We went to a concert

We found ourselves on Thursday night. A lof of ourselves. They were milling about in the parking lot and on the lawn and in the pavillion itself. For two years we've wondered, "Are there no people like us in the state?" We have finally found them. They attend Wilco concerts. It was great.

The concert itself was a great experience. We arrived as Low was finishing up their set (they're just as boring in concert...two songs...*yawn*) and sat precariously on the edge of the lawn that was turning into mud. It rained a bit but by the time Wilco came on, it had stopped. Let's see...they started with Shot in the Arm which was great and then did a couple of numbers off of Sky Blue Sky and then launched into Handshake Drugs which featured just some killer jamming moments between Jeff and Nels...and I'm sorry I don't know Keyboard Man's Name but he straped a guitar on hisself too and made it a three guitar assault. Very nice. I don't think I can give a detailed blow-by-blow account, so I'll give you some thoughts.

• Great versions of I am Trying to Break Your Heart and I'm the Man Who Loves You
• The bassist wore flannel. Very cool And I enjoyed his grooves. Tweedy wore a denim shirt and jeans. Nels wore flaming red pants. This was not a fashion show to be sure
• Via Chicago made an appearance in the midst of a sleepy middle section of the concert where we all stood and slowly swayed to mid-tempo songs. There were a couple of great drum explosions. Every time I listen to Via Chicago I imagine summertime at dusk. It was summertime at dusk. It was perfect.

Not to be critical, but Wilco strung together quite a few sogns together that, though very pleasing, were very mellow. Some were off Sky Blue Sky (most actually) and some were off YHF. The crowd was happy about them, but there was this growing tension, that we really wanted to see Wilco just blow the roof off the place. We saw glimpses, sleepy songs that ended with wailing guitars, but it was just a temptation. The original set ended with Hummingbird. Very nice, we cheered them back on stage (what band doesn't give an encore, right). They played a beautiful version of California Stars, and that just kind of set the mood for the first encore. A couple of more mid-tempo Sky Blue Sky later...and then BOOM!!! Spider (Kidsmoke). Absolutely ferocious. Blew the entire crowd away. It lasted forever and by the time it finished, the crowd was in a lather, thirsting for more more MORE WILCO!!! The band seemed energized, the fans were energized, the place was electric. So, note that Encore one lasted for four songs... We cheered our little guts out to get them to come back. They obliged. And what followed was amazing. We were treated to not just two songs in the second encore, not just three, not just four, but FIVE second encore songs. I've never seen a longer encore. It was like after each song, Jeff turned to the band and said, "One more, these guys are great". And the setlist for the encore was phenomenal : Heavy Metal Drummer, Always in Love, Outta Mind Outta Site, the Late Greats and I'm a Wheel. I saw some blog put Late Greats as the second song, but I know it was fourth, because I was waiting for it waiting for it, thinking, "they've got to play it" while the guys behind us were saying "They've got to f_____ play the Late Greats, right?" Every song was incredible. The crowd and the band were on top of their respective games. It was nutso, even on the lawn. Once the Late Greats started, oh mercy. Everyone was going nuts. It was so cool. Anywho, after the wonderous second encore finished we all cheered our little guts out again. I've never seen a third encore. I've never actually seen a band be influenced by the crowd to keep playing. But Wilco is going down in my book as the most fan appreciating band I've seen. They came out for Encore Three and played an awesome version of What Light. Capped a perfect set. The concert went from great to pure awesomeness because of the encores. Three encores, ten songs, easily 45 minutes to an hour of additional music. Wow.

When we drove home, we were the lone car that went east to PG County. Not kidding. We are pilgrims in an unholy land, to quote Sean Connery in the Last Crusade.