May 25

May 25 Review: Wilco + Waxahatchee at Asheville Yards

Few things in life are more satisfying than witnessing Nels Cline prove he’s one of our greatest guitarists while soloing on “Impossible Germany.” And the same goes for watching the immaculate Glenn Kotche lose his shit on drums during the otherwise decidedly non-chaotic “Via Chicago.”

These and many other delights awaited during Wilco’s May 16 debut at Asheville Yards — as well as in the opening set by Waxahatchee, who probably could have sold out the bulk of the place on her own yet offered a near-ideal mood setting for Jeff Tweedy & Co.

In their final spring tour show opening for the Chicago legends, Katie Crutchfield and her extremely talented alt-country backing band — including Spencer “Son of Jeff” Tweedy on drums — focused on the singer/songwriter’s two most recent (and best) albums, Tigers Blood (2024) and St. Cloud (2020). Those records and I Walked With You A Ways (2022), her Plains collaboration with Jess Williamson, grew Waxahatchee’s sound from minimalist indie rock that fit modestly-sized spaces like The Mothlight (R.I.P.) into far broader and engaging arrangements that have made gigs at large outdoor venues more logical and feasible.

And it’s not just the more rollicking numbers that have facilitated this evolution. The very relaxed “Right Back to It,” Crutchfield’s Tigers Blood duet with MJ Lenderman, is arguably her most impressive song thus far, and with the native son (who’s now actually living in Chapel Hill) playing in Washington, D.C. that night, Jeff Tweedy ably filled in for Lenderman on vocals — a special treat for the Asheville crowd that apparently was saved for this tour-ending show.

Then it was time for the headliners to do their thing. Offering essentially a Greatest Hits set, Wilco served up passionate takes on 11 selections from its magical 2001-07 stretch that produced Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost is Born, and Sky Blue Sky. As with Spoon, Drive-By Truckers, and a handful of other peers, there’s something special about seeing four guitar players standing in a line on stage. And while multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone’s other responsibilities often reduced that number by one, the confidence that every bit of the layered rock music issuing from the Asheville Yards speakers was being created in real time by the people before us imbued the evening with a particular spark that only a few bands can ignite.

As such, it didn’t matter that this Wilco show checked basically all the boxes that a traditional Wilco show typically checks. Besides the loveliness of Crutchfield and her crew joining in for an encore rendition of “California Stars,” the performance wasn’t exactly packed with surprises. But that’s not what Wilco is about. They’ve got the hits, keep enriching their repertoire with exciting new additions — choice cuts from Cruel Country (2022), Cousin (2023), and the Hot Sun Cool Shroud EP (2024) all paired nicely with “the old stuff” — and we’re here for it.

Instead, as is the case with the best long-running groups, the spontaneity arises from wondering in what order they’ll choose to present their beloved creations and what will make the cut. Perhaps a tad overplayed (though for good reason) as COVID-19 vaccines made touring possible post-2020, “A Shot in the Arm” was sadly omitted and only the title track from secret masterpiece The Whole Love worked its way in. But so many other jams were included that it was easy to be thankful for the curations.

Rounding out the unpredictability factor each night is Tweedy’s masterful banter, which this time resulted in such gems as commenting on a fan’s T-shirt emblazoned with the text “Glenn Kotche is good at percussion.” (“Not ‘great,’” Tweedy zippily quipped.) Combined with the expectation factor that grants each Wilco show a high floor, this freewheeling again did the trick and already has this die-hard listener looking forward to the band’s next local stop.

(Photos by Bryce Lafoon)