Wilco - 25/6/2012 Red Butte Garden - Salt Lake City

[Albert Tatlock]

Mixed messages from this review - see below.

 

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment/54374752-81/band-wilco-songs-butte.html.csp

 

Photos here too:-

 

http://www.sltrib.com/csp/cms/sites/sltrib/pages/slidegallery.csp?cid=54374752&pid=3758460

 

Review: Wilco flowers at Red Butte Garden

By david burger

The Salt Lake Tribune

The Chicago band Wilco has endured plenty of adjectives and names in its nearly 20-year existence from those who want to pigeonhole them. Alternative country. Prog-rock. Folk experimentalists. Alt-everything.

But Monday night at a sold-out Red Butte Garden, the band wanted to be jam band.

Songs that on record were four minutes long stretched to eight minutes or more as frontman Jeff Tweedy and lead guitarist Nels Cline extended tunes far beyond what was necessary. While it is always admirable to see how a band interprets its catalog, seemingly endless noodling on the guitar near the end of songs rarely elicits more interest.

However, that is not to say seeing Wilco was a disappointment. While the past three albums since "A Ghost is Born" have seemed complacent and water-treading, there are enough well-crafted, sing-along gems from the recent albums that match up well to the highlights of the band’s earlier, best albums, such as "A.M.," "Being There" and "Summerteeth."

So, for every time a few songs from the band’s 2011 album, "The Whole Love," killed any sense of momentum, there was a quicker, more energized song from the band’s earlier days that reminded us why Wilco is one of the most interesting live bands in the country.

Those who loved the band from the earlier days could take much pleasure from songs such as "Misunderstood," "Far, Far Away," "I’m Always in Love," "Box Full of Letters," and "Shot in the Arm" that, well, gave a shot in the arm to the proceedings. Tellingly, none of those songs was given extended, navel-gazingly treatments, and it was appreciated.

Other highlights included songs from the band’s "Mermaid Avenue" sessions, a collaboration with Billy Bragg to provide music to Woody Guthrie lyrics. Tweedy mentioned Guthrie’s upcoming 100th birthday, and then played the charming "Hesitating Beauty" and wistful "California Stars."

Tweedy, clad in a dark plaid coat and tan fedora, seemed appreciative of the throngs of fans near the stage but mildly displeased by a crowd that seemed, in his words, "restless." He called out the front VIP section, saying that they apparently had worked hard that day, feeling the need to sit down. Later, he stopped the show to needle a security guard for being too aggressive.

As is always the case with Red Butte Garden, the venue becomes more alive as the sun sets, as the sponsors vacate the lawn and the alcohol kicks in. Over the years, bands have made visuals an important part of their Red Butte show, and Wilco created an often mesmerizing medley of primary colors that were projected onto white rags that drooped from the rafters.

The two-hour show illustrated that in the case of Wilco, they can be whatever they want — but they shouldn’t do too much of that whatever. I love them for the songs, but not the jamming.

[Turnips]

Songs that on record were four minutes long stretched to eight minutes or more as frontman Jeff Tweedy and lead guitarist Nels Cline extended tunes far beyond what was necessary.

 

When does Wilco ever do this?

[jimjiminy]

Here's the setlist. I'll be back with another post reviewing the show.

 

One Sunday Morning

Art of Almost

I Might

Muzzle of Bees

Misunderstood

Impossible Germany

Born Alone

Far, Far away

Whole Love

Box Full of Letters

Pot Kettle Black

I’m Always in Love

Heavy Metal Drummer

I'm the Man Who Loves You

Dawned on Me

A Shot in the Arm

 

Encore 1:

Via Chicago

(Jeff chews out security guard)

Jesus, Etc.

Late Greats

Walken

Hesitating Beauty

California Stars

 

Encore 2:

Red-eyed and Blue

I Got You (At the End of the Century)

Hoodoo Voodoo

[indy81]

When does Wilco ever do this?

 

Yeah, it's funny to read the comments on that (terrible) review -- like the guy who swears they played a 12-minute version of "War on War" at the concert he saw. As everyone who's actually paying attention knows, Wilco doesn't really jam, aside from an extended solo on a few songs.

[Turnips]

even the extended solos are rare though, I feel like they almost always stay true to their songs in terms of length.

 

that's an amazing setlist by the way, right up my alley. Still waiting to hear Far Far Away live, sigh

[choo-choo-charlie]

With that setlist, I'm having a hard time seeing several of the four-minute songs that were doubled in length by extended jams. Perhaps "Hoodoo Voodo" with a guitar duel, but I've seen Wilco play that before, and it was nowhere near eight minutes. The reviewer gets raked over the coals in the comments, though...although I doubt one of the commenters heard a "12-minute version of 'War on War'" before.

[Turnips]

he does get raked, but most people are sticking up for Wilco's use of "extended versions" and "jamming", neither of which they ever do! It's like a clusterfuck of misinformation

[jimjiminy]

This was my fifth time seeing Wilco and first time in Salt Lake. I’m in my mid-30s and Wilco is the only band I’ll travel to see. I flew down with a friend to see them in Phoenix earlier this year. (Front row tix, btw.) But yesterday I only had to drive up from Provo, which is where we currently live.

 

This was also my first time going to a show at Red Butte Gardens. Our group of 13 staked out a decent spot in the shade, spread the blankets, opened the cooler and enjoyed the atmosphere, food, and conversation until Blitzen Trapper took the stage. I’m mostly familiar with Furr and haven’t followed their catalog closely. Nevertheless, they proved to be a solid opener for Wilco. The crowd response was polite but tepid. I think there were only a total of four or five fans that went down to the front to watch them. My friend joked, “Looks like there’s the president and vice president of the local chapter of the Blizten Trapper fan club. Oh, and here comes the secretary.”

 

Wilco came out around 9:00 and played nearly two and a half hours. Jeff stated they don’t come here often enough (agreed) so they needed to play a few extra songs (and we were grateful). The crowd certainly did not mind. I don’t know what the Tribune reviewer was thinking but I wouldn’t have used “jam band” to describe last night’s show. It seemed to me the band stuck to the basic live arrangements of songs. But maybe he didn’t like the Nels’ fury on “Impossible Germany” or the descending Shepard scale on “Born Alone.” There may have been some extended jams on “I Got You” or “Hoodoo Voodoo” but it didn’t seem excessive.

 

Any way, a few highlights from the show:

 

The juxtaposition between “Sunday” and “Art” stood out quite strong and it got the crowd up and grooving to the syncopated rhythm.

 

This was the first time my friend and his wife saw Wilco. After the first implosion on “Via Chicago” my friend’s wife turned to me and asked, “What just happened? Did something go wrong?” I explained that, no, that was actually part of the song and that the musical breakdown reflected the tone of the lyrics. She replied, “Why? That kind of scared me at first.” Well, it's a scary song.

 

After “Via,” Jeff paused for a few minutes to chew out a security guard who was apparently being a bit aggressive to the fans close to the stage. (The throng was off to the side of stage right since the first 20 rows or so of center stage were reserved for donors to the gardens. Jeff also commented that those in the VIP section must have been extra tired from working too hard since nearly all of them just sat through the entire show.) I can’t remember everything Jeff said to security but he used his sarcasm and wit to defuse the situation. I hope a recording surfaces because it was one of the more funny exchanges I’ve seen at a Wilco show.

 

One final note: Four of us in the group are solid Wilco fans and we wanted to stick around in hopes of meeting the band. There was a VIP after-show party but I know that sometimes Jeff, John, or Glenn will still come out and say hello to fans. But not last night. We spoke to venue security who confirmed with band security that they would not be coming out after the VIP party. Bummer. Based on conversations with long-time fans, I get the sense that Wilco has been doing more of these VIP parties and less of the informal after-show meet and greets with fans willing to wait outside the venue. I find that a bit disappointing but I don’t want to come across as some whiny entitled fanboy. Wilco gives so much to their fans and who am I to expect or demand more after a blistering 2½ hour set? Oh well. I’m sure it will happen at some point. I would just like to shake Jeff’s hand and personally thank him for his wonderful music.

 

All in all, it was an excellent show in a beautiful setting, which I thoroughly enjoyed with friends.

 

EDIT: The one time I missed Jay was on "I Got You." I think his live solos on that song were as close to rock perfection as you can get. Other than that it is Nels all the way.

[BoulderEagle]

FWIW, my wife--who hadn't seen Wilco in years--had the exact same reaction to "Via Chicago" night one at Red Rocks.

[suites]

Are you sure wilco went to VIP party. I think there was an after show party but who said wilco would come to it. Why would they. Never heard of anything like that. Unless someone was there please chime in. Otherwise I need some sort of proof

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Tellingly, none of those songs was given extended, navel-gazingly treatments, and it was appreciated.

That might be the single most poorly-worded sentence I have ever read in a concert review. As a professional writer, all I can say to that reviewer is what Phil Leotardo said to Vito right before his crew whacked him: "You're a f___n' disgrace."

http://youtu.be/sLJQFZlkDuQ

[winterland121072]

is there anything better than the sopranos?

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I probably should not have put that into a review thread, but I could not resist. Phil's words were exactly what went through my mind when I read that review...not that I think the reviewer should get whacked.

[sonnyfeeling]

I call bullshit on that "stretching songs into eight minutes" part.

 

I hope a recording of that show surfaces soon. When it does, I suspect we will find that there are no songs that exceed 8 minutes except One Sunday Morning. That was the case at Red Rocks, where they played 51 songs, and only One Sunday Morning was over 8 monutes.

 

I just checked the timing for Art of Almost, one of the "jammiest" songs in the Wilco repertoire. On the album, it clocks in at 7:16. They played it at both Red Rocks shows, with track times of 7:21 and 7:25, respectively.

 

And then there's Impossible Germany, which was 5:55 on the album and gets stretched out by a minute or so for a live show, giving Nels a little time in the spotlight. At Red Rocks, Impossible Germany was 6:59 and 7:10, or about a minute more than the performance the reviewer is supposedly comparing it to.

 

Unless someone fed the band some special brownies backstage in Utah, causing them to bring out their inner Phish, I suspect this show was exactly the same.

 

Guy's a decent writer, too bad he just blew this story.

 

PS: I'm a journalist myself. I publish stuff all the time. I really hate to see sloppy work like this.

[The Inside of Outside]

I call bullshit on that "stretching songs into eight minutes" part.

 

Unless someone fed the band some special brownies backstage in Utah, causing them to bring out their inner Phish, I suspect this show was exactly the same.

Ha! Made me laugh.

[peteboiler]

Jimjiminy, that was a great post and review. I really enjoyed it, and my thoughts exactly on not meeting, but always wanting to meet the band. I am grateful for them and everything they do for us. Wilco has always been a class act IMO. I accept the fact that they don't 'hang' with the fans often, although sometimes they do. I just saw on another thread that Jeff says that Wilco fans are more of a community than wanting to meet the band, or something like that. He is a very humble man, and I appreciate that. Unlike one of my other favs, John Mellencamp. I have seen him around 5 times and he blows me away in concert, but man is he an asshole. lol. All good.

 

Bob

[H.Stone]

I was at the Red Butte show a couple (few?) years ago, and when there was a note about Jeff and the security guard, I assumed it was Jeff's annoyance at the security guards maintaining an "invisible barrier" between the knee-high brick "wall" and the crowd. It's too bad the venue has moved the VIP section to front and center. When we attended a show there, the VIP section was about halfway up the grassy slope which worked well since the vast majority of the people in that section weren't necessarily fans of the band but simply major supporters of the Gardens.

 

One thing I remember well from the show are the canyon breezes the blew through all night. It was a beautiful venue!

[Albert Tatlock]

http://www.dailyutah....com/?p=2572758

 

Only posted because this drab little article is accompanied by a photo of Huey Lewis and the News