Arena Rock: Wilco review
Wilco are known for their intense live shows.
Wilco
Royal Theatre, Feb. 12
Wilco is my favourite band. Jeff Tweedy could have come out on stage at the Royal Theatre, sat in a La-Z-Boy, and said the word “moist” for two hours, over and over again, and I still would have told everyone it was an amazing show. I went in expecting big things and, even still, was completely blown away.
The band came out to the theme from the Price Is Right, before opening the show with “Wilco (the Song)” from their latest, Wilco (the Album).
The opening also featured robot-voiced introductions for every member of Wilco (the band). It set the scene for an atmosphere often missed in the world of rock and roll these days—fun. And, more than anything, that’s what this show was—fun. The band was obviously having a good time, full of smiles for the whole two-hour-plus set.
At one point, guitarists Nels Cline and Pat Sansone duelled solos, each call-and-answer hamming it up more and more to the crowd. They were both doing big, cheesy guitar hits with their hands outstretched, nodding to the crowd. Of course, the crowd ate it up.
The set list was diverse, a great mix of old, new, and in-between.
The highlight of the night came at around 10:58 pm. Traditionally, concerts at the Royal Theatre have a curfew of 11 pm, so when the band had just completed “Misunderstood”—which would have been a great way to end a show—at 10:58, I assumed the night was over.
Then the band started playing “Spiders,” a 10-minute krautrock epic, and I knew there was still a lot more to go.
The band ended up playing until 11:35, ending the show with “I’m a Wheel,” a rocker that finds Tweedy screaming for most of the song.
Wilco said they fell in love with the city and would be back soon. It can’t be soon enough.
CCSS Nexus promo