Wilco - Live

By: Brett Hickman

Sunday September 16, 2007

Chicago, IL
"More. More concerts in Chicago's Millennium Park (Pritzker Pavilion), please." That's one of the first things I thought at Wilco's first hometown show of 2007. There's only been four so far (Wilco and The Decemberists are two) and modern music fans need more of them. The pavilion is simply a spectacular place to see a concert. From the thoughtful way that speakers are placed throughout, to the great seating in the reserved area to the stunning design of the stage (looking like a grand church) and its surroundings, this is the pre-emiment outdoor venue in Chicago.

But architecture can only keep you occupied for so long (there's also the city's skyline and the beauty that is Millennium Park), and Wilco's performance this cool, late-summer evening was one of the band's finest this writer has witnessed (7 thus far). Three years and four months ago I caught this incarnation of the band at Otto's in Dekalb, IL, a month before their album A Ghost Is Born and the second show the band had done with new members Pat Sansone and Nels Cline. While astonishing in its rawness, things hadn't quite gelled at that point. But they have now. This is a confident, close-knit band of brothers (as evidenced by Sky Blue Sky, still the year's best album) who are able to play off of one another with ease.

The Chicago show was the first in an experiment to take requests on the band's website. A lot of the songs performed were older and had fallen off of their set lists for newer material. Lasting nearly two and a half hours and showcasing 26 songs, everything from "Too Far Apart" (which singer Jeff Tweedy said the band had requested) from the band's debut AM to the newer material off of Sky Blue Sky were on display. But the band dug even deeper when they played "Cars Can't Escape," a song from the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot sessions that most fans know from trading or downloading.

There were some great, seemingly throw away moments in the set, such as Pat Sansone replicating percussion noises on "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" by tossing maracas and a tambourine in the air, caring little for where they landed as the effect would work regardless. At one point the lights on stage were bright white, throwing a giant shadow of guitarist Cline on stage left's wall. And then there was the "rock God" moment for Glen Kotche where he stood atop his drum kit triumphantly (Tweedy had dedicated "Via Chicago" to him as he was the only member born and raised in Chicago and joked that his entire family were occupying the lawn). Or when, at the end of "Hummingbird," Tweedy did a little jog around the band and crew twice.

However, the most rewarding moments were found in the performances. Tweedy's vocals were best during "Handshake Drugs," "Hummingbird" (which was only one of two songs he performed without a guitar), "Misunderstood" (with an incessant chant of "Nothin'!!") and a rousing finale of "Outtasite (Outtamind)". There were also the engaging harmonies by bassist John Stirratt and Sansone, the flawless percussion and, when needed, hard rock drumming of Kotche, the blistering guitar attacks of Cline (Tweedy himself is finding great inspiration in Cline it would appear by how his own playing has developed), the intertwining keyboard work of Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen, and the intricate bass lines of Stirratt.

But all of this attention to the finer details went out the window to this reviewer once the band kicked into it's second encore. Making "Heavy Metal Drummer" sound fresh again with an invigorating, playful performance seemed an impossible feat, but they did it; there was a delightful version of "California Stars" (my request) which was perfect in this setting; and the four-song, hard rocking capper of "Red-Eyed and Blue" (okay, this one isn't so "hard rocking"), "I Got You (At the End of the Century)," "Casino Queen" and "Outtasite (Outtamind)," which pushed many Wilco fans over into the brink of insanity (in an overwhelmingly happy way).

With a band as dedicated to its fans as Wilco is (and the fans to them), when the stars align and when intangible quotients come togther as they did this night, magical things can and will happen. As I write this, I begin to feel a twinge of sadness that the moment is gone and now only a memory. If only the best moments could last forever. But having the experience and the memory of it is much better than having neither.

Photos By Morgan Glier
September 12th, 2007
Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millenium Park