A Complete Explanation Of Everything

Wilco @ Vicar Street, 15/11/07

I'm not a terribly big fan of Vicar Street as a venue, suffice to say my concerns were met in relation to the crapness of the facilties in general and even the egress of patrons at the end of the gig was horrific. However, one thing they do well is the sound.

I wasn't really looking forward to this gig with the standard excitement that should greet a Wilco show and this was due to a number of factors, such that I drove 406.5 miles around Ireland in three days, no picnic and have been hard at work all week. Throw in a 30 minute plus wait for Dublin Bus and then the journey into town and the 10 pints the night before and you get the picture...

But, we ambled into Vicar St just in time to see Jeff with hat & band in tow take the stage. And from the kick off, the band were in irrepressible form. Despite his well reported difficulties in communicating with fans down through the years, particularly the "sanctimonious pricks" as he pointed out during the gig, there was a warm loving connection here and combine that with the last night of their European tour proper, it was a nigh on perfect atmosphere.

Prompted by the heckle to: "Puke for me Jeff", a stark reference to the scene on the: "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart", making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot dvd and subsequent documenting of the relationship break up with the then drummer and more importantly significant musical other, Jay Bennett (this turbulence leading to a bout of on camera nausea from Jeff), the new band - and they are very much a new band, new keyboards, new guitar player, only Stirratt on bass and Tweedy himself surviving from the Summerteeth record kicked off.

And they kicked off with a little morceau from Summerteeth, the reflective and wistful, "Via Chicago". But as ever, given a new band, it was an innovated version with the addition of some post rock / almost prog rock breakdowns. As Tweedy noted on that excellent dvd, Wilco write these songs (with Jeff as the principal musical force) and as such feel like it's up to them, how they construct, deconstruct them... It's something that the audience are fully supportive of aswell, as it gave the new guitar player Nels Cline, an excellent opportunity to demonstrate his explosive / destructive chops to their best effect.

Standout tunes from the night included (and these were all on my personal wish setlist): "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart", "Misunderstood", "Impossible Germany", "A Shot in The Arm" and the closer... "Outtasite / Outtamind"...

Which brings us neatly to where I came in to the Wilco experience, lounging on the couch at approximately 3am watching Alternative Nation or something on late night MTV Europe and the video for "Outtasite / Outtamind".... It's one of those easy rockers that makes for a good gig and however cerebral Wilco have tried to become in their various incarnations over the last decade or so, it takes us back to the root of what is good about rock'n'roll...

A 2 hour show, playing the hits, what more can you ask for...

Not much more but I can't shake the feeling that "Sky Blue Sky" has a very last record feel to it...