Wilco @ 9:30 Club
When Wilco first toured after the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002, though it seems even longer ago), they'd joke around on stage about how they were trying to popularize the word "snoozin'." Jeff Tweedy would say, "You know how when people started saying 'bad' when something was really good? It's the same thing. 'Snoozin' is the new 'rockin'."
It's an ethos that, while not uniformly descriptive of the band's output since then, is certainly indicative of their past three albums, and certainly was true of the band's opening selections during the second of a two day stand at the 9:30 Club last night. Starting out with Tweedy solo staple "Sunken Treasure", Wilco jumped around in their catalog (from Mermaid Avenue Vol. II's "Remember the Mountain Bed" to Sky Blue Sky's "Side with the Seeds") but kept things relatively mellow. Of course, that's the luxury you're afforded when you sell out two shows in fifteen minutes — you get a patient audience ready for anything you have in store for them.
But if Wilco are becoming the grizzled veterans — let's not call them elder statesmen just yet — of indie rock, they're still above resting on their laurels, and even their most-played tunes seem to be treated with new, intricate arrangements each tour. Where previously "A Shot in the Arm" had prominently featured John Stiratt's melodic bass line and swooning strings, this time it was more about guitarist Nels Cline coaxing pure noise out his amps. On "Handshake Drugs", Tweedy swapped an acoustic for an electric halfway and, together with Cline, more feedback-laced mayhem ensued. And on "Pieholden Suite", the band's six man lineup wasn't enough: they brought in the Total Pros horn section to play the wonderful brassy outro.
Photos by marshin13
The set's lesser moments — a lackadaisical vocal on "Pot Kettle Black", a sludgy mix on the rarely-played "When the Roses Bloom Again" — were minor bumps in the road. Any real Wilco fan surely found something to love in last night's loose-limbed performance, whether it was the plaintive, brooding set closer "On and On and On" or the crowd-pleasing second encore that included "Casino Queen" and the nearly-obligatory "I'm a Wheel". Whatever it was, it's hard to not agree that all of Tweedy's widdling and augmenting to his band's lineup over the years has finally created a true powerhouse. No band gives melodic pop songs such diverse arrangements, and, skill-wise, they're as adept at the spare, electric piano groove of "Jesus, etc." as they are the snarling guitar attack of "I'm the Man That Loves You" (that's still a love song, right?). Which is to say, both snoozin' and rockin'.
Stream the show from NPR.org here.