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February 25, 2008
Wilco at the Shubert
I really have to stop going to Wilco shows with any pre-conceived notions. I’m always wrong.
Having spent the better part of two weeks with the group’s new album, “Sky Blue Sky,” firmly entrenched in my car’s CD player, I was expecting a more laid-back concert Sunday night at the Shubert in New Haven than past performances.
Again, I was wrong.
Sunday night, at the sold-out and very intimate venue, Wilco conducted what seemed like a musical revival meeting, with frontman Jeff Tweedy in the role of the preacher to the adoring crowd.
The first few notes of every song elicited loud cheers as fans were treated to a two-hour set that spanned the group’s entire 12-year career. Not surprisingly, given the dedication of Wilco’s followers, the new material was greeted just as warmly as older favorites.
Whereas “Sky Blue Sky” is more contemplative and moodier than earlier records, the show was typical high-energy Wilco. A lot of the credit for that has to go to lanky guitarist Nels Cline. Whether it was lap steel or just plain old electric, Cline was a live wire on stage, all herky-jerky motion and screaming guitar.
In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear some of the new songs were used as mere starting points for Cline’s histrionics.
What else was I wrong about? I guessed that the concert would pay stricter attention to “Sky Blue Sky,” or even the previous studio record, 2004’s “A Ghost is Born.”
Only six of the 25 songs performed Sunday were from “Sky” and two from “Ghost.” Compare that to six songs from 1996’s “Being There” — including the last four songs of the encore — and five from 2002’s groundbreaking “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” and you can understand why Wilco devotees sitting near me were constantly talking about the “great mix” of old and new songs.
As if two hours of Wilco wasn’t enough, I also thoroughly enjoyed opening act John Doe, formerly of Los Angeles punk pioneers X. His set lasted 45 minutes and featured Cindy Wasserman ably handling the female vocals on a few duets, most notably the X classic “White Girl.”
As a bonus, Wilco’s Cline came out to add steel guitar to one of Doe’s songs.
Wilco set list
Remember the Mountain Bed/California Stars/Company in My Back/Pot Kettle Black/A Shot in the Arm/Radio Cure/You are My Face/Side with the Seeds/Pick Up the Change/Hotel Arizona/I’m Always in Love/Impossible Germany/Jesus, etc./Misunderstood/Airline to Heaven/Theologians/Walken/I’m the Man Who Loves You/On and On and On
Encore: Hate it Here/Heavy Metal Drummer/Red-Eyed and Blue/I Got You (At the End of the Century)/Monday/Outtasite (Outta Mind)
Posted by Sean on February 25, 2008 5:57 PM
