I can't remember how many times I've seen Wilco now ... maybe 20? Something like that? I think in terms of total package - songs, musicianship, all around experience - live bands don't get much better. I could go on and on about their control of dynamics, tempo, etc. Sometimes, I do. But let's just say that I'm a fan. And when they're playing about 90 minutes away on the eve of my birthday, well ... I'm there.
My girlfriend, some friends and I ate a rushed but as always great (fairly light) dinner at Northstar Cafe. (I can't even express how lucky I think Columbus is to have this place.) And then we drove 90 minutes to Athens, OH, a fairly picturesque college town where Wilco would be rocking it quite soon. We were pushing it in terms of time and having a hard time finding the venue on campus, but a nice, granola-y student walked us to the front door of the place on our asking directions. And about (literally) 3 minutes after finding our seats (front row of the balcony), the lights went down and the show started. (We totally missed the openers, A Hawk and a Hacksaw.)
In the pantheon of Wilco shows I've witnessed, this wasn't an epic barnburner and wasn't a bust ... it was solid with a few fantastic moments, which I'd say is a typical night for them. They still blow almost any other band off the stage, of course. It's hard for me to be very objective with them at this point, as they're so ingrained and near/dear. Getting to know their catalog from back as a high schooler loving Uncle Tupelo has been so formative as to prevent me from having the same expectations or reactions as I would to "just any band." It was a blast.
I put an asterik next to some personal highlights. They went super heavy on material from A Ghost Is Born, which is great for me as that is probably my favorite Wilco record. Biggest disappointment was having both "Hate It Hear" and "ITMWLY" in the first encore. Ugh.
Hell is Chrome
Company In My Back
You Are My Face
Shouldn't Be Ashamed
Pot Kettle Black
Muzzle of Bees *(great, as usual - an underrated Tweedy tune)
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
A Shot In The Arm *(always epic)
Handshake Drugs
She's A Jar *(a nice, heartbreaking surprise)
Misunderstood *(midset? didn't see that coming)
Jesus etc.
Impossible Germany *(goosebumps every time)
Side With The Seeds
Poor Places -->
Spiders (Kidsmoke) *(this two-fer shows Wilco at their best right now)
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The Late Greats
Hate It Here
Heavy Metal Drummer
Walken
I'm The Man Who Loves You
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Kingpin
I'm a Wheel
***Photo courtesy of bluet14 on flickr.com.
1 comment:
Good set. Not a great encore...
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