By: David de Young
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Wilco - Publicity photo by Danny Clinch
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This review is dedicated to the guy who flipped off the audience during the first song of Wilco’s set at the Orpheum in Minneapolis. It pissed off Jeff Tweedy enough that he commented on it later in the show in one of the longer audience chat-up bits, saying that he had really been offended and had to get it off his chest. I'm glad to do my part to bring chagrin to someone to whom it is due.
Our seats for this show were insanely good. 3rd row (Row C Main Floor), but far enough off to stage left that would could stand the entire show without blocking anyone's view. Jeff Tweedy was just 20 feet away with no obstruction of any band member--one hell of a nice thing after Thursday's mega local Rock for Karl showcase at the siteline free zone known as The Quest.. The sound was outstanding. The songs went off well. The band reportoire tonight was designed to please just about any Wilco fan at any level who owned even one of their albums from the past 10 years. Fans who owned them all, including 1996’s Being There had a heyday. About the only thing missing from this show was local violist Jessy Greene, who has played with Wilco semi-regularly in the studio and live for many years.
The first set included, as you might expect, a number of songs from this year’s Nonesuch release A Ghost is Born. They opened with At Least That's What You Said, which was followed by Hummingbird, Muzzle of Bees and Company in my Back. They also played Handshake Drugs, Theologians and the short version of Spiders(Kidsmoke.) (See full set list below if you're really interested.) Songs from other albums included I Am Trying To Break Your Heart and probably the highlight of the show for me, Via Chicago with stunning drum disasters by Glenn Kotche. Being from Illinois that song has always been special (though Always in Love is probably my favorite song from Summerteeth and it was not played at this show.)
Jeff Tweedy told us to scream loud because, he said, screaming reduces your risk of prostate cancer by producing Lycopene. The first encore included Kingpin and I'm a Wheel. Tweedy took off his jacket when the band came back for Encore #2. They played Misunderstood, the first time I'd heard that live. I discovered that singing along to the Thank you for NOTHIN' NOTHIN' NOTHIN' part was quite cathartic and therapeutic. (My concert-companion for this show, Mary has seen Wilco 12 times said they used to close with that song all the time, and that makes sense now that I see how the sing-a-long can totally change the tone of this song. Jeff Tweedy is not saying "thank you for nothing" TO you. He's saying it FOR you..)
Tweedy thanked Deerhoof (the eclectic openers from San Francisco of whom he is quite clearly a big fan) and asked us to vote. He remarked that if media conglomerates with billions of dollars can tell millions of people what to do then he can say from that stage that "Bush has to fucking go." There were mostly cheers and just a few boos. He added "Wilco is sick of....oooo he just makes me so mad!"
For those who had seemed a little resistant to his political commentary, he said "Some of you might disagree with the opinions we just said." He asked those people to not vote out of fear and just listen to the final song to see if there was something in their heart that might hear it.
They closed with Be Not So Fearful by Bill Fay.
This was by far one of the best shows I've seen by an international recording artist anywhere in the world this year. (This, in a year I saw David Bowie and The Darkness and the Pixies and Iggy Pop and so many more on stages all across America and Europe.) I understand that Wilco are “walking gods” in Chicago, but I don’t think such a description is limited to just their hometown fans. I was blown away by the seeming ease with which they carried off a huge, structured, semi-orchestral, even theatrical event live with seeming casualness as if it were just a regular rock show.
Read Karla Ludzack's review of show #2 here.
Here's the set list from Show #1
Wilco Set List – Orpheum - Minneapolis 10/25/04
1. At Least That's What You Said
2. Hummingbird
3. Muzzle of Bees
4. Company in My Back
5. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
6. Handshake Drugs
7. Shot in the Arm
8. Jesus, Etc.
9. Via Chicago
10. War on War.
11. Theologians
12. I’m the Man Who Loves You
13. Poor Places
14. Reservations.
15. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Encore 1
1. Candy Floss
2. Kingpin
3. Late Greats
4. I’m a Wheel
Encore 2
1. Misunderstood
2. Passenger Side
3. Christ for President
4. Be Not So Fearful
Lineup
Jeff Tweedy – guitars, vocals
John Stirratt – bass, vocals
Glenn Kotche – drums, percussion
Mikael Jorgensen - keys, laptop
Nels Cline - guitars
Pat Sansone – multi-instrumentalist
Read more about Wilco here.
Location Info:
Orpheum Theatre
Artist Info: Wilco
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