Jeff Tweedy — 29 and 30 May 2026, Chicago, IL (Vic Theatre)
I’ve been thinking that maybe I wouldn’t write about this year’s hometown benefit shows at the Vic Theatre. It’s been a couple of weeks already, Wilco is already back on tour and who really cares anyway outside of the 20 crazies who travel from seemingly further and further and line up seemingly earlier and earlier every year in order to put in a song request (and perhaps the handful of other fellow crazies who couldn’t attend this year)? But I suppose that would sort of be defeating the purpose of this Substack, so here goes…uh…something.
Maybe a little bit of my reluctance has to do with the fact that it’s just kind of hard for me to feel like I’m meeting my own standard of providing at least a passable account of any given show. There’s so much banter, etc., I could talk about over the course of these two nights that it’s a bit daunting to try and summarize. Not to mention the history of the shows themselves, which have now been happening for over 20 years(!) and have naturally evolved a bit over time. As it is, I’m combining both of this year’s events into one post — something I don’t normally do for a two-night run — to try and give myself a modicum of grace (and/or limitations).
These disclaimers feel appropriate, in a way, when discussing these gigs since Jeff usually offers his own early on. This year, on both nights, he didn’t even wait a song or two to give them, coming on stage and joking that in keeping with the charitable nature of these shows, these performances take a long time and “should hurt a little bit, for me and for you.” He explained how the songs he would play were requested by the first 20 people in line each night and that they were songs only the first 20 people would want to hear. “We’re gonna do our best with what (requests are) provided to me,” he said on Night 1.
That first night, whether by coincidence or not, it seemed like many of the requesters chose rarities from Jeff’s solo catalog, particularly Twilight Override. So right off the bat, we got three of the least performed numbers of that record’s 30 songs, including the live debut of Secret Door (my personal request). Prior to that one were Throwaway Lines and Saddest Eyes, which Jeff sarcastically called “rousing numbers.” He added, “These were some of the ones we didn’t play very much. We played this one (Saddest Eyes) one time and the crowd went mild — that song will get them back off their feet.”
Another interesting selection on Night 1 was the as-yet unreleased (except via Jeff’s Substack) Judy Just Left. You can read more about the development of that tune, which has apparently been around a while in various forms and with various titles, but obviously it was top of mind since the most recent Starship Casual post before this year’s benefit shows, on 22 May, shared a revised version of it. Jeff admitted messing up some of the lyrics during this live performance, but it was nevertheless still interesting to hear it.
Also of note on Night 1 was the appearance of Sammy, who provided backing vocals on several songs in the middle of the set — Half-Asleep, K.C. Rain (No Wonder) and You Are Not Alone — although interestingly not on the show-closing Just A Kid (on which I believe he actually did sing on the recorded version). Maybe if Spencer had been in town, the two of them would have come out and helped their dad out with the na-na-na-na-nas for old times’ sake, but alas Spencer was on tour with Case Oats in Europe. On Night 2, Sammy made a brief cameo for his usual part singing the chorus in Forever Never Ends but otherwise didn’t appear on stage.
As on The Tweedy Show, these benefit gigs have become a real family affair with Susie also getting into the act (as usual) without actually coming into the frame, so to speak. At the Vic, she does this by sending Jeff regular text messages during the show which he then reads to the audience. There are way too many exchanges over the course of the two nights to even come close to recapping them all, but many of them come as a result of questions the 20 song requesters also submit along with their requests that often lead to banter and ongoing jokes, sometimes involving Susie. (Not that she would have yelled out instead of texting anyway, but on Night 1, Jeff mentioned that Susie “kind of sounds like Marge Simpson right now,” on account of recent surgery on her vocal chords, “but I kind of like it.”)
Consider one such bit from Night 1 when someone asked a question about whether Jeff had ever wanted to write a musical. He replied with a funny interlude about having once composed a “snack opera” about the British cookie (er, biscuit) Hobnobs, singing a line from it: “Where do we put the Hobnobs? Where the ants can’t go…” Jeff also shared that Nels had “an opera about soundmen (called) Kick, Kick, Snare.” A couple of songs later, Jeff announced that he had gotten a text from Susie and informed the crowd she had written something to the effect that she “wrote a musical about pollution in 1972…so I’m more accomplished than you and I deserve an EGOT, no offense.”
On Night 2, to cite another example, there was an ongoing discussion involving Cheap Trick that I’m not even exactly sure how it got started. I think Jeff shared once having written a song for that band (ELT?), or at least having once done a little writing session for that purpose, and somehow that evolved into a discussion of how many guitars he had compared to Rick Nielsen and Jeff saying he had enough guitars while not-so-subtly glancing up at the box in which Susie was sitting. She later apparently texted Jeff to say, “If you have more guitars than Rick Nielsen, I’ll kill you.”
Anyway, you can kind of see how these shows go. Not to toot my own horn, but I posed a question on Night 2 that seemed to strike a chord with, ahem, some attendees — namely whether Jeff agreed that crab rangoons are an abomination and if not, what is his food pet peeve. (For the record, he said he thought the fried cream cheese concoctions that are so popular among certain — ahem, Caucasian — people are disgusting and then added that he didn’t understand marzipan.)
As for Night 2 from a musical standpoint, I would say that Jeff seemed much more confident and ready to play with one solo show under his belt. That’s often how it goes with these gigs, which often come after a period when Jeff has been in the studio or otherwise off the road and hasn’t performed live in a while, so that the first night often ends up a little shaky before he pulls it together a bit more on the second night. For whatever reason, Night 2 also featured more upbeat songs and crowd pleasers from the Wilco catalog (including Monday, though Jeff unwittingly(?) omitted the “Everybody’s wondering where’d he go…” verse, and the twangy, so-called “LouFest” arrangement of Casino Queen).
I think it’s fair to say, if comparing the two nights, that the majority of folks probably enjoyed Night 2 more. But I do know at least two people — once again, not to bring myself into it but unfortunately I was again involved — who probably preferred Night 1 for the simple reason that they were able to literally remain upright in their chairs for the duration of the 1-hour, 53-minute gig.
As anyone who has attended a seated event at the Vic in recent years knows, the plastic folding chairs that the venue rents are pretty chintzy and can suddenly collapse in a heap at any time, which they did twice during the show on Night 2. Sadly, this is a fairly common occurrence at the Vic and, in my experience, has never really been rectified. Fortunately for me, I wasn’t sitting that close to the stage and it happened during the final song — the rollicking I’m The Man Who Loves You — and after the initial shock, I was able to just stay crouched until Jeff finished playing, which also marked the end of the show. The other victim, whom I know, unfortunately had it happen to him during the much quieter Remember The Mountain Bed — and he was sitting in the front row at stage right. Despite the distraction, Jeff somehow managed to finish the song without stumbling over any lyrics and came over to check on the guy, who was OK except for some wounded pride. Quipped Jeff, in part: “I’m not the guy to sue. … It’s for charity.”
Not to dwell on it, but this has been a real drag on these shows in recent years. I don’t know if anything will ever change, but I do know that at least a couple of people have privately mentioned to me that it might affect their decision to attend in the future and that’s a shame. In general, however, the demand to see Jeff perform solo in this format doesn’t seem to be going away and that probably means the shows will continue for the foreseeable future. And that’s all right with me, except you might just find me sitting in the balcony or standing in the back next time.
Here was the complete setlist, as played, for the Night 1 show on 29 May:
Throwaway Lines
Saddest Eyes
Secret Door
This Is How It Ends
Family Ghost
Country Disappeared
Betrayed
Enough
Half-Asleep (with Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals)
K.C. Rain (No Wonder) (with Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals)
You Are Not Alone (with Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals)
Judy Just Left
Sonny Feeling
Love Is The King
I’m Always In Love
Muzzle Of Bees
Airline To Heaven
You Satellite
Lou Reed Was My Babysitter
Just A Kid
And here was the complete setlist, as played, for the Night 2 show on 30 May:
I Can’t Keep From Talking
Feel Free
Handshake Drugs
Sunlight Ends
A Magazine Called Sunset
Remember The Mountain Bed
Annihilation
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Everyone Hides
Forever Never Ends (with Sammy Tweedy on backing vocals)
Kamera
Capitol City
Laminated Cat (Not For The Season)
Heavy Metal Drummer
War On War
Monday
Kingpin
Acuff-Rose
Casino Queen (“LouFest arrangement”)
A Shot In The Arm
I’m The Man Who Loves You
A wonderful read and recap. Thanks, as always. For night 2, there was a deliberate attempt to accommodate Jeff with more upbeat and better known numbers. Personally loved both shows. I do sit and worry about the chairs that may or may not crumble around me!
Err, maybe 21 crazies. Not all there. Ta. Also, that Billy Idol poster has it about right.