Wilco Teams Up With The National For California Stars At LouFest

On Saturday night Wilco played their first post-AmericanaramA set as one of the headliners for LouFest in St. Louis. The locale is one close to the heart of Wilco’s front man, Jeff Tweedy, who grew up in nearby Belleville, IL. A special moment occurred in the middle of the band’s marathon set, when members of The National guested on “California Stars.”

Wilco headlined Saturday’s first day of the two-day event, held in St. Louis’s Forest Park. Tweedy and his band mixed material from throughout their career and dusted off a rare cover of Doug Sahm’s “Give Back The Key To My Heart.” Eleven songs into Wilco’s set, Tweedy welcomed all of The National, who were also on the LouFest bill, with the exception of Matt Berninger, to help out on “California Stars.” Earlier in the evening, Jeff dedicated “Born Alone” to local musician, writer and photographer Bob Reuter and his brother Greg, who both passed away recently. Tweedy also used an opportunity later in the set to wish his father Bob a happy 80th birthday, with Wilco performing “Happy Birthday” in his honor.

Here’s the setlist from Wilco’s LouFest performance:

Set: Misunderstood, Forget the Flowers, Give Back the Key to My Heart, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Art of Almost, I Might, Via Chicago, Handshake Drugs, Impossible, Germany, Born Alone, California Stars*, Box Full of Letters, Happy Birthday (for Bob Tweedy), Heavy Metal Drummer, I’m the Man Who Loves You, Casino Queen, Hoodoo Voodoo

* w/ members of The National