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closeSaturday, Oct. 10, 2009
Wilco lightens the mood with great success
By PRESTON JONES
DFW.com
Wilco delivered a memorable set on Friday night at the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas.
DALLAS — Wilco provided ample evidence of its newfound calm Friday night.
The seven-member band took the stage to The Price is Right theme song.
Frontman Jeff Tweedy eagerly swapped shirts with a member of the audience, donning a stylish gold lamé number. "I feel like I’m in Sha Na Na," he said.
Tweedy even paused in midset to offer his colorful theories on the construction of set lists.
A brooding, troubled artist this was not. After developing something of a reputation as a cerebral, slightly confrontational act in the early ’00s (thanks, in part, to the fallout surrounding its breakthrough album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot), Wilco has achieved a measure of peace with not only its music, but also its perception as well.
The Palladium Ballroom’s sold-out crowd ate up every joking aside, roared after every song, belted out lyrics and enveloped the Chicago-based rockers in a fierce, warm welcome.
For more than two hours, Wilco happily rambled through its catalog (the band solicits requests online before shows), doling out more than 25 songs. From the beloved (and relatively upbeat) A Shot in the Arm to the stormier Company in My Back, there was a limber, almost giddy quality to the show that spilled off the stage and into the audience.
The septet is touring in support of this year’s Wilco (The Album), a sunny, quirky and faintly difficult record that loops in the avant-garde splashes of the divisive A Ghost Is Born and the rollicking country sketches of the effervescent Summerteeth.
Befitting the spirit of its latest album, the band delivered controlled chaos with a smile. Guitarist Nels Cline, in particular, provided multiple highlights, wringing dramatic solos from his instrument and, frequently, spiking songs with bursts of vivid noise.
Loose almost to the point of shambolic, yet razor sharp throughout, Tweedy and company allowed the ominous shadows coloring tunes like Jesus, Etc. or Impossible Germany as shades of nuance, rather than a prevailing mood. Slashes of guitar meshed with rolling splashes of percussion and Tweedy’s persistent, pained tenor.
Wilco (The Album) has garnered considerable critical acclaim for bridging the extremes of this wonderfully ambitious group. As Friday’s excellent performance demonstrated, letting in a little light — and calmness — cements Wilco’s standing as one of America’s finest rock bands.
Preston Jones is the Star-Telegram pop music critic, 817-390-7713
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