By: Stacy Schwartz
Valentine’s Day 2007 marked the first solo show in Minneapolis by singer-songwriter Dan Wilson in way too long. The show followed closely on the heels of Wilson’s first Grammy win (though his second nomination – the first one was for Semisonic’s “Closing Time” in 1999) for writing the Dixie Chicks’ song “Not Ready to Make Nice.” Throughout the night, both Wilson and the zealous crowd continually made references to the award, at one point prompting Wilson to pull an “air Grammy” out of his pocket and say, “Oh, this old thing?”
Dan Wilson - Photo by Stacy Sandstrom (click for set)
Wilson opened the show with “All Kinds,” and charmed the sold-out audience with his silly banter and comments about love. After a few tunes off his long-awaited, yet to be released album, Wilson spoke about how he sees love and how that influences his writing. He said he sees love as a landscape and tries to portray that in his lyrics. Wilson then left his guitar and moved to a baby grand piano. He sang a few covers to celebrate the holiday, such as “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing.” At this point, Jacqueline Ferrier-Ultan and Michelle Kinney of Jelloslave joined Wilson on stage and the trio made my heart swoon, playing songs Wilson has written, but not himself recorded—the best of the bunch being “I Want You,” recorded by Rachael Yamagata.
The lucky crowd was then treated to a story of Wilson being left alone in an office with an open Mac laptop. After hours of waiting, Wilson decided to search the music files stored on the desktop. He ran across a song titled “Willy O’ Winsbury.” (This is also the point we found out that Wilson’s childhood nickname was “Willy,” but I think I’m supposed to keep that hush-hush.) Wilson told us he liked the song so much he was going to perform it, but we need to know the story first. It’s a story with an unexpected ending, even though it starts out conventionally, with a princess who falls in love with a commoner named Willy that her father the king doesn’t approve of. The king sends his merry men to retrieve Willy, so Willy can be hanged. However, upon the first sight of Willy, the king relents and states:
“It is no wonder,” said the king,
“that my daughter's love you did win
if I were a woman as I am a man
my bedfellow you would have been.”
At various points in the evening Wilson acknowledged his home state of Minnesota, at one point thanking the audience for letting him “do what he does over there [L.A.], while allowing him to live here [MN].” Finally someone yelled out the question we were all wondering, “When is your new CD coming out!?” Wilson hesitated briefly, before stating, “Soon, I hope.” The hometown crowd cheered in that subdued Minnesotan way while Wilson treated us to a few more heart wrenching melodies. The sweetest of all moments was Wilson’s almost-last song “Lullaby,” and he invited the crowd to sing along with his lovely refrain:
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I'm never, never giving you up
Thanks for the Valentine Dan. Will you be mine?
All Kinds
Baby Doll
Sugar
Secret Smile (Semisonic)
Catch the Wind (Donovan / Glen Campbell cover)
So Lonesome I Could Cry
Not Ready to Make Nice (Dixie Chicks)
Love is a Many Splendored Thing
I Want You (Rachael Yamagata)
Willy O Winsbury
Easy Silence (Dixie Chicks)
Free Life
She’s Got My Number (Semisonic)
Honey Please
Jr. (improv)
Lullaby (Dixie Chicks)
Breathless
Made to Last (Semisonic)
Location Info:
Cedar Cultural Center
Artist Info: Dan Wilson, Jelloslave
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