Photo: Shervin Lainez

When Jeff Tweedy stepped out on tour in support of his new triple solo album, Twilight Override, there was a built-in expectation that the currency of his typical 20-song set did not have the capacity to fit the entirety of his latest studio efforts. During his initial touring leg, the guitarist and esteemed songwriter found a fit for certain pieces, with some exceptions. One of those outliers was “Throwaway Lines,” Tweedy’s meditation on the capacity of the written word to fluctuate feelings of hurt, desire, fear, and love. 

Luckily, the track received its first live treatment this week. The song’s debut took place during the concert segment of the KEXP Yule Tide Benefit, held at McHaw Hall in Seattle on Tuesday, December 3. The aforementioned track arrived after a career-spanning overview of songs that ranged from the evening’s opener, which nodded at Tweedy’s latest project, “KC Rain (No Wonder),” before pushing into his 2018 solo set, WARM, “Having Been Is No Way to Be.” He balanced the set with standards from the Wilco canon, including “Via Chicago,” “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” and a piece from his Uncle Tupelo lineage, “New Madrid.” 

“Throwaway Lines” arrived smack in the middle of the set, representing an intricate web of light acoustic strums and the submission of the words that shouldn’t hold meaning but do: “Throwaway lines, the best I can do/ Throwaway lines like, ‘I love you’/ I’m afraid you can see/ What I really mean when I sing/ In between throwaway lines.” The track showcased the best of Tweedy’s skillset, an artist who plucks the heartstrings and encourages feelings without any sort of robust response; instead, it’s the approach he takes to his work, slow and melodic, purposeful and pristine. 

On the same charity bill as Tweedy was an old friend and longtime collaborator, Mavis Staples, who delivered her own set of songs with select backing from the Wilco frontman. During Staples’ frame, she brought Tweedy out to help her on two songs, including “You’re Not Alone” and her father’s own “Friendship” as a fitting ode to their partnership with songsmith.

View Tweedy’s setlist below.

Jeff Tweedy 

McCaw Hall – Seattle 

December 2, 2025 

Set: KC Rain (No Wonder), Having Been Is No Way to Be, Gwendolyn, Via Chicago, Stray Cats in Spain, Forever Never Ends, A Lifetime to Find, New Madrid, Evicted, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Throwaway Lines+, Ambulance, Feel Free, You and I, Twilight Override, Jesus, Etc., Enough, Lou Reed Was My Babysitter, I’m the Man Who Loves You

Notes:

+ Debut, first time played