The Thanksgiving I get

Well, on Thanksgiving Eve I saw something I never thought I'd see - Wilco playing the Barrymore. They used to play the Barrymore, years ago, but had been in larger Madison venues for at least the past five years. But thanks to the timing of the show, or some magic post-birthday enchantment, they played the Barrymore last night. Not surprisingly, I was there. So were many of my Madison friends, as well as out-of-town guests U, Dick, Paul, and special late edition Evonne. I suppose Paul was also a surprise late edition, but somehow, not that shocking.

We lucked out with the weather (the Californians will just need to take my word for it) - it was sunny and 54 degrees. In late November! Evonne got to explore the coffee shops (and bacon) of Willy Street and Atwood Ave., Uyen got some quality work time in on State Street, Dick had a diner Reuben, and Paul - in an unprecedented event - failed to check out the nearby record store. Granted, it was open for two hours and fifteen minutes on Wednesday.

The show was quite good, but the whole thing seemed a little weird to me. I think because, you know, I was at the Barrymore seeing Wilco. The stage is low, there was no barrier, the ceiling stars were twinkling merrily. We were just so close. The Detholz! opened the show, and even though I just saw them in Sooz and Sam's basement a couple of months ago, I had forgotten how much I enjoy them - the keyboardist in particular. All of the Mike Jorgensen mentions were pretty funny.

Wilco played a lot of new songs - six of them - including "Shake it Off" for the very first time. The whole show had a pretty informal feel, which was nice. The Barrymore crowd is usually pretty mellow, and this was (mostly) no exception. John and his wife are brand new parents of a baby girl, which was mentioned throughout the night (including a really sweet dedication by Jeff of "What Light"). Jeff chalked some rustiness up to the fact that they were up all night boiling water and getting towels. People were throwing flowers onstage, too - one bouquet clearly meant for John, and then later a lone rose skidded to a stop near Nels before the encore began. As he picked it up, a decidedly masculine voice from behind me yelled, "I LOVE YOU NELS!" Awesome. I caught a stray flower that Jeff picked up from the stage and tossed out after the show, and only later did it occur me that it was a pink carnation. Groan.

After the show we headed to The Weary Traveler (appropriate!) for some late night beer, sustenance, and acoustic guitar entertainment before U had to go back to the bus and the rest of us crashed at my apartment. Happy Thanksgiving to all.