I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Wilco perform in the main room (grote zaal) of Paradiso…four, maybe five? The band has been playing this venue since its earliest days as a band — “forever,” as Jeff said at one point tonight. But as someone who usually prefers to get as close as possible to the front for shows, I think I’ve always had a bit of a stigma about Paradiso because of the height of its stage.
I have memories of barely being able to see Glenn at all, or having to crane my neck uncomfortably to see the back line of Mikael, Glenn and Pat, or having my view partially blocked by a monitor while pressed up against the base of the stage. Though I’ve personally never headed upstairs to one of the two U-shaped balconies that ring the room, I know more than a few front-row folks who instead opt for that bird’s-eye view. But tonight I decided to once again take my chances up front, and I’m glad I did. The stage is definitely on the high side, but it’s only about five feet (instead of the — I don’t know — eight in my mind), and though I usually love venues where there is no barricade, the presence of a rail actually helped in this case because it gave folks in the front a slightly better viewing angle, if that makes any sense.
Of course it’s not perfect, and with Jeff and Co., there will always be monitors, but it’s hard not to contrast tonight’s setup with the one the previous night in Nijmegen. Would you rather have a lower stage but the band set up way back on it, or would you rather have a higher stage with the band much closer? I’d opt for the latter. In my mind, moving forward, I’ll think of Paradiso similarly to how I think of another iconic club venue that Wilco has played often over the years, The Fillmore in San Francisco.
Anyway, after Jeff indicated at the end of the Nijmegen show that he was aware some members of that audience might also be in Amsterdam, you knew there would be at least a few setlist changes. By count, there were six swapouts from Nijmegen — not as many as I know some veteran European fans would like, but still nearly a third of the 21-song, 1-hour, 48-minute set. And a couple of those changes were definite doozies, including Say You Miss Me as the back half of an A.M.-Being There two-fer (John’s composition It’s Just That Simple being the first part). It was just the third time that song has been played this year and one of just a handful of times over the past few years. I had missed the two previous performances of it in 2026, so that one was a treat for me.
And then there was the electric version of Art Of Almost, which just like at this year’s Solid Sound Festival, sort of came out of nowhere mid-set and stole the show. Within the relatively intimate confines of Paradiso, AOA reminded me and the other 1,500 or so members of the sold-out crowd how thunderous it can be in its original arrangement and proved to be an early climax for the evening. Even Jeff seemed pleased with the performance, smiling slyly as he told the audience, “We haven’t played that one in a little while. Not on this continent.” (For the record, the band played the acoustic arrangement of AOA on the first of two nights in Antwerp, Belgium, last year, but hadn’t done the electric version on this side of the pond since a handful of European festivals in the summer of 2017.)
Actually, now that I think of it, it had been a little while since Jeff and Co. had even played at Paradiso. If I’m not mistaken, this was Jeff’s first time back since before the pandemic; he has appeared much more frequently over the past decade, whether with Wilco, the Tweedy band or solo, in one of the rooms inside the Tivoli Vredenburg complex in Utrecht. “Good to see you again,” he said relatively early in the set. “It’s been a while.” (A woman in the balcony then shouted, “Jeff Tweedy!” To which Jeff paused, smiled and replied, “Guilty as charged.”)
Other amusing visits to Banter Corner included complimenting the crowd after the acoustic I’m Always In Love when Jeff said, “Thanks for singing along. You did pretty good. A lot of people don’t know when to come in on that (final ‘I’m always in love’ before the outro), myself included.” Prior to starting Heavy Metal Drummer, Jeff once again lauded the audience on its collective singing during the preceding Jesus, etc., and deadpanned, “Don’t sing along with this (next) one. Just kidding. It really would help me, so I can just take a break.” During Jesus, etc., incidentally, another funny little moment happened when Nels did something that caused an odd sound. He looked up a bit sheepishly from his lap steel stool when Jeff gave him a quick look and quipped, “Settle down over there.”
One other noteworthy bit of crowd interaction came between Everyone Hides and Annihilation during one of Jeff’s innocuous check-ins. “How’s everybody doing?” Jeff asked, to which a certain Scotsman standing in the front row whom I know quite well responded, “How are you doing?” Jeff somehow was able to understand this fine gent through his brogue and seemed like he might go into a little soliloquy about the state of things when he said, “There’s a lot of shit going on, but we’re doing OK.” He continued, “I’m gonna answer questions honestly, not like those other fucking bands.” Who knows if he had anyone specific in mind, but ultimately Jeff simply concluded the little moment by saying how happy he was to be here and expressing gratitude on behalf of his bandmates to get to play for this audience.
Perhaps the only disappointment of this return engagement at Paradiso came in the encore when Jeff and Co. waved goodnight with about 12 minutes left before a presumed 11 p.m. curfew. After I Got You (At The End Of The Century), it seemed like we might get one more song — and indeed Spiders (Kidsmoke) was once again on the printed setlist as the final number — but plans were amended for the second straight show. Perhaps Jeff just wasn’t feeling it or there was some other reason we’ll never know, but it didn’t seem to be a time issue as it had been in Nijmegen. Instead, the crush of souls assembled inside the slightly stuffy, venerable rock club gradually spilled back out onto the lively streets of Amsterdam late on this Tuesday night certainly having been rocked — but not quite as thoroughly as they might otherwise have been.
Here was the complete Paradiso setlist, as played (Spiders (Kidsmoke) was listed as the final song of the show on the printed setlist, as mentioned, but got cut):
Handshake Drugs
If I Ever Was A Child
Via Chicago
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart>
Kamera
Evicted
Bird Without A Tail/Base Of My Skull
I’m Always In Love (acoustic arrangement)
Everyone Hides
Annihilation
Hummingbird
It’s Just That Simple
Say You Miss Me
Impossible Germany
Art Of Almost
Jesus, etc.
Heavy Metal Drummer>
I’m The Man Who Loves You
Encore
The Late Greats
California Stars
I Got You (At The End Of The Century)
A shot of support act Hovvdy (duo), just because.
Loyal reader, first time commenter - what are your top five venues to see Wilco?
Ta. That is all.