Wilco came out at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Sunday with a jarring thud, in the form of “Art of Almost,” the first track on their new album, Whole Love. “Art of Almost” begins with electronic beeps over an ominous bass rumble. It’s weirdly funky, but funk isn’t Wilco’s strong suit.
The band debuted several new songs: “Black Moon” is a quiet, love-lorn storm of finger picking and slide guitar, “Dawned On Me” is a cute chugger buoyed by its head-over-heels sentimentality. The title track of the new album has a lovely swing, Tweedy straining to an affecting falsetto. However, “One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)” shuffles rosily along on a sweet acoustic riff for too long.
Wilco are experienced performers and superb musicians. Jeff Tweedy is a completely charming frontman, and he seems to love every moment he is on stage—it’s impossible not to be caught up in his baby-faced disheveled enthusiasm. He is also highly amusing, at one point thanking the “communists at NPR for helping us to be better capitalists.” (The show was recorded live for NPR.)
Lead guitarist Nels Cline is a fearsome guitarist, capable of dissecting basic riffs and reassembling them into stunning new progressions; it’s as if his guitar hears the rhythm and creates a new embellishment of its own accord. At times though, he was too good, too powerful—he frequently ended up in high-neck static freak-outs, which gave songs a nervous energy that clashed with Tweety’s poetic, slightly melancholy honesty.
In contrast, Nick Lowe opened for Wilco with simplicity and calm during a solo acoustic set. In the late ’70s, Lowe’s solo output and production work was characterized by muscular bass lines, speed, and attitude. While he was nicknamed the “basher,” he never sacrificed melody in his search for punch, and he retained a touching and humorous side that was lost in most of his hard-hitting contemporaries.
He has mellowed considerably with age, and there was little bashing on stage, but his tunefulness and humor were in fine form. His newer songs are enjoyable, but his older songs are undeniable—he played the timeless “Cruel to Be Kind” and followed it with a gently crooned cover of Elvis Costello’s heart breaking “Alison.”(Lowe produced several of Costello’s earliest and best albums, including My Aim Is True.)
He ended his set with a tender rendition of “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding,” a Lowe original that Costello popularized. Lowe remains a versatile and talented song-writer, a consummate musician whether hurtling through the ’70s with the new wave or playing slow, simple tunes, all alone, in the present.
After Lowe, Wilco of course also played the classics—“Jesus Etc.” and “I am Trying to Break Your Heart” (off Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) were at turns euphoric and heart-wrenching; “Via Chicago” and “A Shot in the Arm” (from Summerteeth) show the ease with which Tweedy can throw together catchy little riffs and imaginative, deeply descriptive lyrics. The band liked to play them as much as the audience loved hearing them, and everyone went home happy.
Photos by Erica Bruce
