Home for the Holidays: Opening Winterlude on the 'Ode to Joy' Tour, Wilco Is Helped by One of Their Heroes -- Chicago Concert Review

Concert Review

Wilco

w/ opening act Robyn Hitchcock

Chicago Theatre

December 15, 2019

(also playing 12/16, 18, 19)

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Over what is now a 25-year-career, Wilco has done quite well for themselves, putting out many acclaimed albums, selling out numerous Chicago shows and playing all around the world.

Many acts would kill to be able to fill four shows at the Chicago Theatre, and in the annals of alternative rock I think it's fair to call them a "major band."

But it does seem a bit surprising, to me if no one else, that Sunday's show at the splendiferous Chicago Theatre was the 14th time I've seen Wilco live.

OK, so that includes a 4th of July free show at Grant Park in 1996 when I really just heard them from the lawn, and an opening slot for R.E.M. in 1999. But it doesn't count one of the coolest gigs, when I got to see Wilco's singer/songwriter Jeff Tweedy perform Wilco songs (alongside various assemblages of music students) in the living room of my friend's sister, as a benefit for Chicago's venerated Old Town School of Folk Music. I even got to meet him and chat a bit.

Robyn Hitchcock

So heck, let's call it 15.

That's more than I've seen anyone live except Bruce Springsteen, U2, Pearl Jam and Wilco's Chicago brethren, the Smashing Pumpkins (in various incarnations).

And it's now more than I've seen the Foo Fighters, Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and the Who.

I love Wilco, but not as much as any of those acts. 

They have many stellar songs, Tweedy is an amiable if at times crusty frontman and the band's diverse musicality--led by guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Glenn Kotche--is fantastic.

They're local heroes, and I'm glad to have seen them as often as I have, including once again.

Yet compared to the other artists mentioned and some other favorites of mine, Wilco just isn't that exciting.

In part this is because--especially at this point on several recent albums--they traipse in folk and country stylings much more than what I would call hard rock.

From the stage on Sunday, Tweedy spoke of the band's knack for doing "waltzes and laments" and that even when they get the party started, it's mostly "mid-tempo rock."

I still love their harder-charging late '90s albums--Being There and Summer Teeth--when they reminded me at times of The Replacements, and my favorite Wilco shows have been ones where they've largely rocked out.

But to be clear, I didn't attend on Sunday expecting them to do.

Not every concert need blow my head off, and I certainly didn't mind that in being comfortably seated in the last row of the balcony, no one in front of me was inspired to stand. 

Wilco is touring on their 11th studio album, Ode to Joy, which is a rather sedate set and still settling in for me.

Eight of the show's 28 songs--see the setlist here--came from the 2019 release, and particularly early on, set the relaxed tone.

They mined their catalog for several gems--"I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," "War on War," "Hummingbird," "Via Chicago," "Box Full of Letters," "I'm the Man Who Loves You," "I'm Always in Love," "California Stars"--and the overall vibe was of a strong, but fairly typical Wilco show.

I've given most Wilco concerts @@@@ or @@@@1/2 (out of 5) and really could have gone either way on this one.

I settled on the latter for a couple main reasons.

First, was the band's hand-picked opening act, Robyn Hitchcock, a veteran literate British singer/songwriter once in The Soft Boys and later backed by the Egyptians.

Hitchcock is one of those guys whose name I've long known, but whose music I've never acquainted myself with as much as I should have.

I did once catch him opening for R.E.M. 30 years ago, and was intending to see him last January if something--weather, illness, ticket prices, can't quite recall--didn't intercede.

But I've never owned any albums, nor in these days of streaming, sought to explore much of his vast output.

And I forgot he was opening this show until I got there, so I didn't Spotifamiliarize myself with anything ahead of time.

Still, with Robyn solo on acoustic guitar, cheekily telling the audience that he was "incredibly old" and sharing odd stories about his cats, hens and other such stuff, Hitchcock's half-hour set was a delight.

His setlist isn't published, but I think "I Pray When I'm Drunk," "My Wife and My Dead Wife," "Queen of Eyes," "Madonna of the Wasps" and "I Want to Tell You About What I Want" covers most, and perhaps all, of what he played.

I don't typically loop the opening act into my rating of a headline artist, but not only did he speak of being there expressly because the Wilco guys were longtime fans, Hitchcock made a cameo--get it?--on the last two songs of the night.

With Robyn on lead vocals, first was a cover of the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows," followed by a great "I Wanna Destroy You" from the Soft Boys' highly acclaimed 1980 album, Underwater Moonlight.

So this was a case where the opening act demonstrably abetted my overall enjoyment.

And while, even with a few late rockers, Wilco were largely their laid-back selves, when they did get thunderous--such as the cacophony that erupts in "Via Chicago," some brilliant guitar playing by Cline, which turned "Impossible Germany" into an unexpected highlight, the escalating anxious rattle of "Misunderstood"--it was truly blissful.

And served to reiterate why I keep coming back.

Sunday in the Park with Wilco: Local Stalwarts Make for a Beautiful Night Under Chicago Stars -- Concert Review

Concert Review

Wilco
w/ opening act Twin Peaks
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Millennium Park, Chicago
August 21, 2016
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When I bought my tickets to "see" Wilco Sunday night at Millennium Park--way back in February--I presumed I would be precluded from actually seeing the band onstage.

At the time I wasn't employed, and though I imagined it would be fun to catch Chicago's foremost band--at least until the original Smashing Pumpkins reunite, if rumors prove true--with my sister Allison and friend Paolo, lawn tickets for $30 + fees seemed far more reasonable than pavilion seats starting at $75 + fees.

And on a supremely beautiful night amid one of the city's most sublime public spaces, Wilco sounded terrific--thanks, I think, to the speaker system on Frank Gehry's lawn lattice, though I couldn't be certain the speakers were even on.

As you can deduce from the photos I took, on occasion I was able to walk down nearer the stage, see the band and snap some pix, and even watched the last 30 minutes of a nearly 2-1/2 hour show from a visual vantage point.

So in catching a fine performance from a band I've long liked--this was my 10th Wilco concert, plus a benefit gig by lead singer Jeff Tweedy in a living room--with a couple companions on an August night sans thunderstorms or even humidity, it would seem I have no complaints.

And I don't in terms of what and how Wilco played.

Yes, I would have expected more setlist variance from other shows on their 2016 summer tour, but this is the only one I attended so I fully enjoyed the well-paced mix of six songs from 2015's Star Wars album, two from the forthcoming (on Sept. 9) Schmilco--"If Ever I Was a Child" and "Locator"--and several gems from across the past 21 years.

These included "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," "Hummingbird," "Spiders (Kidsmoke)," "Heavy Metal Drummer," "I'm the Man Who Loves You," "I Got You (At the End of the Century)" and "Outtasite (Outta Mind)." (See the full setlist here.)

It's hard to be a Wilco fan and not appreciate their folksy side, but as the songs I cited above bespeak, I like it best when they rock out. The hard/soft, fast/slow collided brilliantly on the apt, "Via Chicago," with the mostly low-key tune interrupted by thunderous blasts of sound and light (as best I could see).

The slow-build but ultimately fevered multi-instrumental buzz of "Art of Almost" had Paolo and I concurring about just how great a band Wilco is, in terms of the obvious skill all the members bring to their craft.

So while it was atypical for a band to close their show--and a big homecoming one at that--with a 8-song unplugged second encore (after having rocked pretty hard in the first encore), it demonstrated, impressively, that Wilco is confident enough to do whatever the hell they want.

And having songs as good and beloved as "War on War," "Passenger Side," "California Stars" and the closing "Shot in the Arm" certainly didn't hurt in mellowing out the appreciative crowd before sending them home happy.

Which all made for a really good show that well may have merited @@@@1/2 had I been able to see more of it.

As I said above, I didn't expect a spot on the lawn to provide a sightline to the stage. But having been to many a free concert at the Pritzker Pavilion where a video screen was employed, I expected that to have been the case in ponying up about $40 (with fees).

I imagine not having any video screen may have been Wilco's choice, especially as a pretty elaborate light show comprised their stage backdrop. (Hence the impracticality of a screen right behind them, as was used at a Bob Mould concert in 2014, among others.)

But between the promoter, park district or whoever oversees these things, I think something should have been devised to let fans on the lawn readily see the happenings onstage. I recall when Gehry designed the visually dynamic bandshell, he reasoned that video could be projected on the top front of it, but I've never seen that done.

I know that, especially for area concertgoers enamored with Ravinia, the idea of going to a concert and simply hearing the band isn't that unusual, but it has never been my preference. (I like that Ravinia has added a lawn video screen but now try to only go if I can get an affordable pavilion seat.)

No offense to Tweedy, guitarist Nils Cline, drummer Glenn Kotche, bassist John Stirratt and the other band members, but Wilco isn't the most exciting band to look at, so it was far from a waste of time to primarily just hear them. In fact, it was often cool just to stare at the sky and appreciate the music.

But next time, a video screen or two would definitely be welcome, particularly if I'm not in a better position to put myself in a better position.

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Opening the show was a far newer Chicago band called Twin Peaks, devoid of any obvious homages to
David Lynch.

A music-loving friend of mine has championed them, and it turns out that guitarist/vocalist Cadien Lake James is the son of a Facebook friend of Paolo's.

I had familiarized myself a bit via a Spotify Session the band had done, and everything sounded good out in the park, including "Walk to the One You Love," a single from their third album, Down in Heaven, released in May.

Paolo suggested Twin Peaks sounds like the Dandy Warhols, while I sensed some familiarity with Weezer, with a bit of discordance reminiscent of Sonic Youth and references to the Velvet Underground and Rolling Stones.

Showcases like this one should only help the band build their presence, and while they'd be quite fortunate to build a career with the breadth, depth and fan loyalty of Wilco, it's not impossible to imagine one day I could see Twin Peaks headlining the Pritzker Pavilion.

Or at least hear them.