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Review: Wilco at Stubb’s
Deborah Cannon AMERICAN-STATESMAN
As the sun sets on Sundays, folks are often lulled into a peacfeul rest on the comfort of their couch, winding down from the weekend and preparing for the long week ahead. Early in the Wilco set at Stubb’s Sunday night, it seemed lead singer Jeff Tweedy would have been more happy on said piece of leisure furniture than on stage, the band sputtering to find its rhythm and a unified energy in the first quarter of the set. Considering the band has played roughly two dozen shows in Austin over the past 13 years, maybe Tweedy just felt so at home that he was not compelled to rush things.
Dressed in a green blazer, and backed by his five bandmates who were dressed in various shades of blue and black, Tweedy began the set with the haunting beauty of ‘Sunken Treasure,’ his tender voice buttressed by the whispering slide guitar of Nels Cline and the percsussive rumblings of drummer Glenn Kotche.
Following the dark romanticism of ‘Sunken Treasure,’ the band eased into ‘You Are My Face,’ from its most recent album. The song shifted from lush harmonies to guitar-driven rock, carried by the sharp, edgy guitar lines from Cline and onto the tasteful churchlike organ phrasings of Mikael Jorgensen, before returning back to the soft melodies and crooning of Tweedy, the song a perfect example of the soft to raucous and back-to-soft transitions for which the band is legend.
Unwilling to build on the momentum of the second tune, the band chose to return to the feel established by the opening tune with the subdued and poetic ‘Remember the Mountain Bed’ from the band’s joint with Billy Bragg, ‘Mermaid Avenue Vol. 2.’ Although Tweedy treated fans to the tune at his solo show in Austin in 2006, it was the first time the full band had played the song for an Austin audience. Following the relatively obscure ‘Mountain Bed’ with ‘Company in My Back,’ in which Cline had a chance to provide the show with some much-needed energy, Tweedy finally addressed the audience, wishing the crowd a happy Mother’s Day (the ‘best day of the year,’ according to the songsmith). The first song offering opportunity for a group sing-along, ‘Handshake Drugs,’ gave me the impression the band was about ready to turn the page on its languid start, the crowd, with help from Cline’s dramatic flair on guitar, seemingly trying to will energy into the set.
After brushing off ‘Pick Up The Change,’ the first time they’ve played the song in Austin since 2001, the band began to engage the crowd with a little more animated playing on the bouncy and sweeping ‘Hummingbird.’ But, as they had for the first third of the set, the band refused to ride the momentum of the previous song, instead playing a gentle version of ‘On and On and On.’
With the following ‘Pot Kettle Black’ and ‘Shot in the Arm,’ the band finally seemed to find its stride, exciting the crowd with some more familiar tunes, with Tweedy coming to life with more banter and mussing his hair to humorous effect. By the time they trotted out crowd favorite ‘Jesus, Etc.,’ the night finally seemed to have taken form after an organic, if disconnected start. Near the close of the set, the band took the opportunity to reintroduce fans to some old songs that had not seen the light of an Austin day in ages. The band used a five-night run of shows in Chicago in February, in which they played every song from their extensive catalogue, to dust off some of the cobwebs from early recordings. That bit of nostalgia led to the reappearance Sunday of two songs that last surfaced in Austin when high-rise condos were as foreign here as French-style cooking, ‘It’s Just That Simple’ and ‘That’s Not the Issue,’ two Wilco classics the band had not performed in Austin since 1995 and 1997, respectively. For many fans, I’m sure it was a first for them to even see bass player John Stirratt sing lead, with Tweedy on bass, on the Stirratt-penned ‘It’s Just that Simple.’
The band closed the set with a rollicking version of ‘Walken,’ a jam that worked the crowd into fevered dance mode before closing the set with fan sing-along-favorite ‘I’m the Man Who Loves You.’ After popping off stage for the briefest of intermissions, the band reappareared for its first encore, a coda of sorts that began with patient and heartfelt renditions of ‘Misunderstood,’ ‘Poor Places,’ and ‘Reservations’ before making the dissonant leap to rocker ‘Spiders (Kidsmoke),’ a song that’s wild guitar, driving bass, tasty perscussive fills and dramatic changes epitomize Wilco at its highest rock form.
After a night that moved, clumsily at times, from soft ballads to uptempo rock songs, the band’s second encore kept the foot on the gas, pleasing the crowd with ‘I Hate it Here,’ ‘Heavy Metal Drummer,’ ‘Casino Queen’ (which may or may not have been a nod to the dude yelling for the song from behind the soundboard the entire night), the rare ‘Hoodoo Voodoo’ and finally ‘Outtasite (Outta Mind).’
Sometimes patience is a virtue, and such was certainly the case at Stubb’s Sunday night. Whether Tweedy and Co. were disinterested or simply taking time to find the night’s pulse early in the show, by the end of the night, Wilco’s legion of faithful fans were rewarded, as the show organically grew to reflect all that is great about the band — raw, honest lyrics, flawless musicianship and a lead singer who knows how, when he wants to, give the crowd exactly what it wants. And, just as the crowd obviously appreciated the 135-minute set that was packed full of songs from all eight of the band’s studio albums, Tweedy was equally appreciative. While he admitted the band usually lied and told every city that they were the best, before the night ended, Tweedy confessed, ‘You really are the best, Austin.’ Whether his tongue was planted in his cheek or not is not certain. And, that is the beauty of Wilco’s enigmatic frontman, sometimes you just don’t know quite what he’s getting at. But, as with any old friend, you’re happy to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Setlist
- 1. Sunken Treasure
- 2. You Are My Face
- 3. Remember The Mountain Bed
- 4. Company In My Back
- 5. Handshake Drugs
- 6. Pick Up The Change
- 7. Hummingbird
- 8. On And On And On
- 9. Pot Kettle Black
- 10. A Shot In The Arm
- 11. Summer Teeth
- 12. Jesus, Etc.
- 13. Impossible Germany
- 14. It’s Just That Simple
- 15. That’s Not The Issue
- 16. Walken
- 17. I’m The Man Who Loves You
Encore 1:
- 18. Misunderstood
- 19. Poor Places
- 20. Reservations
- 21. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Encore 2:
- 22. Hate It Here
- 23. Heavy Metal Drummer
- 24. Casino Queen
- 25. Hoodoo Voodoo
- 26. Outtasite (Outta Mind)
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