CityLife

Wilco

SEASONED: American band Wilco

Academy 1, Manchester

October 25, 2011

WILCO are a difficult band to pigeonhole these days. Jeff Tweedy formed the band in 1994 following the break-up of alt-country pioneers Uncle Tupelo and they’ve grown in stature with each and every album release.

But are they still true to the alt-country genre they helped to create? Probably in the main but they also tackle pop, hard-ish rock, sweet ballads, electronic, folk and often add a touch of plain old country music just so we don’t forget their mid-western roots.

Tweedy is the powerhouse behind this band and the primary reason why they are just so, so good live, particularly in front of smaller audiences.

Now 44, Tweedy has matured into a storyteller straight out of the Dylan mode. He knows how to play an audience and his fans lap up every second. He’s equally adept fronting a band in front of tens of thousands or merely turning up with a guitar on his own to play for a few hundred people.

He connects with his audience in a way few of his contemporaries can match.

This wasn’t a night for intimacy and Wilco started their set with the rythmic beat of Art of Almost, the first track from their newly-released album The Whole Love. The album continues the more thoughtful themes tackled in the self-titled Wilco and A Ghost is Born.

One of their best? Probably not, but it still throws up some great tracks, a number of which were showcased at the Academy.

Inevitably it was the older tracks that brought the crowd to its feet. Sure they were wonderful but in previous years Tweedy did without the token hat and the purple velvet backdrop. Wilco were a pure and unadulterated grassroots band, I couldn’t help but feel something had been lost this time round.

Forget the glitz Jeff, just play the tunes.