On Tue, 20 Apr 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Some of Wilco's new pop songs are OK, but overall I wasn't impressed by
> the new stuff. I can't see myself humming any of them in the shower,
> which is my simplest criterion for a good, catchy pop tune.
Agreed. With the exceptions of "ELT" and
"nothingsevergonnastandinmyway(again)", most of the new material had some
trouble getting off the ground. I like the new album a lot, but my
impression was that the band had to try *way* too hard to get the songs
working on stage.
Most of the renditions of the new songs were pretty close to the album
versions, double keyboard parts and all (courtesy of Leroy, whose last
name I didn't catch). My gut feeling is that trying to replicate the
extremely studio-massaged nature of the newer songs on stage might not be
the greatest idea. Those people who have seen or heard Tweedy's acoustic
performances of "Via Chicago" and "She's A Jar" know how affecting those
songs can be when they're stripped down and allowed to breathe a bit. I
think the new material could benefit a lot from the same approach, perhaps
even going so far as to eliminate the extra instrumentalist.
To be fair, I'm sure the band is still learning their way around staging
the new songs; even more to the point, I'm sure they're experimenting a
bit with these shows, trying to shake out their material for the summer
tours. There were also some sound problems at Pearl St., at least near
the front; for the first four or five songs (all _Summer Teeth_ tracks),
the keyboards and Jeff's voice were *far* too loud in the mix, to the
point that a blast of organ from Bennett would drown out just about
everything else. Most of the mixing problems were gone by the end of the
evening, but as most of the _ST_ songs were near the front of the set, we
might not have heard them at their best.
> Maybe Tweedy's getting road burnout, but for most of the evening, he
> looked like he'd rather be almost anywhere but onstage. I know life on
> tour can be a drag, but am I expecting too much when I think a performer
> should at least try to look like they're having a good time?
He did look pretty tired. I'm willing to write that off as a by-product
of the strange zigzags the East Coast swing is taking, which necessitate a
lot more road time than might otherwise be necessary.
> He finally broke out of his funk when he got pissed off at a couple of
> drunks in the front row. They wanted him to speed up "New Madrid", so
> he deliberately slowed it down to spite them. The rest of the audience
> got a kick out of it, and it was the most engaged I'd seen Tweedy all
> evening.
I'm glad he said something to them; they'd been pretty obnoxious
throughout the show. (From what I could tell, they'd driven down from
Ottowa and presumably are following the band for a few shows at least.)
Jumped up on stage to dance during "Hesitating Beauty", tried to put a hat
on Jeff's head while he was playing (which he did *not* appreciate),
pestered Jay to smoke more, threw t-shirts up on the stage...I'm glad they
enjoy the band, but there's a fine line between being a fan and being a
nuisance. Did anyone see why the security guy dove at one of them from
across the stage during the encore? I think he was confiscating recording
gear, but there were a couple of people in the way and I couldn't clearly
see what was going on.
Tweedy actually stopped the song completely: "You know, I don't care how
fucking far you drove to see us. You don't give the band directions."
Amen.
Overall, it was a rough-edged but satisfying show; I'm looking forward to
their Friday show at Boston's Avalon to see whether the new songs are
improved by Avalon's generally excellent sound and lighting.
Tom Stoodley
