Wilco — 11/9/11, Munich, Germany (Circus Krone)

Just a few brief words on this gig, though I’d like to write more. However, I’m in Berlin at the moment and there are record stores to visit and currywurst to eat. So forthwith…

Probably my favorite show thus far on this run, for purely personal reasons. I feel like I successfully exorcised my ticket-buying demons from last year’s show at the same venue when I unknowingly bought tickets in the bleacher-style seats that ring the stage instead of the floor seats right in front that all my friends had been smart enough to buy. It was a nice feeling to be able to go straight through to my seat this time instead of being told by a security guard — rather gruffly, I might add — that I couldn’t go where I wanted the previous year.

There were plenty of other reasons I had a great time at this show as well, chief among them unexpectedly running into some friends I had met on another European tour and seeing a couple of faces that have become familiar on this one. Unlike in Frankfurt, most of the crowd stood almost immediately and stayed standing, at least that I could see, so that created better energy from the outset. I think Jeff was feeling a little better too, just a hunch based on how he looked and small things like doing his patented “one-leg solo” during “I’m The Man Who Loves You.”

And then there was the matter of more surprises in the setlist. When I saw that the band had recently closed a show in Spain with “The Lonely 1,” I thought it’d be nice to hear that one again with the full band. I didn’t think it would happen in this venue, but I got my secret wish to start the encore. A closing 1-2 punch of “Standing O” and “I’m A Wheel,” which I didn’t entirely see coming made for an upbeat end to a fun night.

Not much else I can think of to report right now — aside from a little bit of funny American banter by Jeff that you just sort of had to be there for — and my stomach is definitely rumbling, so I’ll leave it at that. Moral of the story: when buying tickets for Circus Krone, “innenraum” is apparently a good thing.

This was the complete setlist, as played:

One Sunday Morning>
Poor Places>
Art Of Almost
IATTBYH
I Might
Side With The Seeds
Black Moon
Impossible Germany
Born Alone
Jesus, etc.
Capitol City
Handshake Drugs
Dawned On Me
Hummingbird
Misunderstood
I’ll Fight
War On War
Whole Love
A Shot in the Arm
———————
The Lonely 1
Passenger Side
The Late Greats
I’m The Man Who Loves You
Standing O
I’m A Wheel