Wilco Pleases Crowd, Political Rants Abound

As seen at Uptown Mix on 9/22/04

Wilco?s current lineup just might have the most appeal of any of the various incarnations that have taken the stage over the past ten years. Jeff Tweedy?s innovations in the field of combining indie-rock and jam are finally coming to full fruition and the results have been absolutely wondrous. Ten years after it began, Wilco has finally hit a peak that makes all the others in its career seem impossibly small in comparison. The setlist from Uptown Mix last week was peppered with rarities and commentary by Jeff Tweedy into the current state of our nation. His speech inspired the band to come out fired up for the encore and play ?Christ For President,? an anthem penned by Woody Guthrie in the first half of this century but just as applicable today. An especially intense ?War on War? closed out the first encore and made everyone present think twice about our nation an where it?s going.
The most impassioned playing of the night presented itself during the close of the first set with the nearly seamless transitions between Theologians, Poor Places, and Spiders taking over the show. The insane guitar solos were the incarnate opposite of perfunctory as Tweedy and guitarist Nels Cline traded licks and brought the crowd to a level of ecstasy not seen terribly often.
What Wilco does now that it couldn?t do in 1994 is jam and be emotive through the sheer intricate construction of songs rather than attempt to do it through Tweedy?s lyrics. He can evoke more emotion with one note (see this performance of ?Hell Is Chrome?) than he sometimes can with many more words. If you can still find a chance, now?s the time to see this band. They?re hitting on all cylinders and make going to a concert feel like something you?re glad you spent your money on, and in a simple ?rock show? kind of way.