Wilco- Riverside Theater, 12/3/14

photo by Stephen Bloch

"Good evening Milwaukee... our home away from home," Wilco troubadour Jeff Tweedy exclaimed, smiling sheepishly at the capacity crowd which filled the Riverside Theater on a chilly December Wednesday to see Wilco’s 20^th Anniversary Tour’s stop in Milwaukee.  Mr. Tweedy was right—Milwaukee has been a second home to the Chicago-based sextet over the past two decades, which has seen the band rise from a H.O.R.D.E Fest side stage opener, to a small club act, to a Summerfest side stage headliner, to headlining the Rave and Eagles Ballroom, to a perennial Riverside theater sell-out. 

In many respects, Wilco has grown from a band that was once thought of as a shoot off of former alt-country juggernaut Uncle Tupelo, to a musical pioneer who has helped usher in an era of singer-songwriter driven indie rock with their masterpiece release, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in 2002.

As a music fan, Wilco is undeniably my favorite band, and has pretty much provided a sound track to my post-UW Madison adult years.  Judging by the demographic of the crowd that packed the Riverside Theater, I am not the only one of my generation who has felt a personal connection with this band. 

Wilco is an act that is both comfortably familiar and ruthlessly challenging for its listeners all at the same time.  Instrumentally, they are fronted by a singer-songwriter who has mastered the art of crafting narrative tales with plenty of negative space for the listener to interact with to make the songs personal to him or her.  Couple that with an all-star line up of musicians and you have your rock ‘n roll equivalent of the 1992 Olympic men’s basketball dream team—a group that can function beyond proficiently on its own, and truly exceptionally as a whole unit.  On lead guitar is virtuoso experimental axesmith, Nels Cline, whose chops are on par with anyone in the music industry.   A vibrant drummer/percussionist, Glen Kotche, can be seen one minute heavily pounding the toms and the next using jingle bells as his drums sticks on his kit.  Founding member, John Stirratt is the glue of the whole operation, driving rhythms and grooves to the songs, and providing the majority of the secondary vocals for the band.  Add in keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and multi-instrumentalist, Pat Sansone, and you have a band that can take Wilco’s signature layered sound on their albums and not only recreate the music, but push it to the next level in a live setting. 

photo by Stephen Bloch

For their set, Wilco was Wilco… providing familiar numbers alongside deep cuts.  It was clear from the start that this was a unique performance, as the winter leg of their “20^th Anniversary Tour” consisted of only the Milwaukee performance alongside a multi-night Chicago residency at the Riveria Theater where the band vows to play their entire catalogue of material in one form or another.

The concert featured thirty tunes that spanned the band’s career, alternating between familiar material for most fans, to deep cuts that even I had to scratch my head to determine the title of the song.  The show, which lasted over two and a half hours, never lost energy and was masterfully crafted to allow the listeners to sing along with some numbers and experience the joy of lesser known tracks side-by-side.  Some highlights included: “Poor Places,” the second track of the evening, and penultimate number from 2002’s historic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot record segueing into “Art of Almost,” the first track off of the band’s most recent studio endeavor, The Whole Love from 2011.  “Cars Can’t Escape,” a track off of an Australian released EP that followed 2004’s A Ghost is Born sounded fresh and vibrant and led into a show highlight, the hardly-ever played, “Feed of Man,” from the Billy Bragg and Wilco’s Mermaid Avenue collaboration.  Jeff Tweedy was kind enough to answer our question from the crowd about the name of that tune, as it escaped us all, but showcased some of the best slide-guitar work from Nels Cline that I’ve ever seen.  Another Mermaid Avenue track, “Airline to Heaven,” was given a more country remake.  A surprising highlight came in the form of “Laminated Cat,” a track from Jeff Tweedy’s side project, “Loose Fur,” which featured sweltering slide guitar from Nels Cline.  The three songs that ended the main set were also noteworthy and built great energy in the audience.  Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’s uplifting rocker, “Heavy Metal Drummer,” flowed into the Sky Blue Sky track from 2007, “Walken,” and then back into a highlight from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, “I’m the Man Who Loves You.” 

 

photo by Stephen Bloch

The band played two encores.  Their first one was a traditional encore, which featured all the band on their main instruments, performing solid versions of “Passenger Side,” from 1995’s “AM,” “Dawned on Me,” from 2011’s The Whole Love, and closing with “Shot in the Arm,” from 1999’s Summerteeth. 

photo by Will Piper

Another show highlight came as the band chose to perform acoustically with minimal amplification for their final encore, playing all acoustic and stripped down instruments at the front of the stage.  This set up allowed for even often played favorites like 1996’s Being There stand out “Misunderstood” to feel fresh.  The band also dug deep into their back catalog at this portion of the show covering Uncle Tupelo’s classic, “New Madrid,” and performing “Casino Queen” from AM  and the rarely played “Dreamer in My Dreams” from Being There to send the crowd home happy and enthusiastic.

Wilco’s rich catalog, exceptional musicianship and desire to progress makes them a rock ‘n roll band that has stood the test of time over the past twenty years, and continues to remain relevant today.  As Tweedy sings in one of my all-time favorite songs, “Misunderstood,” “there’s a fortune inside your head…”  I am curious and excited to see what that “fortune” brings us as Wilco transitions into the next stage of their career.

Milwaukee, 12/3/14 Setlist