Another Wilco Review

Apologies to non-Wilco fans for today's barrage. Anyway...

For some perspective on where I'm coming from, this was my 7th (maybe 8th?) time seeing these guys. The latest album and A.M. are my least favorite Wilco records. I would say I was pretty diehard for a good while between Summerteeth and Sky Blue Sky. And I'm still still a big fan.

As concerts go, this one was great. As Wilco concerts go, it was slightly above average. My #1 Wilco show would have been at Massey Hall in Toronto. Part of it was the setting, part of it was the setlist, and part of it was certainly seeing Nels Cline live for the first time. Jimmy's review below rings true with me. Cline's energy, musical proficiency, and bizarrely captivating body movements add so much to Wilco's live presence that he can really save a show, as I think he did at the Palumbo the last time they came though town. So imagine my disappointment when I found my seat last night and couldn't even see him at stage-right without standing and leaning way forward. (For those, like me, who may have thought there is not a bad seat in Carnegie Music Hall: there are about 40 of them, actually, in the back corners of the second balcony). I thought I would just suck it up and sink into the music.

My seat assignment surely took a bit away from my enjoyment of the first set. But, even accounting for that, I felt like the band took a little while to warm up. "Shot in the Arm" was where I really started feeling things, and I think by "California Stars" they were in full swing. When "Impossible Germany" rolled around and those sweet-ass guitar lines began to weave themselves together, it was time to move. Luckily, there were a surprising number of empty seats in the first balcony, and the staff didn’t seem to care at all when we snagged some prime seats not too far off-center.

I would have expected the acoustic set to be a highlight. As "Poor Places" built into an awesome symphony of noise, some roadies carried out a smaller drum kit, some keyboards and a selection of acoustic guitars. The noise subsided and the band assumed their new positions on the stage within the stage. "Spiders" was an interesting choice for the first song of this set. Probably a better idea in theory than in practice, unfortunately. While I don’t fault them for trying to switch things up on what usually turns into an epic electronic jam, it left me wanting more. Luckily they followed with a highlight of the show for me, "More Like the Moon." A very mellow, very underrated Wilco tune in my opinion. This was the first time I'd heard it live, and it did not disappoint. The rest of the acoustic set was fine, but nothing game-changing. It was definitely a nice touch and a cool opportunity to see Wilco tone things down a bit, but I was glad when, during "Airline to Heaven," the roadies began to break down the acoustic stage.

The third set just killed. "Via Chicago" was on par with the best versions I've heard, and from "Jesus" through "Monday" the whole band was on fire. One thing I always appreciate about Wilco is their ability to blend the old and new songs into a set and make them all fit harmoniously. I thought this was really on display in the third set, especially with a great "Candyfloss" in the middle. I can’t say I've ever found myself pulling Summerteeth out just to hear that tune, but it was right on time last night. And I love that it led into "Hate it Here" and "Walken," both of which completely rocked, and both of which were standouts of the night for me.

Overall, I wouldn't rank this as one of the best Wilco shows I've seen, although certainly better than the 2007 Palumbo show. Maybe somewhere in the middle for me. That said, it's Wilco. This is hands-down one of the best live bands playing today, and I have yet to walk out of a show disappointed.

An Evening With Wilco - A Rookie's Review

So as it happens, most of the SITKOT crew made it to the Wilco show last night at Carnegie Music Hall, and what a show it was. I must confess that although I have listened to Wilco for years - I started getting into them when Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was released - this was the first time that I've seen them perform live. I can honestly say that it was one of the best shows that I've ever seen. Because my other SITKOT comrades are going to be better with the details, having been to a show or seven, I'm going to keep my review brief and just give a few highlights.

1) Nels Cline - Guitar God. Yes, I just did. Perhaps I am biased because I am still fresh off the show last night, but I never expected Nels Cline to have some of the most insane chops that I've ever witnessed. On many of the songs from Wilco (The Album) and Sky Blue Sky he absolutely shredded the guitar, but in an always appropriate, never cheesy way. Even on the more country-tinged songs, his country soloing stayed within the genre and was smokin'. Unbelievable.

2) The Length of the Set - It was also amazing how long the set ran. I had heard that Wilco puts on some long shows, but this was incredible. Three plus hours of solid music. Their albums can't do their live show justice. During the show, I couldn't help but think that Wilco is like a modern day version of the band Television. Great soloing with purpose and catchy riffs flourishing throughout almost every single song. My highlights were "A Shot in the Arm", "Walken" (which was not even one of my favorites on Sky Blue Sky), "Impossible Germany", "Company in My Back" and "Theologians". In particular, the soloing by Nels in "A Shot in the Arm" was nothing short of magnificent.

Overall, the best show of the year so far and one that will be hard to top by any other band coming to the 'Burgh. When I think about the expansiveness of Wilco's catalogue and the fluidity of their performance last night, I can safely say that they are one of the great bands still creating relevant music that should have generational staying power.

Ok - two small gripes about the venue. First, anyone who has been to a performance at Carnegie Music Hall knows that it tends to get stuffy, and that is usually during a 1.5 hour show. When we were approaching hour three I felt like I was standing in a pressure cooker. I was thinking to myself, "Thank God this is a Wilco show and not a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert because more than one person might have passed out from the stench." And I'm not talking about the song "That Smell".

Second, I was sitting on the first level and the doors leading into the atrium were open during the acoustic set and there were people talking very loudly, to the point where Jeff Tweedy even commented that he could hear the talking and that he was dedicating the next song to the working people in the audience who paid $50 to see a Wilco performance and not talk in the lobby - or something like that. I know that it was hot and stuffy, but jeez, show a little more respect for a world-class band closing out their tour in our fine city.

Setlist: Wilco at Carnegie Music Hall - April 11, 2010

As they've been doing during this "An Evening With Wilco" series of shows (the last of which was last night's), Wilco played sort of three sets in one set. No breaks except for a very brief one before the encore. I think they played from roughly 8:10 to 11:10. 37 songs in three hours. Not bad.

Three of us from the blog were there, so a review or recap may follow, depending on motivational levels.

Mostly Electric:
Wilco (the Song)
Bull Black Nova
You are My Face
I am Trying to Break Your Heart
One Wing
Shot in the Arm
On and On
Company in My Back
Deeper Down
Handshake Drugs
California Stars
Impossible Germany
I’ll Fight
Poor Places (feedback into stage change)

Mostly Acoustic:
Spiders
More Like the Moon
Someday Some Morning Sometime
Not for the Season
When You Wake Up Feeling Old
Don’t Forget the Flowers
War on War
Passenger Side
Airline to Heaven (during stage change)

Mostly Electric:
Via Chicago
Box Full of Letters
You Never Know
Jesus, Etc.
Theologians
Heavy Metal Drummer
Candyfloss
Hate it Here
Walken
I’m the Man Who Loves You
Monday
Thank You Friends

Encore:
Casino Queen
Outtasite (Outta Mind)

Concert Review: Andrew Bird at Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland

Having been disappointed by Andrew Bird in concert once before and feeling lukewarm about the new record, I wasn’t elated for Tuesday’s show, unlike many of the well-dressed hipsters in attendance. But I wasn’t ready to write him off either. As I mentioned yesterday, the concert was fantastic and, since then, I’ve been listening to Noble Beast with new ears and enjoying songs that I’d found rather bland before the show. In short, I’m glad I went.

Starting the night off solo, Bird kicked on his loop pedal and started picking his violin—no surprises there. He seemed to be just a bit off his game during “Dark Matter” and “Self Torture,” and that didn’t immediately change when he was joined by his band, although “Masterswarm” was still excellent. Finally, after fumbling over some lyrics during “Nervous Tic…” Bird confessed that perhaps his head wasn’t totally in it, as he’d had a rough day, beginning with an early flight out of Chicago after attending a reception for the International Olympic Committee (also in attendance: Oprah).

Luckily, his heart was in it. Bird and band tore through “Natural Disaster” and were perfectly understated on fan favorites like “Tenuousness” and “Effigy”—which offered a nice respite from the loop pedal, on which Bird can rely a little too heavily at times.

One thing to be said for his use of the loops: it shows what a great drummer Bird has at his side. Letting your rhythm be dictated by the cyclic phrasings of some dude on a violin would cut against the nature of most drummers, but Martin Dosh handles it with ease and rolls wherever Bird takes him. Also, you had to love the little percussion interlude on “Anonanimal.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the songs off Noble Beast were for the most part the tightest throughout the night, quite in contrast with Bird’s Armchair tour, when songs new and old were equally crisp. That also says something for the Carnegie Music Hall, though, which brings out the good and the bad, letting you hear every note of every instrument—a premier venue for a concert like this, if you don’t mind remaining seated while the band is in motion.

As Bird warmed up to the audience, he told them, “I feel comfortable with you. I can talk about my feelings.” The crowd warmed up too, and a pretty good pack took to their feet on “Fake Palindromes,” only to be swiftly and sadly foiled by a pony-tailed security guard toward the end of “Skin….”

Finally, the encore was awesome. Bird—once again solo—got playful on “Why” with an audience member who responded to "Why'd you do that?" with, “I didn’t do anything.” Bird’s retort? “That’s just it.” He was rejoined then by his band, who provided vocals for some stellar harmonies on the century-old “Some of These Days” before taking up their instruments and bringing down the house on “Tables and Chairs,” which had everyone in the place singing along. Even two days later I find myself strolling through town this morning, looping it over it my head: “There will be snacks.”

Set list: Andrew Bird at Carnegie Music Hall

The show was fantastic, and we'll get a full review up later. For now, here’s a crappy cell phone pic and a mostly complete set list...

Set list:
1. Dark Matter (solo)
2. Self Torture (solo)
3. Masterswarm
4. Fitz and the Dizzyspells
5. A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left
6. Natural Disaster
7. Effigy
8. Oh No
9. Tenuousness
10. Nomenclature
11. Armchairs
12. Anonanimal
13. Fake Palindromes
14. Skin is, My
15. The Happy Birthday Song
16. (I know I’m missing one here… anyone?)

Encore:
17. Why (solo)
18. Some of these Days
19. Tables and Chairs

Download:
Andrew Bird – “Some of These Days” (live at Millennium Park, Sept. 3 2008) (Mediafire link)


EDIT: Thanks to Sophia and Kristin for pointing out in the comments thread that "Imitosis" and "Yawny at the Apocalypse" should be in there somewhere between 11 and 16. Also, against others' recollections I'd still swear that he finished off the main set with something more uptempo than "Birthday..." but I've no idea what.

Concert Review: Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt

For a tall Texan with a worn face and a crooked smile, Lyle Lovett is not the man of few words that one might expect him to be. Taking the stage at the Carnegie Music Hall last night with his good friend, John Hiatt, Lovett was the first to speak, starting off slow with a simple “Howdy.” Hiatt jumped at the opportunity to play to the crowd early, and one-upped Lovett with a salutation more familiar around these parts: “How yinz do'n?” Of course, the audience approved.

With that, Hiatt kicked the night off with “Perfectly Good Guitar,” his fatherly reprimand of Nirvana and their penchant for destroying their instruments. Lovett followed that up with a lengthy ramble about Hiatt's personalized guitar picks, a friendly TSA agent in Denver, and the duty of rock guitarists to keep alive the myth that they lead the sort of lives the rest of us wish for. Finally, Lovett took to his own guitar on “Skinny Legs,” a great upbeat western tune to open his catalog.

This pattern—Hiatt song, banter, Lovett song—set the mold for the night and was rarely broken thereafter, giving the audience a special opportunity to observe two of America's best songwriters discuss and digress their way through a loose set of alternating performances. Sometimes two consecutive songs would share a common theme, sometimes not. Nearly always the banter was led by Lovett’s questions, which wavered between thoughtful and comic, sometimes both.

Several times during the 2:25 set, the discussion turned to food. Hiatt—whose daughter is a college student in Pittsburgh—is no stranger to local traditions, and explained to Lovett that around here folks eat their sandwiches topped with fries and coleslaw, an “economy of motion” as he called it. Hiatt compared it to the way southerners put peanuts in their RC Cola, while Lovett observed, "Of all the things you hold most dear in the world, why keep them from one another?" Later, they joined forces on “Keep it in your Pantry,” Lovett’s lighthearted lament about what Hiatt calls “infoodelity.” As Lovett explained, “At no time ever in a healthy, committed relationship should one person be having more fun than the other.”

Unlike Lovett, Hiatt took the opportunity to debut two new songs: “Go Down Swingin'” and “Kick the Tin Can Home.” The former was as heavy as its central character, and was decidedly more successful than the latter, a playful dismissal of modern technology. When asked by Lovett what he looks for when “trying out” a new song, Hiatt answered him straight: “Support.”

Between banter, the songs themselves offered a wonderful study in contrast, as it was apparent what very different songwriters these two masters are. While Lovett pens heavily literate verses and slyly clever choruses, Hiatt's lyrics are far more conversational and generally more decipherable. Hiatt, who borders on prolific, fills his songs with narratives and memorable refrains that come off as raw and unfiltered. Lovett, for his part, has released comparatively few original numbers over the years, but seems to have labored more seriously over each word, its motivations and meanings. Despite the differences, it was amazing how well their songs—and even voices—complimented each other's when juxtaposed and performed only with acoustic guitars. Hiatt's rockier tunes, when stripped down, fit perfectly against the southwest landscape of his companion's country blues, and his forceful playing added lively interludes to several of Lovett’s songs, including “Cute as a Bug,” “I will Rise Up,” and “My Baby Don’t Tolerate,” which featured an extended, meandering blues solo by Hiatt which was huge on feeling, even if somewhat less so on proficiency.

They closed out the main set with an impassioned duet of the Texas prison hymn “No More Cane” before returning for an encore of each man’s best known songs, “Have a Little Faith in Me” and “If I had a Boat.”

Setlist:
1 Perfectly Good Guitar
2 Skinny Legs
3 Seven Little Indians
4 South Texas Girl
5 Crossing Muddy Waters
6 Family Reserve
7 Tennessee Plates
8 Cute as a Bug (w/ Hiatt on guitar)
9 Go Down Swingin' (new song)
10 I Will Rise Up (w/ Hiatt on guitar and backup vocal)
11 Icy Blue Heart
12 North Dakota
13 Kick the Tin Can Home (new song)
14 Home Is Where My Horse Is
15 Drive South
16 Keep it in Your Pantry (w/ Hiatt on guitar and sharing vocals)
17 Tiki Bar Open
18 Nobody Knows Me
19 Thing Called Love
20 My Baby Don't Tolerate (w/ extended Hiatt guitar solo)
21 No More Cane (duet)

Encore:
1 Have a Little Faith in Me
2 If I had a Pony

Hiatt/Lovett

Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt Ride Into Oakland (or, Not All Country Music Sucks)

Photo: Rollin Riggs, NYT

For most of my life, I hated country music. I owned a Johnny Cash greatest hits collection I’d picked up at a truckstop back in high school, but beyond that I knew nothing of the genre except for the polished, twangy crap I’d encounter on the upper ends of the FM dial, and that never did it for me, and still doesn’t. Eventually I got turned on to Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, and some other classics, but even those I saw as something separate from "Country" as I perceived it. Then I saw Lyle Lovett and His Large Band on Conan O’Brien one night just about ten years ago. I bought Cowboy Man a few days later, and have slowly been converted.

You still won’t find me tuned in to Froggy for more than a song or two at a time, and I still can’t stand most of what I hear when I flip past CMT, but—as with most genres of modern music—some of the best stuff misses the mainstream, and Lyle Lovett is no exception.

His songs are what I want American music to be. They speak truths to the suppressed vagabond in me, as if molded out of Texan clay and carried across prairies by horseback before being dusted off and presented with a crooked smile in a soulful timbre. He can write them funny or sad, shallow or deep, folk or western... he can write them as well as or better than anyone else trying their pen at country music these days.

It is perhaps the fact that his songs grow from something more than straight country roots that separates his music from that of his contemporaries who sell millions more records and hear endless airtime across most of the nation. Lovett draws on gospel, rockabilly, mariachi and more. When backed by his Large Band, his songs could hardly be called unpolished, yet there is something much rawer in them than you’re likely to find on a Kenny Chesney record. When accompanied only by a guitar, his songs at first sound simple, but develop into compositions far more complex than the ballads of the Keith Urbans and Brad Paisleys out there.

Sure, I paid to see Urban in concert last summer, and I’ve been known at times to slip a Toby Keith track into a jukebox lineup. But those songs don’t hold a farmhouse candle to Lyle’s, and it bears repeating that I would never have opened my ears to them at all had I not purchased Cowboy Man a decade ago.

When Lovett came to town on Valentine’s Day three years ago with Guy Clark, John Hiatt, and Joe Ely at his side, he swiftly stole the hearts of a few in the audience (possibly including my fiancé's) with his desert-dry wit and a heartfelt rendition of “In My Own Mind” that shook the air. So it is against all reason that tickets are still available for Thursday’s show at the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland, but it's with good reason that I'll be there.

(And don’t think I’ve forgotten that the masterful John Hiatt will once again be at Lovett’s side tomorrow night. The New York Times had a great piece on him a few months back, which you can read here.)

Downloads:
Lyle Lovett – “I’ve Been to Memphis” (Live in Vienna, VA, 7/7/97) (Mediafire link)
Lyle Lovett – “This Old Porch” (Live in Vienna, VA, 7/7/97 w/ Robert Earl Keen) (Mediafire link)

Ryan Adams Bows Out

Citing the losses of “someone I loved, my sense of dignity, a never ending losing battle with stage fright and now my hearing and balance due to an inner ear issue,” songwriter and SITKOT favorite Ryan Adams announced today that he is leaving the music world behind for now. Adams concludes a lengthy blog entry (and presumably his blogging days altogether), writing:

“maybe we will play again sometime and maybe i will work my way back into some kind of music situation but this is the time for me to step back now, to reel it in and i wish everyone peace and happiness and if music is your dream, or if just dreaming is your dream, may you find your way through the rough patch with ease and i hope you let go and it takes you all the way there.”

Download “A Kiss Before I Go” from the Cardinals’ incredible performance at Carnegie Music Hall last year. (Right-click and "Save Target As")

And here’s hoping the Cardinals keep on with Neal Casal’s able hands at the drafting table: “Freeway To the Canyon” (Newcastle 11-11-08) (Right-click and "Save Target As")