2008 Woodie Awards
Wilco rocks U of M campus
Joel Kopplin
Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: Intermission
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"Man, rock 'n' roll has changed," Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy jokingly declared to the audience Wednesday evening at Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus.
There may be more truth to the vocalist/guitar player's jesting than many people would like to admit.
Yes, rock 'n' roll most certainly has changed, but thankfully the principles and fundamentals have remained mostly intact. There's no better example of this than Wilco, who delivered a stunning two-hour set to a packed house of enthusiastic and spellbound hipsters.
Opening their set with the climbing build of "Sunken Treasure," the band had the audience in the palm of its hand for the rest of the night, taking great care to show the crowd just how efficiently they could rock, especially for a band that's noted for its mellow demeanor.
The setlist was a perfect mix of new and old material with older songs leaning heavily on their breakthrough 2002 album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and their sophomore album, 1996's "Being There."
Tracks like "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" and "Jesus, etc." were familiar crowd pleasers, which were excellent choices from the band's catalogue.
While these songs were definitely fabulous, the highlight was seeing just how well the material from their newest release "Sky Blue Sky" translates live.
Perhaps the most straightforward Wilco album of the decade, "Sky Blue Sky" is also the most focused, and the songs really stand out, especially when witnessing the prowess of accomplished experimental jazz guitarist, Nels Cline, who shred on his Fender Jazzmaster with total abandon.
Songs like "Side with the Seeds" and "You Are My Face" were excellently executed, but it was "Impossible Germany" that was arguably the best track on the new album and completely stole the show.
Cline's intense guitar work, complimented by both Tweedy and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone (who alternated between guitar and keyboards during the show) caused jaws to drop throughout the entire auditorium.
There may be more truth to the vocalist/guitar player's jesting than many people would like to admit.
Yes, rock 'n' roll most certainly has changed, but thankfully the principles and fundamentals have remained mostly intact. There's no better example of this than Wilco, who delivered a stunning two-hour set to a packed house of enthusiastic and spellbound hipsters.
Opening their set with the climbing build of "Sunken Treasure," the band had the audience in the palm of its hand for the rest of the night, taking great care to show the crowd just how efficiently they could rock, especially for a band that's noted for its mellow demeanor.
The setlist was a perfect mix of new and old material with older songs leaning heavily on their breakthrough 2002 album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and their sophomore album, 1996's "Being There."
Tracks like "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" and "Jesus, etc." were familiar crowd pleasers, which were excellent choices from the band's catalogue.
While these songs were definitely fabulous, the highlight was seeing just how well the material from their newest release "Sky Blue Sky" translates live.
Perhaps the most straightforward Wilco album of the decade, "Sky Blue Sky" is also the most focused, and the songs really stand out, especially when witnessing the prowess of accomplished experimental jazz guitarist, Nels Cline, who shred on his Fender Jazzmaster with total abandon.
Songs like "Side with the Seeds" and "You Are My Face" were excellently executed, but it was "Impossible Germany" that was arguably the best track on the new album and completely stole the show.
Cline's intense guitar work, complimented by both Tweedy and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone (who alternated between guitar and keyboards during the show) caused jaws to drop throughout the entire auditorium.