Golden Smog, an alternative country-rock supergroup of loosely connected musicians mainly from the Minneapolis area, reunited at the Twin Cities’ First Avenue on Saturday and Sunday to honor the iconic venue’s 50th anniversary. The shows marked the first performances from the group in over 10 years and saw collaborations with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy for the first time since ’08.

The show was initially set to take place in 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic; the second night was added in a silver linings fashion. The lineup for the weekend included Tweedy, Run Westy Run’s Kraig Johnson, Big Star percussionist Jody Stephens, Gary Louris and Marc Perlman of the Jayhawks, Soul Asylum alum Danny Murphy and violinist Jessy Greene.

Both evenings showcased material from Golden Smog’s 1998’s Weird Tales, 1995’s Down By The Old Mainstream and 2006’s Another Fine Day – all of which feature Tweedy. Highlights included “Lost Love,” “To Call My Own,” “Walk Where He Walked,” and “I Can’t Keep From Talking.” Saturday included covers of The Face’s “Glad & Sorry,” David Bowie’s “Starman,” Love’s “Signed D.C.” Brain Wilson’s “Love and Mercy,” and during the encore, Neil Young’s “Helpless.” Sunday’s covers saw “Glad & Sorry” once more, along with “Easy To Be Hard” by Gait MacDermot and The Kink’s “Strangers.”

During Saturday’s encore after “Radio King” and “Listen Joe,” Jeff Tweedy’s son, Spencer Tweedy joined Golden Smog on Neil Young’s “Helpless” before closing with “Until You Came Along.” Sunday’s encore had two parts: a coupling of “Please Tell My Brother” and “Radio King” before “Helpless” and “Until You Came Along” and a second encore which concluded with another Young staple, “Revolution Blues.”

The show was livestreamed by nugs.net. Tune in and watch shows with nugs.net here.

Watch a clip of the show via nugs.net below:

Golden Smog
First Avenue – Minneapolis, Minn.
April 2, 2022

Set: Looking Forward to Seeing You, Lost Love, To Call My Own, V, Yesterday Cried, Glad & Sorry, Red Headed Stepchild, Starman, Walk Where He Walked, He’s a Dick, Pecan Pie, Ill Fated, Long Time Ago, Signed D.C., I Can’t Keep From Talking, Won’t Be Coming Home, You Make It Easy, Love and Mercy, If I Only Had a Car, Corvette

Enc.: Radio King, Listen Joe, Helpless, Until You Came Along

Golden Smog
First Avenue – Minneapolis, Minn.
April 3, 2022

Set: Looking Forward to Seeing You, Lost Love, To Call My Own, V, Making Waves, Glad & Sorry, Red Headed Stepchild, All the Same to Me, Easy to Be Hard, Frying Pan Eyes, Listen Joe, Long Time Ago, Pecan Pie, You Make It Easy, Ill Fated, Strangers, Scotch on Ice, She Don’t Have to See You, Won’t Be Coming Home, I Can’t Keep From Talking, If I Only Had a Car

Enc.: Please Tell My Brother, Radio King, Helpless, Until You Came Along

Enc. II: Revolution Blues