Two sets, deep cuts, and Kotche's drums breaking loose in the middle of a ballad. Hard to ask for more out of an evening at Greenfield Lake.
