Wilco graced the stage in quaint Spokane, Wash. on Thursday night, playing an amazing show with enthusiastic energy and a grand stage presence. It was enough to bring dedicated fans from as far as Seattle, cruising along I-90 for five hours to the other side of the state, for what was Wilco’s closest show on this tour. The venue was an ideal setting for the evening of music in Spokane’s beautiful INB Performing Arts Center, otherwise known as the Opera House.

Fleet Foxes opened the show to a scarce crowd with all the house lights still on, which was bizarre, starting at least 15 minutes early. With the lights finally dimming, the band’s vocal harmonies were as dead on as ever and the opera house setting was refreshing, a change the band performing outside on festival stages. Vocalist Robin Pecknold, adorned in his blue plaid shirt as always, played a short solo bit in the middle captivating the audience with his voice, and poignant track “Oliver James.” Closing with “Blue Ridge Mountains,” the crowd was obviously sold as many stood during the final roar of applause.

The crowd erupted as Wilco came on stage, lead by Jeff Tweedy with harmonica ready, and the band got right into it starting things off with “Sunken Treasure,” and Nels Cline tearing it up on slide guitar. Tweedy’s voice is astounding, interwoven with deep emotion and a cutting intensity. A highlight was “Hummingbird” off A Ghost is Born, when Tweedy hopped all over the stage, teetering on the edge looking at the crowd and clapping, finally getting the crowd on its feet and dancing.

After a few songs, Tweedy commented on the crowd.

“You are a very attentive audience, quite lovely,” he said. “We’ve been doing lots of shows outside. It’s strange to see no people on blankets with picnics. We’re working on a new genre: lawncore.”

With the crowd still standing, Wilco started playing “How to Fight Loneliness” off Summerteeth, and the crowd slowly crept back to sitting. After pulling out a solid live rock version of the song, Tweedy commented, “That was a request and everyone sat down. At least one person was happy.” He continued on, saying the band creates the set list for each show based on requests received via its Web site, joking that the band did a cost-benefit analysis for justification, because “at least one person will return every time.”

Other highlights were “Impossible Germany” from Sky Blue Sky and “I’m the Man Who Loves You” from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but overall the set list was solid and well-rounded, pulling from pretty much every one of Wilco’s albums, pleasing new and old fans.

As the band finished the last song and everything seemed to be coming to an end too soon, Wilco was back out on stage for an encore, starting with “Heavy Metal Drummer,” getting everyone moving more than throughout the entire show. Tweedy entertained with more banter, coming to the realization that no one was drunk enough.

“You guys can’t drink in here, can you?” he said. After a few minutes, he decided the audience needed to be drunk in their minds so everyone could loosen up a bit.

The encore ended with Fleet Foxes returning to the stage for a cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” with all of the members of Fleet Foxes accompanying on vocals. It was breathtaking to be able to watch such a collaboration unfold on stage, and a seemingly perfect end to the evening.

Just as it seemed to be over yet again, Wilco came back out on stage, rewarding those who stuck around a second encore, playing a few more songs and finishing up with “Outtasite (Outtamind).”

The entire few hours was extraordinary and worth every minute of the drive.