Wilco: Now With 10% More Nothin'!

Last night I attended the Wilco concert in Oklahoma City. The venue was Bricktown Events Center, which didn't have much ambiance compared to Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, where I saw Wilco last year, but it served its purpose, I suppose. There were five robot-looking apparatuses hanging from the ceiling above the stage, which had small moving lights where their little robot wenises should have been. Those kept me entertained while the opening band played. "Heartless Bastards." They were alright. The lead reminded me of a blonde Joan Jett, but a little less gritty.

Oh, I should mention before I get to describing the actual concert that I arrived a few hours early and while walking around the venue I came across a large garage door. I pressed my ear to it and heard Wilco practicing. I heard the entirety of Side With the Seeds, and after Nels's amazing ending solo, I clapped and screamed. To my happy surprise, one of the band members, maybe Nels, said, "Hi, out there!" And I said "Hi!" back. Fun, huh?

Anyway, I was standing about ten people back from left center holding my five dollar can of Corona and completely unable to see when Wilco finally took the stage. I mean there wasn't a man in front of me who wasn't at least six feet tall. No kidding. Next to me, on my left, was a dude named Charles who was a pothead, I think. I liked him muchly. He was really furry--his longish beard had beads in it, lol! He had lots of odd paraphernalia in his pockets which he kept fingering and taking in and out of his pants. Super Glue. Band-Aids. Paper clips. Wadded five dollar bills. He asked me to help him put a band aid on a little cut on his finger and I did. He called me "Yellow" because I was wearing a yellow shirt.

Charles pushed forward and helped me secure a more advantageous position so that I could see. He was a really nice fella. When he lifted his arms to clap during Spiders I could smell his stinky arm pits, but what else could be expected from a dude with beads in his beard?

Also, just to note, the place reeked of marijuana. Charles kept saying, "Pass some of that on down Heee-rrreee!"

So, Wilco took the stage. Tweedy looked a bit ragged. His hair is shaggier than the last time I saw him live, but overall, he still looked okay. That's the best I can give him in the looks department. Okay. Nels was dorky as ever. I love him for it. They started with Wilco, The Song. I don't know why, but I just can't get into it. Still, it was better live than I expected and everyone else seemed to love it.

Here's the rest of the set list:

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
Pot Kettle Black
A Shot in the Arm
One Wing
At Least That’s What You Said
Side With The Seeds
Bull Black Nova
Handshake Drugs
War on War
Sonny Feeling
Jesus, etc.
Impossible Germany
California Stars
Forget the Flowers
Misunderstood
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Hummingbird
—————–
The Late Greats
Hate It Here
Walken
I’m The Man Who Loves You
Hoodoo Voodoo

My favorite song of the night was Misunderstood. I counted a run of forty "nothin's", which is four more than they shouted at the Cain's concert. A gain of just over ten percent nothin'. I think that's something to cheer about so I did! I lost a bit of my voice doing it, too. Well worth it.

Spiders lasted a whopping seventeen minutes by my count. It just kept going and going and going. It could have lasted longer. I'd not complain. It was a great song. Probably my second favorite of the evening.

During the show some idiot threw a Sharpie marker at Nels, which raised the ire of Jeff. Immediately after the Sharpie incident, someone (Jeff called him a "Douchebag") flashed one of those laser pointers at the band members. Good grief. None of that happened at Cain's, proving once again that Tulsa outclasses Oklahoma City by a country mile. Well, more like one hundred and twenty of them. :)

I was disappointed that they didn't play Via Chicago. That was my favorite of last year's set. Oh, well. I suppose I'm like the guitar player that got taken for a ride. Never satisfied. They played four songs from the new album. I should be thankful.

Overall, it was a great concert. I'm not sure Wilco does other than great concerts. If they do, I'm unaware of it. I intend to count the "nothin's" at my next Wilco concert. If they continue to increase nothin's at the rate of ten percent a year, in ten year's time Misunderstood may just take up more concert time than Spiders.

KA