Wilco — 14 June 2026, Chautauqua, NY (Chautauqua Institution Amphitheatre)

When Wilco wrapped up its summer touring at the Chautauqua Institution following Solid Sound 2024, I regretted not getting there — not only because it figured to be the band’s last show for a while, but just because of the interesting-sounding nature of the place. (And as it turned out, that would indeed be the band’s final performance before debuting the two-set “Evening With…” format six months later that would shape much of the next two years of live Wilco.)

Chautauqua? Institution? What exactly is this place? Well, fortunately, I didn’t have to wait too long to find out. Less than two years later, on their way to another Solid Sound Festival, Jeff and Co. returned to this unique community in southwestern New York for one of those “Evening With…” gigs, which came on a rain-soaked Sunday night that probably played a part in keeping the attendance down. In a venue that has a seated capacity of around 4,400, I would say it only appeared maybe a third full at showtime. (The covered amphitheatre itself was kind of interesting, almost like an arena with rows of stadium-style seating completely encircling and leading down toward the stage, although contrary to what Jeff said he had been told, there wound up no one sitting behind them.)

“How’s everybody been?” Jeff asked near the start of the show. “We’re glad to be back. This is a wild place down here. … Just to make sure everybody knows, we are Wilco. We’re opening for ourselves, and sometimes people think we’re opening for Wilco.”

To address the question of what the Chautauqua Institution is, I guess I would say my initial impression was a combination between a gated retirement community, a college campus and a small-town movie set. “Founded in 1874,” one of its informational handouts tells us, the CI is a lakefront community “that comes alive each summer with a mix of lectures, fine and performing arts, interfaith worship and recreational activities.” Its 2026 season didn’t start for a couple of weeks, which was another reason why the Wilco show was probably underattended.

There also seemed to be some preseason operational snafus, such as when a number of people — myself included — arrived to take their seats in the first few rows only to find that the seats had apparently been double booked. I can’t speak for anyone else’s experience, but I had upgraded my ticket a few weeks earlier through the venue’s box office and yet someone else clearly also had a ticket for the seat I purchased. Fortunately I hadn’t sold my original ticket, a refund for the upgrade was immediately promised and an apology given, but the mix-up was still a disappointment. Between that and the all-day rain that made my drive to Chautauqua a real slog, my early enthusiasm definitely got taken down a few notches.

Of course none of that had any bearing on the show itself, which really seemed to pick up at the start of the second set when Jeff made an offhand comment — “We’re back. Come on down…” — that led to a stage rush of sorts during the first song. Seeing what had transpired with people filling in the space between the first row of seating and the barricades protecting the stage, Jeff said after Box Full Of Letters, “This isn’t exactly what I meant, but OK.” A few songs later, however, he expressed satisfaction at how things had played out: “Everybody having a good time? I’m glad I made you stand up here; this is nice.”

Whether or not it was because people were standing closer than they normally would have been, Jeff seemed to really be attuned to the audience up front. He poked fun at the clear plastic cups with black lids that were required to bring drinks into the pavilion, asking “Why is everyone carrying their urine samples around? Oh, you’re drinking them. I guess that’s kind of a tradition here.” Then he must have spotted a kid in the front row because he mouthed something off mike in that direction during Via Chicago, possibly indicating to cover their ears when Glenn’s cacophonous drum interludes kicked in. Jeff later thanked the kid “for bringing the median age down,” and tried briefly to interact, asking if they had been to many rock concerts before. “A few,” came the reply. Jeff continued, “OK, I’ll stop talking to you,” and added, to the rest of the amused crowd, “That went about as well as I thought.”

Near the end of Set 2, right after Jeff had awkwardly changed the lyric in Kingpin to “livin’ in…Chautauqua” the first time, he saw a woman to his left apparently faint and temporarily halted the song. After resuming and eventually getting through the longish jam, Jeff tentatively assured the crowd that the fainter seemed to be OK. “She’s all right, right?” he said. “She came up pretty fast. I have more trouble getting up than that without passing out.”

Banter Corner got a few visits during the first set as well, notably after Forget The Flowers when Jeff gave Glenn a little side eye as he did the usual drum roll at the end of that song and Glenn seemed to mouth “Stop?” back at him as he drew out the roll just a bit more to tease the frontman. Afterward, Jeff told the crowd, “He does that longer every night. We’re gonna have to do three sets.” Glenn protested by doing another roll, to which Jeff shot back, “We’re gonna take a break and just let him do that.” At the end of Set 1, Jeff also introduced Falling Apart (Right Now) in a way I hadn’t quite heard before: “This song was written during the pandemic when I realized we were all gonna take turns falling apart.”

Ironically, after that, the show more or less came together as the rain cleared out and the weather got pleasantly cool (but not cold). And by the time Pat sent the relatively small, but enthusiastic audience off into the night with some windmills on I Got You (At The End Of The Century), it seemed like Chautauqua would definitely welcome Wilco back into its slightly quaint, slightly mysterious environs. Every other summer, say?

Here was the complete setlist, as played (didn’t get a look at a printed list for either set, so can’t say if there were any changes/omissions):

Set 1

1. Handshake Drugs

2. If I Ever Was A Child

3. Cruel Country

4. Forget The Flowers

5. Evicted

6. Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull

7. I’m Always In Love (acoustic arrangement)

8. Everyone Hides

9. Hummingbird

10. It’s Just That Simple

11. You And I

12. Love Is Everywhere (Beware)

13. War On War

14. Falling Apart (Right Now)

15. California Stars

Set 2

16. Box Full Of Letters

17. Annihilation

18. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart>

19. One Wing

20. Via Chicago

21. Either Way

22. Whole Love

23. Impossible Germany

24. Jesus, etc.

25. Hate It Here

26. Theologians

27. Walken

28. Kingpin

29. Heavy Metal Drummer>

30. I’m The Man Who Loves You

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Encore

31. The Late Greats

32. I Got You (At The End Of The Century)