FlametopFred

I got into Wilco backwards.

Had been hotly involved in the mid-80s following bands that lead to what would become "alt.country" ... at the time this included Jason & the Scorchers, Rainmakers, Lone Justice, Longriders and a whole lot of other bands. Which lead me into Uncle Tupelo of course. Then the great breakup came and all money was on Jay Farrar to be the One To Watch. So I went with Son Volt.

In passing, I heard A.M. at a friend's party but it didn't click. At the time, in the context of when it came out, it just sounded like all the other albums in that genre. Nothing special. Passenger Side was good. Somehow I thought Wilco would be okay, but seemed to be headed off into predicable territory.

So I sort of lost track of Wilco briefly.

Then I got turned on to Golden Smog and through both Down by the Mainstream and especially Weird Tales, really got turned on to Jeff Tweedy's voice and songwriting. From that moment on it just clicked. At that time Summerteeth came out. From then on I was a Wilco addict and bought both AM and Being There immediately. Being There remains one of my favorite "band" albums of all times. The playing is tremendous. Summerteeth has better songs and production, but Being There is a much better "band-firing-on-all-cylinders" type of album ... which, in a way, coming full circle is what Sky Blue Sky is all about.

Yankee Hotel was good. A great album by many standards, but was missing something. Ghost .... well, there were a few good songs but so much got lost in a haze of misdirection. Now we know why. Also picked up the Mermaid Avenue albums. And the additional Golden Smog work. Weird Tales was a peak, and still one of my all-time-favorite, desert-island albums. Who can argue with Jody Stephens ? Doesn't get any better than that, doesn't get any closer to the Big Star flame than that. The only person missing from that was Alex himself. Wouldn't that have been amazing? Chilton with Golden Smog? Chilton with Tweedy? One can only imagine.

Along with many hear, my hopes are that this latest band configuration sticks around intact for at least a few more albums. They are hot, and everything a great band should be. Hope it lasts. They all sound like they are having fun too.

But I digress.

I always hated the term "alt.country" . . . . . Wilco just plays American Music via Chicago tinted gold by Canadian autumn winds across the Great Lakes.

I pronounce it as "best bass player alive right now" which is from French and means "if Tweedy ever fires John there will be hell to pay"

August 20 2007 Vancouver Canada Malkin Bowl

After having grown up through a few punk gigs at the Smiling Buddha, and now aged with considerable bulk, easy now to hold my own against frail computer programmer guys and Yaletown water-bottle girls with Nana Mouskouri glasses. My elbows didn't even bruise.

I remember now why I love Malkin Bowl for gigs. Perhaps it was the stormy skies over Stanely Park. A moody backdrop with threatening weather only framed Wilco's complex and brooding sound. I don't think there is a better venue for live sound outside of the old PNE Gardens. Vancouver needs more outdoor concerts at the Malkin. Fall, Winter, summer. Picture a cold winter night with light snow falling, hot chocolate in hand and an intimate band playing. Tarps maybe when it rains.

Great gig, great band that keeps chasing inspiration, which, when they find it keeps inspiring listeners as well as countless musicians and writers.

Jeff Tweedy has conquered a lot of demons and is becoming a confident showman and much less reluctant frontman.

He's even having improvised fun conversations with the audience. While Tweedy interacts with the audience, bassist John Stirratt remains the grounding conduit that links Tweedy's vocal to the rest of the musicians on stage. Which is a very underrated position in any band because everyone on stage turns to you when it seems the music is about to go off the rails. After 13 years together, Stirratt anticipates where Tweedy is going next.

Guitarist Nels Cline is the element that was sorely missing for from Wilco for too long: blatant showmanship. He is one part manic showman, one part stunning craftsman. Not that the world needs more lead guitar players, but in Wilco's case Cline holds the attention of the audience visually and drives the audience and band to new heights during moving and inventive guitar solos which effectively go over the top. He is the balancing musical foil to Tweedy's earnest and searching delivery.

Where Cline is most effective is in augmenting Jeff Tweedy's guitar solos. Together they take a guitar solo, follow it along and develop lines to see where they can go. In the past, Tweedy's guitar solos have sputtered and fallen apart due to self-consciousness. Now Cline takes Tweedy's basic solo and keeps adding to it, each time taking cues and then building and building to effective crescendo and logical conclusion. When Pat Sansore jumps into the three-guitar mix the band truly soars and briefly echos the better moments of the Allman Brothers or Lynyrd Skynyrd. Then they move on quickly. Wilco is not a band that dwells anymore. They get to the point and move on.

Pat Sansore also doubles on piano and adds solid stage presence when needed. Keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen stoically and studiously hold the back-line intact and allows the music to flow continuously without a hiccup. It's dynamic drummer Glenn Kotche that ebbs and flows like a Newfoundland tide. Keeping the beat rock steady but then driving up the dynamics instantly in a wild-card flourish. The band is working together now as a great band does. Strongly cohesive with moments of outstanding, intense individual flash and solo flare.

Wilco's musicianship level is now very high and growing. Thoroughly seasoned musical maturity is reaching levels where technique disappears and pure audience communication begins. Overcoming "audience cool" is always a challenge for any performer, more so with the Wilco audience. From what I saw the audience was primarily 30-something professionals with extensive and appropriately eclectic CD collections and iPod Playlists. Well groomed with only one strategic and tasty tattoo. Somewhat previously bohemian and now studiously respectable. Quickly however, their cool facade was thwarted and they were wrapped up in the very powerful music while Tweedy lured them into the palm of his hand.