Jeff Tweedy- March 4, 2005
The Vic Theater; Chicago, IL

Opener: Riviera

SETLIST:
1. Airline To Heaven
2. Sunken Treasure
3. Muzzle Of Bees
4. Bob Dylan's 49th Beard
5. Please Tell My Brother
6. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
7. Far, Far Away
8. Not For The Season
9. Someday Some Morning Sometime
10. Forget The Flowers
11. Remember The Mountain Bed
12. John Wesley Harding
13. Dash 7
14. Acuff-Rose
15. Hesitating Beauty
16. Blasting Fonda
17. No More Poetry
18. I'm The Man Who Loves You
Encore 1:
19. Cars Can't Escape
20. Chinese Apple
21. How To Fight Loneliness
22. Gun
23. The Late Greats
Encore 2:
24. Secret Of The Sea
25. ELT
26. Summer Teeth
27. Wishful Thinking
28. Box Full Of Letters
29. Shouldn't Be Ashamed
30. Pecan Pie
 

The first time I saw Wilco was in 2002, in a chapel in Upstate New York.  While I was impressed by the bombast that accompanied that show, I had a secret delight for the softer sing-alongs that they ended their set with.  For a long time, I have been collecting bootlegs of Tweedy's solo shows from Chicago...so I knew that seeing Tweedy solo was a chance to hear acoustic guitar, old material, the harmonica, and many sing along type songs.

I was not disappointed.  For whatever reason, I was unable to find anyone who wanted to go to the show.  At the last minute, the spouse of a fellow grad student that I have hung out with less than 3 times decided to take the free ticket - he wasn't a Wilco fan (he thought he had probably herd of them), but I was glad to have the company.  It baffles me still why no one would want to tag along. I had originally bought 4 tickets to the show - I sold two of them on eBay for 2x face value. 

The whole way to the show, I had "Airline to heaven" stuck in my head.  I don't know why.  When he started with that song, I knew I was in for a treat.  The set list basically speaks for itself, although early  highlights included Acuff rose, Dash 7, and No More Poetry.  The place was absolutely rabid - I often wondered if my companion was the only non-Tweedy junkie in the room.  Tweedy started taking requests late in the encores...If I could have requested something "bizarre' it would have been Pecan Pie - and this is the song he finished with.  I felt as if I had willed the opener and the closer of the evening. 

I left convinced that the show would be hard to top. However, the next night's antics would prove me quite wrong...