Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville is a nice place to see a show. The acoustics are good, it's not too big, and you can buy a pretzel if you want. And the parking situation is good, too. Sarah and I parked in the garage a street behind the auditorium, then cut through an alley behind the venue to the front. Across the parking lot was Wilco's tour bus. Who did we see as we were walking up that alley? None other than Jeff Tweedy, out for a little pre-show smoke and stroll. He was across the parking lot, back by his bus, so it's not like we got to talk to him or anything, but it was still cool just to see him hanging out by himself. It was a good omen.

Sarah and I grabbed a smoothie and muffin at Malaprops (very cool bookstore) before the show, then found our seats about 7:30. The opening band was Rose Hill Drive. They were skinny, very long haired guys who looked to be about 20 and sounded like they were in 1976. I tunred to Sarah and said "I think it's time to head down to Houston and get Aerosmith tickets." She cracked up. It was Foghat meets Ted Nugent. Not that they were bad. I just wonder what kid finds there dad's old record collection, pulls out the "Stranglehold" single, and says "We should sound like THAT!". They were also very loud, so Sarah and I listened to most of their set in the lobby (along with lots of other people).

Then, Wilco. They opened with "Misunderstood" which was just perfect (I was actually hoping for that song in an encore, and I got it first thing). Since I can't find the setlist on the internet yet, I'll do my best from memory and totally screw up the order.

Misunderstood
Hell is Chrome
Kingpin
Jesus, etc
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
War on War
Hummingbird
I'm the Man Who Loves You
Ashes of American Flags
Monday (in Encore #2)
Outamind, Outasite (in Encore #2)
"A New song"

That's all I can remember right now. I'll update when I get home and can look over Summerteeth and A Ghost Is Born. There were a lot more songs, as they played for almost two hours. I would have liked to have heard "Heavy Metal Drummer" (that song's just fun) and "Theologians" but I ain't complaining.

A highlight: About halfway through, while they are between songs, Tweedy looks out at the first few rows and says "Hey! How old are you?" He's talking to this little girl on her dad's shoulders. She says "six". Tweedy says "Don't you know that Wilco is "adult themed?" with a big grin, then asks her "Is this your first concert?" The little girl says "no." Tweedy shrugs. She then asks "Will you play 'Hummingbird'? Tweedy says "We'll play Hummingbird in just a few minutes, sweetie, I promise. It's probably the only song that's appropriate for you anyway."

If the story ended there, it would be nice enough. But two songs later, when they do play "Hummingbird," Tweedy sets down his guitar, takes the mike out of the stand, the goes down into the audience to sing "Hummingbird" to this little girl. He even held her for a verse or so. It ruled.

The band was phenomenal -- tight when they needed to be, noisy and experimental enough to challenge the audience a little, but they knew just when to pull it all back together. Great energy. Sarah and I rocked out in our balcony seats and could not have been happier.

What surprised me a little was how everyone knew the words to the YHF songs, but clearly there were some people confused by the Being There songs. Granted, Being There is almost ten years old, but it's a lot more accessible and was on a major label. I guess YHF got people into Wilco, which is pretty cool. It makes me feel good about the music public.

I'm now convinced that Wilco is the best band out there. Period.