Wilco Works Three Bust Outs & Live Debut Into San Francisco Residency Opener

Chicago rockers Wilco began one of their longest residencies outside their home city on Tuesday night with the first of five shows at The Fillmore in San Francisco. Wilco showed off their stripped-down setup and cool stage design as part of a performance featuring three 2016 debuts and the live premiere of a Schmilco track.

Last night’s concert opened the way others on the Schmilco Tour have, with guitarists Nels Cline and Jeff Tweedy taking the stage by themselves to serve up “Normal American Kids.” A triple dose of the soon-to-be-released Schmilco LP continued with full band renditions of “If I Ever Was A Child” and “Cry All Day.” The evening’s first surprise came in the form of A Ghost Is Born’s “Muzzle Of Bees,” which hadn’t been played since August 12, 2015. Wilco continued on with live staple “Misunderstood” followed by Schmilco’s “Someone To Lose” and “The Joke Explained” off last year’s Star Wars LP. Another bust out was up next as the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot outtake “A Magazine Called Sunset” saw action for the first time since August 30, 2015.

The rest of Wilco’s main set was a mix of live staples such as “Impossible Germany,” “Ashes Of American Flags,” “Hummingbird” and “The Late Greats” with rarities including “Reservations” and “Theologians” as well as Schmilco tracks “Happiness,” “Nope,” “Locator” and “We Aren’t The World (Safety Girl).” While “Reservations” was recently busted out, Wilco hadn’t played “Theologians” since September 30, 2015. Also of note, “Happiness” was a live debut. The band ended the night with an acoustic first encore featuring such beloved classics as “California Stars,” “We’ve Been Had” and “A Shot In The Arm,” followed by a second encore of “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” played krautrock style at double-time. Wilco returns to The Fillmore on Wednesday night.

Setlist (via Via Chicago)

Set: Normal American Kids (Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline only), If I Ever Was A Child, Cry All Day, Muzzle Of Bees, Misunderstood, Someone To Lose, The Joke Explained, A Magazine Called Sunset, I’m Always In Love, Reservations, Impossible Germany, Happiness, Nope, Forget The Flowers, Ashes Of American Flags, Dawned On Me, Locator, Theologians, Hummingbird, We Aren’t The World (Safety Girl), The Late Greats

Encore: California Stars*, It’s Just That Simple*, We’ve Been Had*, Christ For President*, A Shot in the Arm*

Encore2: Spiders (Kidsmoke) (electric arrangement)

* — performed hootenanny style with band on acoustic instruments