Wilco for the Weekend

I had a music-filled weekend, Friday in Athens then Sunday in Wooster. Friday, a friend and I met in Columbus and drove down to Ohio University. Athens is a beautiful town, and the architecture is remarkable almost everywhere. Founded in 1804, just a year after Ohio became a state, Ohio University is the oldest institution of higher learning in what was the Northwest Territory and the ninth oldest public university in the country.

This was Wilco’s first appearance in Athens, and the setlist went something like this:
Hell is Chrome
Company In My Back
You Are My Face
Shouldn’t Be Ashamed
Pot Kettle Black
Muzzle of Bees
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
A Shot In The Arm
Handshake Drugs
She’s A Jar
Misunderstood
Jesus etc.
Impossible Germany
Side With The Seeds
Poor Places
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
———-
The Late Greats
Hate It Here
Heavy Metal Drummer
Walken
I’m The Man Who Loves You
———-
Kingpin
I’m a Wheel

My friend asked me what I thought musicians looked for in bands. Here’s what I look for:
Chops – I enjoy seeing musicians really play. Watching masters of their instruments really push the boundaries of technical facility is thrilling and makes me want to be better–not just at music but at everything.
Creativity – It’s easy to put together a few chords and riff on it. This is what I don’t understand about how frequently the band Kings of Leon was put on “best of…” lists last year. They have one riff per song, and the singer keeps repeating the same lyric at the end of each stanza. It’s tired stuff and doesn’t inspire me at all, even if, as they say, “it has a beat and you can dance to it.” Wilco pays incredible attention to detail, and there’s incredible variety in styles they play as well as instrumentation and song shape.
Reinvention – The great bands reinvent themselves on a regular basis. This was true of The Beatles, and it remains true for select bands today, like Radiohead. Look at the sound of a band on their first album. If they have the same sound three albums in, they’re just coasting. Wilco has had several personnel changes, as opposed to somebody like U2. But U2 themselves recreated their sound with each successive album, from October through Pop.
Nuance – Though I like balls-out playing as much as the next guy, there’s something to be said for tasteful restraint. The best bands can do both with equal facility. Some bands do it within the same song, which is fun.
Originality – Everyone learns from what went before, but some bands stake out completely new ground and new sound. Wilco doesn’t sound like anybody else, which may be why, when I updated my Facebook status Friday to “can’t wait for Wilco tonight!” one friend replied, “What’s Wilco?” Now you know.

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