Wilco @ the State Theatre 12.06.11

When a band can open a highly anticipated gig with a 12-minute, slow burning piano ballad and it doesn’t fall flat, you know they are masters.

And that’s exactly what Wilco did last night at the State Theatre, starting night one of a two-night stay in Minneapolis with the lovely “One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)” on a stage drenched in gorgeous lights and layers of fabric suspended from the ceiling, one of the most beautiful stage sets I’ve seen in a while.

The last time I had seen Wilco was at Bonnaroo in 2007; maybe it was because I hadn’t been sleeping in a dusty tent for the past three days in the middle of Tennessee, but what a difference it makes seeing this crew do their thing in a charming theater, lead singer Jeff Tweedy looking like a seasoned professional (which he is at this point) in a hat and jacket.

The tender vibe continued as Tweedy and his five bandmates segued effortlessly into “Poor Places” from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, that song’s static-filled ending acting as the perfect transition into “Art of Almost,” the churning opening song from Wilco’s latest album that simply explodes in a live setting.  It was with this song that Nels Cline finally let loose and unleashed the song’s thrashing guitar solo ending on a stunned audience.

The additional songs played from The Whole Love melded perfectly with old favorites from albums reaching all the way back to A.M., Being There and Summer Teeth.  “Misunderstood” was an early highlight, starting out slow and quiet, Tweedy sounding forlorn singing the lyric “You love her but you don’t know why,” before the song took off with a cacophony of wild guitars and flashing strobe lights.

Things got quiet again for the meandering “Black Moon” before Tweedy greeted his enthralled fans, saying “Sorry I didn’t say hi earlier, but we’re really happy to be here.” This kicked off a two-song run of tracks from Sky Blue Sky including “Impossible Germany” and “Sky Blue Sky,” the former clearly a fan favorite judging by the screams from the audience.

At this point Tweedy gave a shout out to the 7^th Street Entry and told the audience “You have been standing for all of this and have been super patient with out tender ballads,” eliciting laughs and cheers from the crowd. “I think it’s cool that you’re standing for that stuff,” he continued.

Well, the patience paid off as Wilco then ripped into “Box Full of Letters,” “Born Alone,” and then, amazingly, “She’s A Jar” off of Summerteeth, a song rarely played live that proved to be another highlight during the show.  The high continued as all the lights turned neon pink for “Pot Kettle Black” and “Handshake Drugs,” both of which had everyone dancing along.

“War On War” closed out the main set before the band quickly came back on, Tweedy acknowledging “You all knew we were coming back, it’s taco Tuesday!”

This kicked off a seven-song encore, which began with the bouncy “Whole Love.” TO screams from the crowd, Tweedy said “I think we have a pretty substantial encore for you…I hope that’s ok,” laughing and smiling.  That’s when the drum kit from “Heavy Metal Drummer” dropped and everyone lost their shit.  “I’m The Man Who Loves You” had everyone singing along before the encore closed with three songs from Being There, the lights glowing red for “I Got You (At The End of The Century)” and “Outtasite (Outta Mind).”

With the lights still bright and the reverb from the guitars still bouncing around the theater, Wilco exited, only to come back one more time for a duet with opener Nick Lowe, singing Lowe’s “Cruel to Be Kind.”

And, with that, Wilco walked off the stage as rock heroes.

Wilco the band has been through a lot… (not to mention what Jeff Tweedy has been through personally).  People thought Wilco getting comfortable and complacent on Sky Blue Sky might be the beginning of the end to the band’s exciting, ever-changing sounds.  However it was made very clear that Wilco in their current incarnation might be the best yet – comfortable with being masters at what they do and putting on one of the best shows I have ever seen.

Setlist:

One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)

Poor Places

Art of Almost

I Might

Muzzle of Bees

Misunderstood

Bull Black Nova

Black Moon

Impossible Germany

Sky Blue Sky

Box Full of Letters

Born Alone

She’s A Jar

Pot Kettle Black

Handshake Drugs

Dawned On Me

I’m Always In Love

War On War

Encore 1

Whole Love

A Magazine Called Sunset

Heavy Metal Drummer

I’m the Man Who Loves You

Passenger Side

Red-Eyed and Blue

I Got You (At the End of the Century)

Outtasite (Outta Mind)

Encore 2

Cruel to Be Kind with Nick Lowe