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Words & Images by: JC McIlwaine
Wilco :: 08.12.08 :: Tanglewood :: Lenox, MA
 Wilco :: 08.12 :: Lenox, MA |
Wilco donned their sparkling cowboy suits and liberally applied a jovial mood ("We were up all night sewing," cracked Jeff Tweedy), as they stepped onstage. Chicago's favorite sons bid the fading dusk farewell with the lilting melodic intro of "Either Way," the lead-off song on their latest album, Sky Blue Sky. The band did with the set what they do with the best of their songs, easing into it softly with jams that hinted at the more rocking moments of "Muzzle of Bees" and "You Are My Face" to come later.
The crowd responded resoundingly to older and newer tunes alike. "What Light," another Sky Blue Sky track, and "California Stars," off the Mermaid Avenue album with Billy Bragg, sandwiched Tweedy's comment, "These are all sing-alongs, by the way." With the backing of the Total Pros Horns in full swing, people sang, clapped and danced along. Clapping would become, for the band, a running joke of the evening.
For the rest of the set the band danced between tempos, sounds and albums, with alt-country ditties like "Summer Teeth" resting between up-tempo pop songs like "Pot Kettle Black" and contemplative ballads like "Jesus Etc." The band's well-crafted songs seemed somehow fitting at Tanglewood, which serves as the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Tweedy's poetic lyrics painted over Wilco's sonic backdrop, adding poignancy to the notes. His matter-of-fact eloquence, built around simple lines like "Every song is a comeback/ Every moment's a little bit later" ("Pot Kettle Black"), acted as perfect counterparts to the nuanced instrumental arrangements.
 Wilco :: 08.12 :: Lenox, MA |
"Poor Places" exhibited Wilco's stunning ability to examine the spaces between a beautiful melody and cataclysmic instrumental chaos. Over the years they have mastered this technique, wringing cacophony out of harmony and vice versa. They bring the song to a moment when it can't get any more dissonant, then reel it all back in with a beautiful finish.
Wilco did this to astonishing effect on "Spiders (Kidsmoke)." Tweedy set the song up by saying, "All you have to do is clap along. We'll do your song – or at least your beat. Are you all clapping like this – down by your legs? I can't see you clapping. I'll assume that they're clapping on the lawn. I know James Taylor gets more people clapping than that."
Then the band kicked off into a ten-minute marathon version of the song to end the main set. Within minutes they were back onstage with the horns in tow. "It's a perfect night," commented Tweedy, to raucous agreement from the audience. The band doled out a four-song encore before trying to leave for good. The crowd wasn't having it. A couple of minutes later they returned again. "We've got time for a few more, if you do," Tweedy assented. We've always got more time for Wilco!
"The best song will never get sung/ The best life never leaves your lungs/ It's so good you won't ever know/ You can't hear it on the radio," sang Tweedy during "The Late Greats." But you can hear a damn fine approximation at a Wilco show.
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