Wilco – Palladium Ballroom – October 9, 2009
Posted on | October 12, 2009 | No Comments
1. I had the opportunity to see Wilco for the fourth time on Friday night at the Palladium Ballroom. Though the band has gone through several iterations since the days when they might be considered “alt-country”, I believe they are putting on their best live shows with their current lineup. Drawing from all sorts of American musical influences, Jeff Tweedy and company took to the stage and promptly launched into “Wilco (The Song)”, a slightly tongue-in-cheek tribute to their fans.
2. An evening that saw Tweedy exchange shirts with a fan, go back and forth on his band’s policy of taking requests (do it through the website, please) and play a ten song encore, Wilco proved that while they might fall into a wealth of genres, their music is entirely their own. Recalling the layered sound of Summerteeth, they blazed through “A Shot In the Arm”, before sprinkling the first set with songs from their last three albums, particularly “Company in my Back”, with its stuttering intro and outro played to perfection and the woozy “You Are My Face”.
3. Though at times they showed influence of the Band (”Hoodoo Voodoo”) and the Stones (”Casino Queen”), Wilco has a sound all their own — due in part to the dueling keyboards of Mikael Jorgensen and Pat Sansone and the otherworldly guitar work of Nels Cline. Tweedy seemed to be in the best mood I have ever seen him in, as he joked with the crowd and thoroughly enjoyed the set. Ending with a scorching encore of rockers that included personal favorite “The Late Greats” as well as the proto-punk “I’m a Wheel” and the lurching “Kingpin”, Wilco showed their ability to bring together a host of distinctly American influences without appearing derivative at all. Capped off by a performance of “Jesus, Etc.” where Tweedy let the crowd sing the first two verses and choruses on their own, the band demonstrated their ability to make music that people can take hold of and make their own. If that isn’t success, I’m not sure what is.
All photos by Patrick Michels for the Dallas Observer. See the full slideshow here.
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