God, it’s been a week already? But my head was clear, and the post-gig notes are mostly legible::::::::::
A five-night hometown residency to play every song in the book… bold. I want to know who managed to pull duty at all five nights, and find out what are their motivations (and connections). But the fourth was good enough for me and my companions, so…
A good parent (neither good nor parent, I… just projecting here) knows not to give a screaming child everything it wants. But sycophantic audiences of 20 to 40-somethings - occasionally more obnoxious than some infants - don’t react well to being denied anything, so Wilco and Jeff Tweedy, rock ‘n roll daddy extraordinaire gave in to our demands on Tuesday night at the Riviera, including free coffee.
The free coffee was for the kids who waited for hours in negative-sixty-degree cold for the doors to open (that’s called ‘negative reinforcement’, right?). And despite issuing a decree against encores, that’s exactly what Tweedy gave the implacable nursery of hipsters when we refused to budge at the end of the 2nd set. But not quite overindulging us… good bartenders, they cut us off at just the right time.
Between pandering to one’s whims and fetishes and the patient satisfaction that the Kama Sutra advocates, Wilco danced with both partners on Tuesday night. The show was aired on WXRT, which usually calls for a safer setlist, but even when it veered towards the predictable it came sideways.
Hard to say exactly what constitutes a ‘deep cut’ for Wilco since every song is someone’s favorite. Opening with ‘Outtasite (Outa Mind)’ isn’t exactly a b-side (and it was granted that they would bookend the night with ‘Outta Mind (Outa Site)’) but we WANTED it! The live debut of Sky Blue Sky’s ‘Leave Me (Like You Found Me)’ was a tiny gem, and seemed more consistent with the band’s mission to play every song they ever recorded. Following-up with ‘Company in my Back’ delivered, unwittingly, the illegal words, “Holy shit,” to the sensitive residents Radioland. Fuckin’ rock’n roll, man.
But the setlist was incidental to the execution of it, even if they didn’t offer anything from Mermaid Ave. Wilco’s songs are deceptively simple, but representing every sound from the discs in a live setting (sans laptop, mostly) is a feat - these tunes are dense. Faithfulness to the arrangements everyone knows was a bigger hit than had they cheated and fallen back on improvised flights to camouflage any on-stage ineptitude. Even ‘California Stars’, which doesn’t have many depths to plumb, was ebullient and chicken-tight, particularly on the vocal harmonies and interplay between Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt and utility infielder Pat Sansone… Tweedy was smiling like he just scored touchdowns (but, wait - he doesn’t believe in touchdowns… never mind) and that from the most basic song in the band’s cannon. Fierce highs, pin-drop lows… Wilco doubles as the loudest and most dynamic band around (I acquiesce, of course, that the conquerors of the straight-up LOUD department are Matt’s picks, but that’s an entirely different kind of flying, all together).
We all gave each other a little ‘aw-shucks’ look when Tweedy beamed that Chicago-love has spoiled the rest of the tour. Nevertheless, the tour is still young and may be coming near you. Go, even if they don’t promise to give you every song they ever wrote.
2-26, 27: Washington DC
2-29: Charleston, SC
3-02: Nashville, TN
3-03: Mobile, AL
3-04, 05: New Orleans, LA
3-07: Houston, TX
3-08: Tulsa, OK
3-09: Des Moines, IA
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