The Big Wu packed an incredible amount of energy — including that of the “Southern” kind — into their headlining appearance at the Minnesota Zoo’s “Wild Nights” series that supports conservation in Minnesota and around the world.
The legendary Minnesota jam band did not play “Kangaroo,” but they played a pair of sets that certainly nodded to conservation and the natural world, with songs such as “Break of Day,” “We Are Trees” and a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire,” in the first set, and “Minnesota Moon,” “Southern Energy” and a cover of “Rocky Top” inside the show-ending “House of Wu.”
On this night, The Zoo’s Weesner Family Amphitheater was most definitely the House of Wu.
There was another big sandwich that the band served up — and Wu Family devoured — that preceded HOW with a stirring cover of The Who’s “Eminence Front” inside “Dark Lines,” one of the fire jam vehicles slated for their upcoming LP.
The cover was nailed in part by drummer and heart beat of the Wu, Terry VanDeWalker, delivering and fully selling those vocals along with keyboardist Al Oikari delivering up the synths crucial to any effort to cover that cult favorite.
The crowd was fired up throughout, though the sets were designed somewhat short by Wu standards at 45 minutes each. The first set was started in daylight, which did not fully reveal the intensity of the light show that was conjured up by the light crew.
This installment of “Wild Nights” also included Davina and the Vagabonds, Bloodline and The Cobra Trio. The exhibits were open until 8 p.m., allowing concertgoers a chance to see the animals before letting their inner animal out.
The Big Wu at Weesner Family Amphitheater, Minnesota zoo, Apple Valley, Minn., June 27, 2025
Set 1: Break of Day > Prime Time, Texas Fireball, Fleetwood Brougham, Dan Toe, MN Fats, We Are Trees, Fire
Set 2; Minnesota Moon > Southern Energy, Shantytown, Dark Lines > Eminence Front > Dark Lines, House of wu > Rocky Top> house of wu
