On stage promptly at 9:30pm - a late start for an Opera House performance - a feeling seemingly felt by the band as they poured onto stage, picked up their instruments and went straight into a perfect-from-note-one rendition of One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley), (my personal pick for best song of 2012). It's a rare thing these days that sets should begin with a perfectly modulated mix (my review for Wild Nothing also noted this occurrence) but the mixing desk pulled it off - a 12 minute song that slowly builds in volume and instrumental layers in a repeating musical cycle - and it all sounded crystal clear. No mean feat for a band of six players and multiple instruments. This pristine sound went a long to make up for the only thing wrong with the show- an absurdly short 90 minute allotted set time. Who in their right mind booked Wilco, a band with eight albums, and famed for their two hour-plus shows to play a precisely ninety minute set? Major misstep, Opera House!
But despite the short set time, the band, as always, proved themselves an exemplary live act. With commanding virtuosity out front with Nels Cline's intricate guitar heroics, Jeff Tweedy's candid vocals, his and Patrick Sansone's complementary guitars and Mikael Jorgensen's piano and effects, there was something new to discover in every arrangement. But it's the unsung genius of the rhythm section - Glenn Kotche's astounding, innovative drumming and percussion, combined with John Stirrat's unyielding bass playing - that produces the fuel that powers the whole engine. They have a stunning alchemy that is really something to behold.
It was clear the band were wanting to play as much as possible, only chatting to the audience for a few brief minutes throughout the show (because they didn't 'have enough fucking time'), mostly about the cost of the Opera House, how it looked better on the outside than the inside and the 'abominable' condition of the stage floor. Plenty of people enjoyed the jokey patter, but you could tell some of the punters became a little uneasy that an international guest would dare make a joke about our Opera House: We can make fun of it, not these foreigners! They should feel honoured to be here! Tweedy picked up on this vibe and obviously felt he had to back track a little. I apologise on behalf of everyone Jeff, you shouldn't have to put up with those people.
It was a killer setlist, featuring a good mixture of their experimental tracks like Poor Places, Art of Almost and At Least That's What You Said along with more traditional material such as I Might and Whole Love and their great Woody Guthrie composition One by One.
When we approached the end of their allotted time, Tweedy asked if the audience preferred another song immediately or wanted to engage in the charade of the band leaving the stage and coming back for an encore. We opted for a Shot in the Arm. But an extra half hour wouldn't have gone astray.
You can live stream Wilco's second Opera House performance tonight from 9:30pm via the Sydney Opera House Youtube channel.
No comments:
Post a Comment