When Andrew and I heard that Wilco and Waxahatchee were touring together we knew we had to get our white asses down to San Antonio to see them! I love Wilco and he loves Waxahachee so it was a real chocolate and peanut butter situation. On the day of the show he got to my house around 4:00 and after accidentally driving in the wrong direction for ten minutes we headed to San Antonio.

The show was held at The Espee which is located in the historic St Paul Square. It used to be a train station in the early 1900s and is now an event venue. It’s a really lovely space that stands out as distinct compared to other venues, When we arrived and Waxahachee started the venue was pretty empty and it looked strange seeing people huddled at the stage and then a large empty space because most of the crowd was forced to stand away, but by the time Wilco went on it had filled out nicely. Part of the awkwardness might have been due to the show starting so early. Music began at 6:45 and ended at 10:00 on the dot due to a noise curfew on weekdays in San Antonio.

Waxahatchee and her band walked on stage to Dolly Parton's “Here I Am” and proceeded to play a delightful set composed primarily of songs from her last two albums, with a few songs from the Plains record she made in collaboration with Jess Williamson between releases. Katie Crutchfeld’s voice is somehow better live than on the record and her band makes her sound really pop. Waxahatchee’s drummer is Spencer Tweedy, son of Wilco lead singer Jeff Tweedy. I was expecting there to be some reference to this, like Jeff coming out and showing baby photos, but it went unmentioned. Waxahatchee performed for the length of an episode of Law and Order SVU which felt painfully short for an artist this wonderful, but that’s the life of an opener.

The last time I saw Waxahatchee, they were the closing act of an all-day festival out at Willie Nelson’s Luck Ranch, sharing the stage with Bill Calahan, Futurebirds, Kevin Morby, and the great Lucinda Williams. As the sun set and Katie and her band took the stage, a group of girls beside me, decked out in Waxahatchee hats and merch, shrieked. The crowd was massive, and it seemed like everyone was singing and dancing along.

It was a different energy when I saw the band opening for Wilco a couple nights ago at the Espee in San Antonio. Waxahatchee was the opening act, and when they took the stage promptly at six forty-five, the crowd was still filling out. People were engaged, but it was a bit of a drastic shift in energy from when I saw them a month or so ago.

Regardless, Katie and her band put on a great show. I was locked in from the moment they started playing 3 Sisters. It’s a perfect opener, the song has a soft build with Katie singing and some sparse piano/guitar up until the two minute mark when the drum flourishes, rolls, and crashes as the song picks up in tempo, the whole band joining in. It’s a great opener to Tiger’s Blood, her latest record, and is a great way to start her set. It eases you into the world Katie’s crafted with her music, really emphasizing that the words she’s singing matter just as much as the music.

Crowbar continues to be a standout moment in her set and continues to prove itself as one of my favorite Waxahatchee songs. It’s breezy and wistful while also holding a little resentment in its lyrics that harkens back to some earlier, angrier moments in Katie’s discography but with a groove that hits so good live. I’ve found myself spinning around and swaying along to the chorus all three times I’ve seen her play it live.

My official review is… I love Waxahatchee!! And I will see them live any chance I can get!

Here are Andrew's thoughts on Waxahatchee:

Between the sets I peed (no dividers at the urinals) and got water (free and easily accessible). While waiting for Wilco to start I chatted with a lovely couple next to me who were from Baltimore. Wilco came on at 8:00 and opened with “Company In My Back”. They proceeded to play a varied setlist of songs across their entire discography. The six piece band was as tight as ever and sounded absolutely amazing. I’ve now seen Wilco five times and they have so many great songs that you’ll always be satisfied, but also always have a favorite or two that gets left out. This time I would’ve loved to hear “Misunderstood” and “How To Fight Loneliness” but I’ve heard them before so I’ll live.

Early on they performed “Handshake Drugs”, “Via Chicago”, and “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” back to back to back. For most bands songs that classic would be the encore but they have so many greats that they can throw them anywhere In the setlist. “Via Chicago” in particular is a delight to see live because it’s a pretty radical change from the recorded version. When performed live there’s multiple noisy breakdowns that seemingly come out of nowhere. These sudden bursts of energy really allow drummer Glenn Kotche to really show his chops and pound the skins. When Tweedy yells “says I haven’t gone too far” at the end and it all comes together it’s truly euphoric.

Typically for a band that’s been around for over thirty years it would be the older songs that are the most exciting, but my personal favorite song from the night might have been “Bird Without A Tail / Base Of My Skull” which is off their 2022 record Cruel Country. The first half of the song features hypnotic lyrics taken from an anonymous poem that’s “older than the Alamo” according to Tweedy. This goes on for a good while before being a springboard into a jam. The jam went on for what felt like ten minutes and guitarist Nels Cline absolutely killed it. I don’t know anything about playing music, which is a bad trait to have when I have a website where I write about music, but this guy is… quite good. Watching him shred is a wonder to behold. The middle aged man in front of me (redundant to say, it’s a Wilco show, they’re all middle aged men) was absolutely losing his mind during this song. He was holding onto the railing and shaking his entire body.

Their Encore began with “California Stars” from Mermaid Avenue, Wilco and Billy Bragg's album of songs with unreleased Woodie Guthrie lyrics. Midway through the song I noticed a grandma standing front row at the railing singing along. I’m not exaggerating when I say this is the oldest person I’ve seen at a concert, she was probably 85 years old. Afterwards Jeff noticed her and they had a back and forth that was quite cute. The night ended with “Shot In The Arm” which is another favorite of mine and was so much fun to scream the lyrics to. Andrew and I drove home and he hit an Armadillo. Overall it was a wonderful night of Alt-Country in the great city of San Antonio.

Right back to it: