Fountains Of Wayne - The Astoria

I’m a massive fan of the Fountains of Wayne. I think they’re incredibly under-rated and one of the finest guitar-pop acts this side of Weezer and the Beach Boys.

Unfortunately they only toured Australia once - in support of ‘Eutopia Parkway’ in 1999. I still remember it as a fantastic show, so rich in sweet pop melodies that my teeth hurt the next day. Needless to say, I was incredibly excited to be seeing them for the second time a mere 8 years later!

Opening with “I’ve Got A Flair” from their self titled debut, it was good to see a few songs from this decade-old record getting a decent airing. Other early classics included “Sink To The Bottom”, and a set-closing double-shot of “Radiation Vibe” and “Survival Car”.

I also really liked the choppy “Denise”, a calypso-flavoured “Hey Julie” (complete with two crowd members on shakers) and the slower “Mexican Wine”. While the set-closing trip•tych of “Stacey’s Mom” into “Radiation Vibe” and “Survival Car” sent the crowd into a bit of a frenzy to close the main set.

Songs from the new album ‘Traffic and Weather’ sounded fantastic live, particularly the pulsing title track which opened the first encore, the country-ish “Fire In The Canyon”, the slower “I-95” (complete with disco-ball lighting), and rocking “Somebody to Love”.

Despite the pre-recorded music coming on after the first encore, the crowd managed to coax a second one, and we were treated to the ‘Welcome Interstate Managers’ double-shot of “Bright Future in Sales” and “Bought for a Song".


Full setlist went something like this:
I’ve Got A Flair
No Better Place
It Must Be Summer
Denise
Hey Julie
Yolanda Hayes
Hackensack
I-95
Mexican Wine
Fire In the Canyon
Sink to the Bottom
Strapped For Cash
Somebody To Love
Stacey’s Mom
Radiation Vibe
Survival Car

Encore 1:
Traffic & Weather
Red Dragon Tattoo

Encore 2:
Bright Future in Sales
Bought For a Song

Wilco – Shepherds Bush Empire

It was almost like an old school album launch seeing Wilco the week they release their new album ‘Sky Blue Sky’.

The show started bang on 9pm, which is good news with the 11pm curfew on a Sunday night.

As expected, a lot of the new album was played kicking off with the two-fer of “Side With The Seeds” and “You Are My Face”.

I’ve still only listened to ‘Sky Blue Sky’ a few times right through, and my initial reaction was it was a bit same-same, with only a few songs really jumping out at me – so I was interested to see how the material came up live.

For the most part it was much better - particularly songs they’ve been playing for a while like “What Light” and especially the rockier tracks like “Walken” and “Shake It Off”.

My feeling is the latest incarnation of Wilco really need to chew a song up and spit it back out before they reach the truly definitive version of it. At least this was the case for a lot of the older material played tonight – especially the pulsing “Handshake Drugs”, an mesmerising “Hummingbirds”, and a truly schizophrenic “Via Chicago”.

The final encore closed with a true highlight, as a visibly awed Jeff Tweedy shared vocals with the aging Bill Fay (making his first stage appearance in almost 30 years) for a version of Fay’s “Be Not So Fearful” – a cover that’s been popping up in both Wilco and Tweedy solo sets for the last few years.

Full setlist:

1. Side with Seeds
2. You Are My Face
3. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
4. Handshake Drugs
5. Shot in the Arm
6. Impossible Germany
7. Sky Blue Sky
8. At Least That’s What You Think
9. Shake it Off
10. Muzzle of Bees
11. Hummingbird
12. Via Chicago
13. Jesus, etc.
14. Walken
15. I'm the Man Who Loves You
Encore 1:
16. Late Greats
17. War on War
18. Poor Places
19. Spiders
Encore 2:
20. What Light
21. Airline to Heaven
22. Be Not So Fearful (w/ Bill Fay)