Wilco at Hammersmith Apollo

Wilco

Hovvdy

Hammersmith Apollo, 20 August 2026

Last year Wilco played their biggest London show at the grandiose Royal Albert Hall but I was more excited to see them rock the legendary Hammersmith Apollo, a venue more suited to a rock band I think, and they certainly didn't disappoint, playing songs from pretty much every album and sounding as good as I've ever heard them.

There was a time when I was absolutely obsessed with Wilco but I had fallen out of love with them a little in recent years and I went from seeing them three times a year to not seeing them live for years. All that changed with their 2023 album Cousin, which I absolutely loved and it led to me going to see them at the Royal Albert Hall last year. It was funny because it felt like I had never taken a break from them: they were still playing lots of the old favourites and were just as good as ever. Then last year Jeff Tweedy released his solo album Twilight Override and it absolutely won my heart, then Tweedy's live show earlier this year also blew me away. So I had high hopes for this show.

I got there early as I wanted to get to the front and I was pleasantly surprised at the mix of ages (last year at the Royal Albert Hall had seemed a bit of a grey-fest). I talked to one chap who told me Wilco were his favourite band and that he was born the year that A Ghost Is Born came out, which of course made me feel very old but also felt reassuring. 

Years ago a friend of a friend had belittled my love of Wilco by calling them a "dad band" which they probably were and still are, but the fact that people are still discovering them and digging them, makes me think they still have plenty to offer and are still plenty cool.

Once inside and at the front, we could see the words "Wilco" emblazoned across the back of the stage and it felt exciting for what was to come. First though was the support band, Hovvdy who came highly recommended to me.

The duo, from Austin, Texas, usually have a band but tonight it was just the pair of them: Charlie Martin and Will Taylor, who walked on stage with their acoustic guitars, looking very happy.  I'm not familiar with their music but this evening's set saw them playing melodic country-folk songs, with warm, Everly Brothers-esque harmonies. One song called Forever, they attempted to teach the crowd the chorus ("Yeah I'm fall forever") in order to sing along, which had only middling success and through some of the quieter moments you could hear quite a lot of chatter coming from the bars. That said, they smiled the whole way through, were very sweet and charming and the crowd around us seemed to enjoy their set. They sounded nice but it did make me curious what they would sound like with a full band, particularly a drummer. 

But we were all here to see Wilco and they didn't make us wait too long, arriving on stage just after 9pm, looking suitably laid back, every member so distinctive and familiar to me. Obviously they are look older now but they are some of the coolest looking 50-something dudes (aside from guitarist Nels Cline, who unbelievably is 70 years old!).

The almost two-hour set started off strong with the old A Ghost Is Born favourite, Handshake Drugs, Tweedy halfway through swapping his acoustic guitar for his red SG and joining Cline in a fantastic guitar dual as the song built to its brilliantly noisy, feedback-filled finale. It perfectly set up what was to come.

Tweedy then told us he was going to talk less tonight and play more (I must confess I love Tweedy's funny stories and quips, it always adds to every show, but of course I don't mind the focus being on the music either). 

The set tonight had lots of old favourites (not surprisingly Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the best represented with six songs played, although this was in contrast to last year's show where they only played two) but so many treats too from their back catalogue. I think the only albums not represented were Wilco (The Album) and Star Wars. I was quite excited to hear some of the tracks from what I call my Wilco wilderness years aka those years I didn't catch them live. 

There was the sweet and gentle If I Ever Was A Child from Schmilco, the moody Everyone Hides from Ode To Joy and maybe best of all, the electronic art-rock of Art Of Almost from The Whole Love, which built to an extended instrumental passage, featuring Cline wailing on his guitar, before returning to the melody. It was absolutely fantastic and almost became a completely different song than the one I remembered on the record.

Again, there was only one song from Cousin (slightly disappointing as I loved that album so much), Evicted, and the nearest they came to playing a new song was Annihilation from the last record they released, the Hot Sun Cool Shroud, but I guess without a new album to promote they were happy giving us all the old songs we know and love and some deep cuts from the back catalogue too (I can't deny it would have been fun to have heard something new too though).

Things like Via Chicago and Impossible Germany always sound great live and are obvious crowd favourites, but for me personally I was particularly thrilled when Tweedy handed over the main mic to bassist John Stirratt (also swapping instruments, with Tweedy taking up the bass and Stirratt playing acoustic guitar), and singing lead vocals on the old A.M. track It's Just That Simple, a plaintive country track, it was just lovely (and fun to see Tweedy play bass for once, like in the old Uncle Tupelo days).

It was also a thrill to hear I'm Always In Love, from the Summerteeth days, but turned from a power pop tune to a slower and more twangy country number with Cline playing a mean pedal steel.

I think I sang along every word to Hummingbird and Theologians, two absolute classics from A Ghost Is Born, but I think the last three songs (from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot), really did get everyone singing along: there was a particularly nice moment in Jesus, Etc where the voices from the crowd were so loud that Tweedy stepped away from the mic and raised his arms, leading the voices from the audience to sing the "our love, our love is all we have," smiling at the joyful sounds from the crowd. 

Heavy Metal Drummer and I'm The Man Who Loves You got a similarly enthusiastic response and really they could have ended the show there but thankfully for us they returned for four more songs, starting with the slow-burning Ashes Of American Flags, which of course ends a wall of feedbacking sounds.  

The wonderful California Stars never fails to move me and it sounded as warm and lovely as ever and it was nice to hear Tweedy and Stirratt harmonise together. But it was the pure joy of the final two songs that made the night for me and they were both from Being There (sadly not Hotel Arizona, my holy grail to hear live, a song they haven't played in London since the 90s!).

First there was the excellent, punchy power pop of  I Got You (End Of The Century), which Tweedy started with a big "woo!" and seemed to have a ball playing, grinning throughout, while guitarist Pat Sansone was jumping around doing windmills on his guitar, in true Pete Townshend-style. 

Stirratt was actually pogoing at the start of the pure pop rush of Outtasite (Outta Mind) and drummer Glenn Kotche (who had been a wonder to watch the whole show), going absolutely crazy on the drums. It left everyone on a high at the end of the show and was the perfect final song (I think pretty much everyone was satisfied by this point and there was no demand for a second encore, plus I think we were pretty close to the curfew anyway).

Even though the show was almost two hours it was never a slog and whizzed by quickly as everyone was having so much fun. It proves to me Wilco are so much better in a venue that isn't completely seated because they without doubt reflected the energy coming from the audience: I looked around and there was old and young, bouncing around, singing and jumping up and down during the show, and lots of smiles too. 

The chap next to me had been first in the queue and had seen Wilco many times and every time I looked at him he had the biggest grin on his face (at the end he held up a sign asking for the setlist and one of the roadies gave him once, which he more than deserved!). 

We didn't get all the Tweedy tales and stories but there were a few quips here and there, like when someone in the audience shouted "we love you Jeff!" to which he replied with a smirk on his face, "I know" before saying quietly "I love you too." He then admitted that when he tells his wife he loves her she just replies "Okay" (I get the feeling that Susan, his wife, is even funnier than Jeff).

Near the end of the show he also made that same joke "We're coming to the end," (where everyone boos) and then says "I just mean in general." I think he's made this joke everytime I've seen him live recently and somehow it gets funnier every time he repeats it.  

All in all this was a wonderful show and it felt good to see Wilco in a place like the Hammersmith Apollo. The whole band were on fantastic form (I don't think I even mentioned keyboard player Mikael Jorgensen, who was hidden away from me for much of the show but still looks like an even cooler Wes Anderson) and just looked like they were enjoying themselves the whole show. It was lovely to see everyone singing along and having fun, and there was something magical to hear all those songs that made me fall in love with Wilco in the first place.  I can't wait to see them again.