A little over a week ago I attended the Wilco/Andrew Bird show with Debbie. The following are some belated comments on the show:
There
is no doubt Wilco and Andrew Bird brought their A game to Kansas City
this weekend, but what the hell was the crowd doing? You decide to fork
over thirty of your hard earned dollars to go drink over-priced beer
and catch up with old friends? Half the crowd was not even facing the
stage through Andrew Bird’s set.
Andrew
Bird, however, was not to be put off. There was absolutely no
meandering in this full hour set. Through most songs, Bird had to
pluck, loop, whistle, strum, and sing his way to creating compositions
both beautiful and complex. Often times he began by overlapping
melodies created on the violin before switching to the guitar for
rhythmic accompaniment and vocals. Behind him stood two large
phonograph-looking speakers, which spun when activated to create a type
of vibrato sound, like a faster Leslie speaker, with the looping
material. The set included a complete mix of old and new tracks of
which many were rearranged to create something new but oddly familiar.
By the way, enough cannot be said of this man’s whistling skills.
During Wilco’s set, Tweedy could not help but to make fun of his own
half-assed whistling claiming, “I taught Andrew Bird everything he
knows.”
Wilco humbly took the stage around at 9:30 to a well-lit
stage and nearly unprepared crowd. As a result, I was able to endure
the pleasantries of several drunkards rushing to the front with two
fistfuls of beer through the first few tracks. A heated debate could be
undertaken about who hated drunk people more, me or the owner of The
Record Bar who stood in front of me. We exchanged a few knowing and
spiteful glances as a few dulled heads smashed between us.
To
some surprise Wilco played a full two and a half hours of mostly older
tracks. This became painfully aware to me as the guy behind me yelled
at an inappropriate volume, “Now I need to go get all their old
albums!” It was a carefully crafted set for the long-standing Wilco
fan, celebrating its many phases.
Jeff Tweedy donned the cowboy
hat with appropriateness. Nels Kline rocked his traditional military
boots and straight-legged high-water pants. If ever there was an
electrifying member of this band it is Kline. The guy actually looks
like he is being electrocuted through most of his guitar solos. Glenn
Kotche mounted a transparent Vista-lite drum kit with long hair that
was oddly appropriate considering the sheer seventies-make-up of their
latest album. Debbie confessed that Kotche was perhaps the most
attractive, and I told her that no one had a bigger crush on him that
me.
Needless to say, Tweedy had a few jokes for the Elton John
show going on at the newly opened Sprint Center Arena. He seemed to
warm up with the crowd’s urgent cheering. During the winding down of
“Spiders” a small fireworks display emerged from the building behind
the stage. Tweedy concluded with a “take that Elton John” as the band
erupted into the final push of the refrain. Perhaps my only complaint
lies in the frivolity of not one but two full encores. I’ve never been
a fan of the encore. What kind of sick pleasure does the band get from
having the fans beg for more? If you got more songs to play, save us
the sting of clapping our hands for five minutes and play the songs
already. The current Wilco lineup does not disappoint. And if you don’t
know who Andrew Bird is, do yourself a favor by finding out.
Andrew
Bird Set Included: A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head; Fake Palindromes;
Opposite Day; Skin Is, My; I; Scythian Empire; Dark Matter.*
Wilco
Set Included: Via Chicago (opener); Casino Queen; Too Far Apart; I Got
You (At the End of the Century); Hummingbird; Spiders (Kidsmoke); You
Are My Face: Side with the Seeds; Hate it Here; A Shot in the Arm; I Am
Trying to Break Your Heart; Jesus Etc.; Heavy Metal Drummer; I’m the
Man Who Love You; Pot Kettle Black. *
* Set lists are not comprehensive and in no particular order.
