Wilco Warms the Mission

Photos & Story by Oliver Thieme

Jeff Tweedy and Wilco played a long journey through indie rock last Tuesday night, ringing in the Thanksgiving week at the Mission Ballroom in front of an appreciative, loving crowd.

For more than two hours – including an encore that ensued after Tweedy told us all they were just going to stick around – the longtime anchor of Americana Indie played with heartstrings and guitar strings. Through a repertoire that mirrored an almost unmatchable career, the five-piece band serenaded the packed house.

With tunes like “War on War,” “At Least That’s What You Said,” “One and a Half Stars,” “Love is Everywhere (Beware),” and “I’m the Man Who Loves You” – and so, so many more – they brought back memories of decades gone by, and made new memories, of new places and new people.

… most people in the Mission left humming that Wilco/Billy Bragg Woody Guthrie tune that night …

I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that a good half of the audience wasn’t even born when Wilco formed from the ashes of the Farrarr-less Uncle Tupelo.

That encore I mentioned before featured the only song from the famous “Mermaid Diaries” – the set of Woody Guthrie tunes Wilco recorded with Billy Bragg, and one of my intros to the band – was the brilliantly heartbreaking “California Stars.”

My bet is that most people in the Mission left humming that tune that night, and I hope they still have it in their heads when they meet with the family for the big feast.

Setlist: Wilco at the Mission Ballroom, Tuesday, November 19, 2019

1. Bright Leaves
2. Before Us
3. Company in My Back
4. War on War
5. Handshake Drugs
6. At Least That’s What You Said
7. One and a Half Stars
8. Hummingbird
9. Via Chicago
10. White Wooden Cross
11. Bull Black Nova
12. Laminated Cat (Loose Fur cover)
13. Random Name Generator
14. Reservations
15. Impossible Germany
16. Jesus, Etc.
17. We Were Lucky
18. Love Is Everywhere (Beware)
19. Forget the Flowers
20. Box Full of Letters
21. Everyone Hides
22. Theologians
23. I’m the Man Who Loves You
24. Hold Me Anyway
25. The Late Greats
    Encore:
26. California Stars (Billy Bragg & Wilco cover)
27. Red-Eyed and Blue
28. I Got You (At the End of the Century)
29. Outtasite (Outta Mind)