A month later and I'm still thinking about this show. I hadn't seen Wilco since the Summerteeth era and my first encounter with the current formation was worth the 2 hour plus drive each way to the show. Nestled deep in the Berkshires, Tanglewood is in a beautiful location that is well out of the way from the typical touring routes. I rode in with a woman I had never met before but who works at my former place of employment so we had plenty to gossip about during the long drive. She has a phone with GPS which we let direct eh way. I was fascinated by this little gadget and the way it told us to take a slight turn either right or left every .3 miles or so. It was the most hypervigilant GPS I've ever seen yet when we passed our turn in North Adams, MA it was more than happy to go off for a smoke brake and not let us know we had veered off course until several minutes had passed. It also gave us two possible choices for a Tanglewood location so I randomly chose one which brought us to a residential neighborhood and construction zone 2 miles from the actual concert venue. The thing was a laugh riot. For those keeping score it was GPS - 2, Humans - 0.
After a short, and sparsely attended warm up set by Andrew Bird which featured a jaw droppingly beautiful new song, Wilco took the stage in their new glitzy Nashville style Lite Brite Suitz. Right away people were cheering and shouting and frothing at the mouth. Why do I only seem to attend shows with crazy fans lately?
The show started quietly but soon enough it turned into an insanely raucous affair. The crowd was ramped up and humongous, stretching out from us in every direction and far back into the night. Jimbama scored 6th row center seats under the canopy so we were surrounded by rabid fans whose excitement was contagious. I typically hate crowd participation but there I was clapping and singing along with songs like a fool and loving every minute of it. And I must say, Wilco fans have a good sense of rhythm. There were some at the Zappa Plays Zappa show who had obviously never heard of the concept of steady beat.
Due to their casual but precise interplay and road tested chemistry, Wilco reminded me at times of The Band in The Last Waltz minus all the special guests and bland songs. I know a lot of people drool over Robbie Robertson but Nels Cline could take him in a cage match any day of the week. I focused most of my attention on him and his furious soloing for the first half of the show since the man absolutely eviscerates his guitars but after the halfway mark, Pat Sansone started coming on strong and ended up being the center of attention with his Pete Townshend windmills and Mick Jagger strutting. He looked like a peacock with a Partridge Family hairdo and that was alright by me.
The highlights of the show for me were Impossible Germany's 3 guitar attack, A Shot in the Arm, which hit me like a steamroller and Poor Places into Kidsmoke. Best live rock band currently touring? Possibly. Here's the set list.
Either WayHummingbird
Remember the Mountain Bed
Muzzle of Bees
You Are My Face
Impossible Germany
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
A Shot in the Arm
What Light (w/Total Pros horns)
California Stars (w/TPs)
Pieholden Suite (w/TPs)
Handshake Drugs
Pot Kettle Black
Summer Teeth
Jesus, etc.
Poor Places>Spiders (Kidsmoke)
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Can't Stand It (w/TPs)
Hate It Here (w/TPs)
Walken (w/TPs)
I'm The Man Who Loves You (w/TPs)
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The Late Greats (w/TPs)
Heavy Metal Drummer
Monday (w/TPs)>Outtasite (Outta Mind) (w/TPs)
I'm A Wheel
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