Wilco, winning new fans one at a time...

This story is typical of the folks I know who knew very little about Wilco and their music. All it takes is attending one of their concerts and you are hooked...


Tales from the Summer Music Sampler: David goes to Wilco

David Kav says if you were anything like me, you've probably had dialogue like this:

PERSON: What's your take on Wilco?

ME (before tonight's South Bend show:) Meh. The jury's still out on them.

ME (after tonight's South Bend show:) AH-MA-ZING!....

I must state this up front: I am, by No means, an avid Wilco fan. In fact, I had only ever heard a handful of their songs..which took time for them to grow on me. The aforementioned songs: "Heavy Metal Drummer,"
"Spiders" (the version I heard was covered by another artist,) "Can't Stand It," & "California Stars" (w/Billy Bragg.) At the time, these were the songs from Wilco that I could name off of the top of my head that I KNEW were Their songs. Had to "clear the air" before I proceed onward with this story.....

Folks, the sound mix was Perfect!!! I do Not say that lightly (being a musician and all.) It was not too loud, not too soft. Perfect! Jeff Tweedy's vocals were crystal clear. Each instrument blended into one another into the stew that the audience, including Beth Ann and me, would feast upon for the next 2.5 hours....

Truthfully, I really had NO idea as to how phenomenal this band is when they play live. At one point, I asked the gentleman behind me as to what the name of the song was that I snagged off onto my iPhone.

"The song is called 'Impossible Germany.' It's off of their album 'Sky Blue Sky.'"

The man's name was Dave (ha! Small world! Too many of us, if ya ask me.)
;) He brought his two kids from East Lansing, Michigan. One of the friendliest guys I've met.

"I am not too familiar with their work," I said. "However, I always knew that I had to see these guys live."

"Oh, they're amazing," states Dave. "One of the best bands I've ever seen!"

"No doubt! I'm really starting to see why Everyone raves about them! I mean, I knew that they were an Americana/Bluegrass band via Uncle Tupelo.
But, I swear, I would never have guessed that listen to these guys now.
It's ingenious."....

I never, ever, ever thought that I would Ever hear, in my life, a live version of Neil Young's classic "Broken Arrow." That was the first song that they pulled out for their first encore. I grabbed Beth Ann and said, "oh my GOD! I can die now! NO WAY!" I was in absolute heaven. Their version, to repeat the aforementioned audience member, was "SPOT ON!"

By the time they finished their first encore set, Beth Ann and I headed straight for the merch table to "beat the crowd," per se. Two T-shirts cost $45 (WAAAY out of my budget range.) However, we both agreed, that evening was worth EVERY penny! It was a "no-brainer." We HAD to get T-shirts.

Link:
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/redeye-events/2010/09/tales-from-the-summer-music-sampler-david-goes-to-wilco.html