 |
| photo courtesy of Gigshots by Stephen Bloch |
As his set was coming to a close, Wilco's veteran frontman Jeff Tweedy quipped with the capacity crowd at the Weill Center that he wished he could play the Wilco tune, "Kingpin" as part of his solo set so he could use the line "I want to be your kingpin, living in Sheboygan." The crowd of course was amused, and in many ways this line, and the friendly reaction it received, showcased the level of comfort between the songwriter and the audience which drove the show on Friday evening.
Jeff Tweedy's performance at the Weill Center in Sheboygan was the musical equivalent of putting on an old broken-in baseball cap... it's comfortable, fits well, predictable and if it could talk it would have thousands of stories to tell. Tweedy's performance was the latest part of the Etude Series, a collection of concerts performed in and around Sheboygan featuring prominent Americana artists to help promote the non-profit Etude Education Group and the Etude School in Sheboygan. Their mission of Good Music + Good Cause has allowed some great up and coming acts like Phox and Hailey Bonar to play venues in Sheboygan, along with other larger established acts like Tweedy and the Avett Brothers.
For Jeff Tweedy's show, he played a twenty-three song set alone on stage with just an arsenal of acoustic guitars. It looked like he had purchased a new denim jacket since the last time I saw him play with Wilco a couple of years ago at the Riverside Theater, but aside from that, it was classic Tweedy... scraggly beard, round face, glasses, cowboy hat and all. Tweedy has about as deep of a catalogue as anyone in the business today, with nine Wilco albums, two Wilco and Billy Bragg
Mermaid Avenue albums, four Uncle Tupelo records, and not to mention his wide repertoire of side-projects like "Golden Smog" and "Loose Fur" to draw from... and that doesn't include covers. As a die-hard fan, Tweedy could have played a set with 40 tunes and I still would find ones that I would have liked to hear. His catalogue is simply that deep!
 |
| photo courtesy of Gigshots by Stephen Bloch |
What Tweedy did play was a wide array of material spanning all parts of his career, from "New Madrid" from his early Uncle Tupelo days to "Where Do I Begin," a new track off of last year's Wilco release
Star Wars, and a little bit of everything in between. Tweedy nailed great renditions of songs he's known to do well solo including, "I'm Trying to Break Your Heart," "Laminated Cat," and "Passenger Side," as well as stretching himself and his listeners by tackling more guitar driven Wilco numbers like, "Bull Black Nova" and "Impossible Germany," both of which are known for long-lasting experimental guitar solos from Wilco's lead axe-man, Nels Cline. "Nothingsevergoingtostandinmywayagain," featured a respectfully subdued clap along to mimic the percussion part of the track from
Summerteeth. A highlight of the evening for me was an earnestly spirited rendition of Tweedy performing "Simple Twist of Fate," by Bob Dylan, a song that appeared on the
I'm Not There soundtrack. Another high point was when the audience cheered for Tweedy's son Spencer who made the trek with his dad up from Chicago and accompanied Jeff, performing a duet of "Give Back the Key To My Heart," as the first song in the encore.
There were no frills about the Tweedy performance, no strobe lights or special effects, just a man with his guitars telling his tales. Sometimes that's all you need for an incredible night of music.
Thanks for the write up Will! Any chance our schools can get the photos? Feel free to email me at thamm@etudegroup.org.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the great feedback Ted. I believe Stephen Bloch, the photographer, will get in touch with you with a link to the photos to share with the schools. All the best! Will
Delete