Wilco - 20th Anniversary Residencies
Twenty Years in the Making
To celebrate Wilco's 20th year as a band they released a boxed set of rarities, b-sides, and live tracks called Alpha Mike Foxtrot. A short tour was booked with multi night stands in Nashville (Ryman), New York (Capitol Theater), and ending with six hometown shows at Chicago's Riviera Theater.
150 Songs Over Six Nights
Over the course of each multi night stand there were no repeated songs. For the final shows in Chicago that equated to about 150 songs over six nights. Lots of the songs played over this tour had not been played in many years, and some of the songs had never been played live before. Quickly learning the structure of all of these rare songs and coming up with unique lighting looks was a challenge.
The Acoustic Treatment
The band decided that they would treat the audience to a special encore for these shows. After the main set ended, the band would leave the stage and return for a six song acoustic encore. I designed and fabricated an array of 19 vintage Edison bulbs in cages that would be flown in during the dark set change. The bulbs would light up individually as the band walked back on stage.
