On Thursday night (August 08, 2025) at Evans Amphitheater in Cain Park, Wilco graced a sold-out crowd with a two-set concert that covered the entirety of their 30+ year career. It was my fourth time seeing them play, and it was no doubt the best. The show proved that the band is as solid and evergreen as they’ve always been, refusing to rest on their laurels or to let genre or label define them. It also showed just how strong the band has become over the years and how they continue to grow as song makers.
There is no opener on this tour. Instead, Wilco is playing two sets, for a total of nearly three hours of music. The setlists have the same basic songs for every show, but the order changes a bit, with some minor alterations here or there. The first set felt like a slow build to the second set, which was packed with rock and fan favorites. They kicked off with the newer, twangy “Story to Tell.” That was followed by the setlist staples, “Handshake Drugs” and “Company in My Back,” both from 2004’s ‘A Ghost is Born.’ All three are great songs, if not a little slow to start off the night. You got the feeling from the start that they wanted to pace themselves for the long night ahead. The night was a ‘Sky Blue Sky‘ and ‘A Ghost is Born‘-heavy setlist in general. 11 of the 33 songs were from those two albums. I wasn’t complaining. Those are two solid albums.
What is Wilco? Are they indie, roots, folk, rock, jam, jazz, noise, punk? Their answer is ‘yes.’ Yes, they’re all those things. They’re also six musicians at the top of their game, as made evident on Thursday night’s show. To anyone who has listened to the albums since 2005, Nels Cline is the guitar player with unmistakable flair, and gives songs like “Impossible Germany” their distinctive sound, but make no mistake, there are two guitar virtuosos in Wilco. Pat Sansone’s playing throughout the evening was nothing short of stellar. Seeing him and Cline go back and forth was something to witness. Add to that the fact that he also plays keys, some percussion, and a whole slew of other instruments and sings backup vocals, and you have yourself a one-man powerhouse that elevates the band.
To listen to any of the Wilco albums does not do the live songs justice. In the vein of great noise rock bands before them, like Sonic Youth, it’s always a great time to watch them get weird and loud on “Via Chicago,” with Tweedy singing over the banging drums of Glen Kotche.
They played three songs from ‘AM,’ their first record. “We don’t do that often,” Tweedy said before they started the short song “Box Full of Letters.” Directly after that, they played “Annihilation,” written last year. The two songs were paired back-to-back to “get a feel for the amount of artistic growth that has happened in the last 30 years. It’s shocking,” Tweedy said. And he was right. The first has so many elements of their country roots, while the latter has the confident sound that is only attributable to Wilco. The first song was influenced, and the second song was doing the influencing.
Perhaps the better showcase of the band’s sound itself came in the following five songs, which closed out the second set. They were a testament to some of the best songwriting and musicianship in any currently touring band. It started with “Either Way,” a slow, contemplative song about growth and attempting to understand a loved one. Short and to the point with no frills, just the band and Tweedy’s vulnerable lyrics. Next was “Impossible Germany,” with Cline’s unforgettable guitar parts. It’s another lyrically contemplative song, but Tweedy steps back on the live version, letting the band take more time in the instrumental spaces, building to a crescendo that showed off why they’re so wonderful to see live. Even Tweedy seemed as gleeful as the audience at Cline’s playing on this song. “I get to watch him do that every night,” he said.
They then cooled off with “Jesus, Etc.,” showing how Tweedy can write catchy, singable lyrics when he feels like it, as he encouraged the audience to sing along. Mikael Jorgensen stepped up the keys on this one. “Hate It Here” was next, a song about trying to stay busy while going through a breakup. This song showed off not only Sansone and Cline as the driving forces of the song, but it also shows off Tweedy’s voice. He lets himself embrace the twang, the rasp, the crooning, and the heartbreak, all at once. The blend is so much fun to watch, and he was having fun with it, getting really high during the chorus. It’s a song of heartache and hooks all around. “Heavy Metal Drummer” kicked it up a notch and switched things to the more pop elements that sneak into their songs from time to time, but with just enough great songwriting to elevate the song beyond the genre. Bassist John Stirrat got a chance to show off his bass skills on this song. They finished off the set with “I’m the Man Who Loves You,” a song of pure rock bliss. They always get weird on the live version of this song.
Those five songs back-to-back would have turned anyone into a Wilco believer. The fact that one band has these varied songs in such a short amount of time is absolutely crazy, and the live versions allow the band to showcase all their talents.
Coming off a recent hip surgery, Tweedy seemed jovial and just happy to be there. He has the reputation of being a bit of a curmudgeon, but he was all smiles Thursday night. “I love this place. We played here on our first tour in 1935,” he joked, in what seemed like an off-the-cuff remark, but he wasn’t far off on the age of the venue. Evans Amphitheater has been there since 1938. “We’re getting really close to the end,” he said at one point during the second set. When the crowd started booing, he replied, “I mean in general,” and everyone laughed at that.
For a band as solid as Wilco, which has been doing its own thing by consistently putting out album after album of fantastic songs, you will inevitably walk away from any of its concerts wanting more or wishing they’d played a particular song that it didn’t. That’s a good problem to have.
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