2010

Wilco is many things, but as they will let you know, you oughta know Wilco and you really should. The Chicago band has seen a few different incarnations, all centering around singer/songwriter Jeff Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt. The latest incarnation seems to be sticking around, as the lineup hasn’t shaken up since 2004 with the last additions of jazz guitarist Nels Cline and multi instrumentalist Pat Sansone. However, despite the lengthy stint of this touring lineup their latest Wilco (The Album) is only the second with the current players, but it is still signature Wilco.

Tweedy’s songwriting is mirrored through dark passages in the live show and subsequently by the opposing beautiful harmonizations. In Tweedy’s words from the Sam Jones documentary, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, “I don’t want to just fall back on a bunch of easy rockers.” And they wouldn’t as they came to Michigan State University’s Wharton Center.

Tweedy and company started the evening at the packed auditorium by diving into their catalogue with new material off of Wilco (The Album), as the drone and darkness of Bull Black Nova eerily twinkled to begin the night. The slow, psychedelic pings and patters give way to searing guitar pulls as the Tweedy and Cline ebb and flow the weirdness back and forth with the crashing guitar builds through the crowd. Organ swing followed on You Are My Face before venturing back into the drone and light drumming of I Am Trying To Break Your Heart.

READ ON for more from Pietro on Wilco in East Lansing…