this one got off to a less-than-auspicious start. i had chosen the disc because it was marked "07.02.01" (i mark CDs in euro-style dating for ease of sorting), and i wanted to hear an '07 show because i love the rawer versions of the sky blue sky songs.
so imagine my surprise when i popped the first disc in and it started in the midst of "misunderstood", then continued through five more being there-era songs. it took about that long for me to realize that i must have forgotten to put the leg on that first "0", making it "97" instead of "07".
so here's the set i got.
much like the phish show i just reviewed, this one taught me the error of my ways, in a sense. i generally don't like bennett-era wilco that much, and have never understood why so many wilco fans insist that the late 90s were the peak of the band. this might be because i really just don't like jay bennett's playing (which is a rant for another day), but for whatever reason, while i occasionally like to put on early, "raw" wilco, i come away with the impression that, for as fun as they are, they really aren't that good.
this show was good.
like i said above, for some reason "misunderstood" cuts in about 2 minutes into the song, and actually the first few songs are a bit unlistenable because someone keeps fiddling (either the sound dude or the taper) with the volume levels and tweedy's voice is nearly inaudible. however, things pick up.
this show's version of "that's not the issue" is one of those versions where it literally sounds to me like all the members of the band are stoned out of their minds and banging on their instruments erratically and totally failing at staying in any time signature or scale; yet, at the same time i'm a little afraid that they're just playing in a scale or something that i'm not familiar with and i'm not cool enough to get it. anyway, this song was sort of a disaster.
everything else is pure being there wilco. loud, clashing guitars, wild alternation between screamed and whispered lyrics, and more feedback than you can shake your pickups at.
things really start to get off the chain when the band finishes "passenger side", only to launch immediately into a "punk" version of the same song. after that, madness ensues, including two versions of "box full of letters", three uncle tupelo songs ("we've been had", "gun", and "the long cut"), which oddly sound like three of the most well-rehearsed songs of the night. the last few songs, including the final "dreamer in my dreams" run around 10 minutes apiece simply because the band never stops banging on guitars, drums, and piano long enough to stop the song and move on to the next one.
this show had an undeniable energy to it, and underneath that the band showed a real ability to not just devolve into screaming and strumming - the nuances of the songs often still come through despite the volume and the reverb. the focus here is being there; if you love that record, you'll love this show. i actually want to go back and listen to the record this weekend now, thanks to this show. though i doubt i'll ever think than any wilco is better than '06 - present wilco, i see the appeal of this kind of show now. i might grab another one from this era to review for next week.
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