The world's best live rock band? Review by Martin Jones. Photos by Andrew Kidman.
WILCO LIVE
Tivoli, Brisbane
Friday April 30
Review: Marty Jones / Photos: Andrew Kidman
What is it about Wilco that prevents them from selling out the same sized stadiums that, say, Radiohead do in this country? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again after seeing another spectacular performance on Friday night, Wilco could well be the best live rock band in the world right now.
It’s not like their songs aren’t catchy/singable. It’s not like they’re doing anything outrageously experimental. They’re just writing great rock songs and performing them at an elite, ever-evolving level. (How many other post-Beatles bands – besides Radiohead – can you think of that have continued to evolve with such convincing results – both live and on record?)
So, I’m genuinely mystified that Wilco aren’t much more popular. Each time I see them perform or hear a new recording, I know in my heart that Wilco are going to go down in history as one of the great rock bands, and feel privileged to be here to witness this chapter unfolding.
While I’m mystified, I’m not really complaining. That we still get the opportunity to experience such a band in a venue as intimate as Brisbane’s Tivoli is fantastic for those of us who made the effort. And those who do appreciate the band’s genius, do so with ardour.
So much ardour, on this particular night, that Tweedy was quite taken aback with the volume and quantity of requests hurled at the stage between songs. “Are you sure you’re friendly?” he quipped before (remarkably) recalling that this was the same venue where almost exactly three years ago, he suggested that all our ardent bellowing made us sound like pirates. “Oh this is where all the pirates come from?” he grinned tonight. “It’s all coming back to me now.”
Much like Wilco’s 2007 set at the Tivoli, the band launched into a good dozen songs before Tweedy even spoke a word, allowing the quality of the music and the performances to work their magic on the audience first. Beginning again with the mock robot voice announcement of things Wilco does and does not welcome at a show, the band launched into ‘Wilco’, the title track from their latest record, complete with a break-down section introducing the band. Perhaps the fact that Wilco can do something like this, demonstrating that despite all their musical virtuosity, they don’t take themselves too seriously confuses some people.
The first 45 minutes of tonight’s set were relentlessly riveting, the band barely pausing for breath in a barrage of intricate, intelligent, but also viscerally moving music that in the detail of its arrangement and dynamic probably bears more in common with classical music than most rock. From the droning drive of ‘Bull Back Nova’ to the soaring beauty of ‘One Wing’ to the unconventional progression of ‘Shot In The Arm’, the band was constantly switching tack, forcing multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone, keyboard player Mikael Jorgansen and guitarist extraordinaire Nels Cline to continually switch instruments to keep up.
Indeed, besides the inclusion of Jorgansen, who wasn’t in the line-up for the 2007 tour, there was considerably more equipment involved in this show than the last. More guitars (dozens of them), more percussion, more keyboards, more sound effects.
After the first hour, Tweedy introduced more acoustic guitar and sparser arrangements, allowing the band to draw breath a little. He also began conversing with the crowd more regularly, constantly referring to their Australian guitar tech Matrix, for whom he roused a series of ‘hip hip hoorays’ from the crowd. “We don’t really do ‘hip hip hooray’ in America anymore,” he smirked. “We used to, but not anymore.”
But Friday night also demonstrated to me that, despite my suspicions, Wilco are human. The odd arrangement stumble and fumbled note only made me love them all the more. That, and the fact that the whole band are always giving their all – eyes shut more often than not.
Wilco do still adopt (and clearly love) much of the rock show shtick. There has to be a crowd singalong (‘Jesus, etc’ – Tweedy was honest when he called our efforts ‘respectable’) and traditional call and response audience participation (‘Kingpin’ – Tweedy wasn’t so polite rating our efforts here). There have to be a couple of crowd favourites that can’t be left out (‘Heavy Metal Drummer’, ‘California Stars’). Indeed, the more you read reviews of other recent Wilco shows, the more you realise that there is an established structure to most of their performances. But that the fact that the setlist varies substantially from night to night and that the band rarely performs for less than two-and-a-half hours (which they did tonight) and crams about 30 songs into that time already sets them apart from almost all their peers.
The highlights (‘Impossible Germany’ really set tonight’s set into orbit) are astonishing. But even the lowest points are still stratospheres above the standard of most of their contemporaries.
SET LIST
Wilco
Bull Black Nova
You Are My Face
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
One Wing
Shot In The Arm
Muzzle Of Bees
Misunderstood
I’ll Fight
Handshake Drugs
Deeper Down
Impossible Germany
Forget The Flowers
California Stars
Poor Places
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Hummingbird
Jesus Etc
You Never Know
Heavy Metal Drummer
Theologians
Walken
Red Eyed And Blue/I Got You
I’m The Man Who Loves You
Hate It Here
Kingpin
I’m A Wheel