Even while the world is being rocked by a global pandemic, some things never change: death, taxes, political turmoil and the boys in Wilco being a finely-tuned live alternative rock machine. After a year of not playing together at all and even longer without properly touring, Jeff Tweedy and company showed no signs of rust as they performed the first of a two-night stand at The Orpheum in downtown Los Angeles. The two-hour-long performance featured a wide-ranging set list that touched on much of their extensive discography.
Opening the night was folk songstress Faye Webster, who has spent the last few months touring along with Wilco. The Georgia native played songs like “Right Side of My Neck,” “In A Good Way,” “Cheers” and the title track of her latest LP, “I Know I’m Funny Haha.” Many of the songs featured a pedal steel guitar that elevated the lush, beautifully arranged set.
After a short break, the audience was treated to the headliner’s rousing opening performance of “Bright Leaves,” as longtime members Tweedy, Nels Cline, Pat Sansone, Mikael Jorgensen and Glenn Kotche took the stage. Sansone’s methodical drum beat drove the song as Tweedy quietly sang the melancholy verses. The band then dialed it all the way back to 1999 with a performance of “A Shot in the Arm” from their third album, Summerteeth. The song, defined by its hypnotic piano line, gave the audience a bit of a shot in the arm as folks started standing up and dancing in front of their assigned seating.
The Orpheum is one of Los Angeles’ finest theaters and a great place to catch a movie or see a performance from a less lively performer (say, something like Mount Eerie or even Faye Webster from earlier in the night). But a band like Wilco, who has its fair share of songs that make you want to wiggle along with the music, is a bit awkward as the crowd was never sure if they should be sitting or standing. That really changed after they banged out the fuzzed-out rocker “Random Name Generator” when Tweedy first addressed the audience. He talked about how it was a Monday, a pretty rockin’ Monday, and encouraged the audience to go crazy. Wilco’s music is still pretty tame, so going wild wasn’t really in the cards, but after that point, the entire audience was on their feet.
“War on War” was the fifth song of the night and the band’s first foray into their legendary fourth album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It’s hard to call that album their “breakthrough,” as they already were extremely well-known when it was released in 2001 (plus Tweedy’s long career with Uncle Tupelo), but it’s the LP that launched the band into that untouchable stratosphere of alternative bands like Radiohead. All told, they played six songs from the album, a testament to its enduring strength. What on earth were those executives at Reprise thinking back in 2000?
As the band’s leader since its inception, Tweedy is the most recognizable face and the person most associate with Wilco, but it’s important to recognize how crucial Cline is to their sound. That was made very clear during “At Least That’s What You Said,” with the guitarist pulling out all of the stops during an extended jam session with virtuosic soloing. The man is a prodigy on the six-string, and really, it’s worth the cost of admission just to see him shred with what seems like so little effort.
After “Love Is Everywhere (Beware),” another highlight from their 2019 album Ode to Joy, Tweedy delivered an important message. While joking about whether we all really know how to do this (perform a concert and watch a concert) and how long he’s been waiting, he reminded us to remember to never postpone happiness.
At this point, the band had already been performing for about 45 minutes, a point where many artists would be winding down their set. Not Wilco—this show wasn’t even halfway over!
As soon as Cline began playing the opening guitar figure from “Impossible Germany,” the audience had its biggest reaction of the night. Not only is it one of the best songs in the band’s long and storied discography, but it’s also another chance to see Cline’s virtuosity on the guitar. He mesmerized the audience with a several-minute-long solo, taking the song to new psychedelic highs.
“Misunderstood” was another time warp back to the band’s early days. One of the band’s more well-known songs, it deals with a transitional period in Tweedy’s career, specifically the acrimonious split of Uncle Tupelo and his life as a musician. The band went right back to the well of nostalgia with another song from Being There, “Forget the Flowers,” followed by the only performance from their debut LP A.M., “Box Full of Letters.”
At this point, Tweedy said that they were getting close to the end of the set, to which the audience loudly voiced their displeasure. He relented and implied that they would be playing several more songs—and the band delivered with seven more songs in the set proper alone. They touched on A Ghost Is Born with the solemn “Hummingbird” and the playful “Theologians.” They threw in a very popular performance of the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot standout “Jesus, Etc.” In fact, four of their last five songs came from that album, as they closed out the set with “I’m the Man Who Loves You,” “Poor Places” and “Reservations.” For the encore, they played two more tracks from Being There, “Monday” followed by “Outtasite.”
Being the second-to-last date on their short, fall tour, it’s no surprise Wilco was flawless during this performance. Even over the course of over 20 songs, every note rang out with authority and energy, certainly the product of seasoned professionals. What makes the performance even more impressive is perusing set lists from other dates on the tour and recognizing the variety. Sure, the bulk of the songs each night are the same, but there’s at least a handful of songs each night that are unique to that show. Here’s to hoping we have many more years of seeing this band perform.
Set List:
Bright Leaves
A Shot in the Arm
Random Name Generator
Wishful Thinking
War on War
One and a Half Stars
At Least That’s What You Said
Black Bull Nova
Love Is Everywhere (Beware)
Pot Kettle Black
Impossible Germany
Misunderstood
Forget the Flowers
Box Full of Letters
Everyone Hides
Hummingbird
Jesus, Etc.
Theologians
I’m the Man Who Loves You
Poor Places
Reservations
Encore:
Monday
Outtasite
File Photo: Alyssa Fried
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