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SCRANTON — During its encore after a nearly three-hour show last Wednesday, Wilco played “The Late Greats,” Jeff Tweedy singing, “You can’t hear it on the radio.” He could’ve been singing about his own band, which besides Adult Album Alternative and college radio, is absent from the airwaves.
For some bands, being ignored by mainstream radio programmers is a frustration, but for Wilco, it’s more like a badge of honor, as evidenced by the sextet’s at times sweet, at times confrontational and always a bit leftfield sold-out show here.
Opening with the wry “Wilco (The Song)” from last year’s “Wilco (The Album),” including a Stephen Hawking-ish voiceover intro of each band member, the Chicago outfit displayed an unusual virtuosity for what is often classified a roots-rock or alternative-country band. But longtime fans — and there seemed to be many among the 2,206 — who cheered for Nels Cline and his ridiculous guitar work, for example, know that Wilco is not a band interested in living up to anyone’s expectations.
The show was a study in contrasts. Some of the most effective moments came in delicate deliveries or noisy explosions. And one of the most interesting portions of the evening came when the band took one of the weirder, colder songs in its catalog — “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” — and repurposed it into a warm and introspective number. Opening the group’s mid-concert acoustic set which was adorned with homey lamps — “This is how we play in our living room,” singer/guitarist Tweedy joked — Wilco stripped away the cold and robotic forces of “Spiders’” studio rendition, infusing it with humanity and sensitivity. For diehards, it was a transcendent moment. For the others, it was a time to get restless and talk — and later in the show, Tweedy, several times, complained about the crowd’s chattiness.
“Impossible Germany” — one of five songs Wilco played from its remarkable 2007 album “Sky Blue Sky” — is often a centerpiece of Wilco’s shows, with Cline’s violent soloing over the band’s pillow-y sounds. As the band dialed up the intensity, Tweedy and Pat Sansone faced off at stage left, playing unison guitar leads as Cline shredded with authority and abandon. The song was placed 11 songs into the show and a few before “Spiders.”
Other high points preceding the acoustic set included “Bull Black Nova,” a noisy romp from “Wilco (The Album)”; “At Least That’s What You Said,” one of many songs that leans on Wilco’s Neil Young influence; and “Misunderstood.” The latter was astounding. Lights were synced with drummer Glenn Kotche’s crotale (small, pitched cymbals) notes during the early, ruminating part. Later, as the song reached its climax, Tweedy sang, “I’d like to thank you all for nothing,” repeating “nothing” 27 times.
After the acoustic set, it’s understandable if some fans’ attention waned; the band ended up playing for just less than three hours. But there was lots of good stuff left, like “Airline To Heaven.” Kotche’s drums and keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen’s tambourine created a train effect while bassist John Stirratt’s harmony vocals — an important, understated part of Wilco — blended beautifully with Tweedy’s singing of the Woody Guthrie-penned lyrics.
“Jesus Etc.,” from Wilco’s 2002 breakthrough “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” gave the audience a chance to shine. For almost the duration of the song, Tweedy sang at the front of the stage, away from his microphone, letting the crowd handle lead vocals. Near the end he returned to his post to finish the vocals. “Wilco will love you baby,” Tweedy sang earlier in “Wilco (The Song),” and here, he made good on the promise.
“Heavy Metal Drummer,” the domestic “Hate It Here” and “Hummingbird” — with Tweedy strolling the stage sans guitar, spinning his mic on its cord — brought the show to its near end, before the band ended the set proper with two Big Star songs dedicated to its recently deceased Alex Chilton: “Thank You Friends,” with Tweedy, Sansone and Stirratt each taking a verse, and the Stirratt-sung “In The Street” (made popular by Cheap Trick and “That ’70s Show”). The encores were the aforementioned “The Late Greats” and “I’m A Wheel,” a Wilco punk tune.
The anticipation was high for this show, partially because it was Wilco’s first-ever Northeastern Pa. performance, and also, it seems, due to non-fans’ curiosity as to what all of the buzz was about. Judging by the reactions of both camps, the band did a bit of confusing as well as confirming why, to many, it’s the best band working — both onstage and in the studio — in America today. w
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