Wilco

(Above: Members of My Morning Jacket jam with Wilco on the set-closing cover of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The Reaper." More COWBELL! Photo by Angela Shoemaker.)

Those who think Wilco’s records are jaw-dropping would do well to catch the band on the road, where they might find that the records are only the entrée to the incredible live prowess of this Jeff Tweedy-led ensemble.

Boasting a six-piece lineup, with guitarist Nels Cline, guitarist/keyboardist Pat Sansone and keyboardist Mike Jorgensen backing the core trio of Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt and drummer Glenn Kotche (who seemed to grow two more arms in performance), the unit is capable of exploring virtually any stylistic territory with fluidity. Surprisingly, with so many players, the sound isn't busy but orchestrally full, with Cline and Tweedy leading the way into occasional bouts of noisy mayhem.

Like a show the previous night in Buffalo, N.Y., Tweedy was in a good enough mood to poke fun at himself mid-set, noting that this evening he’d already played “enough wrist-slitters.” But he seriously choked back sobs when thanking his bandmates and reflecting on the lengthy tour’s end. “A year ago it looked like we wouldn't be touring at all, and they stood by me like no one else has stood by me,” said the now-clean Tweedy, who was treated for addiction to painkillers last year.

With so many versatile players and such a huge catalog of songs, Wilco has been performing marathon sets on this tour. The band routinely uncorked more than 20 (and sometimes closer to 30) songs per evening, ranging from Being There’s “Kingpin” to A Ghost Is Born’s “Theologians.”

For its set- and-tour closer (which came earlier than planned thanks to a union-mandated 11 p.m. curfew), Wilco invited opening act and Louisville's local-boys-made-good My Morning Jacket onstage for a raucous cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper.” With three cowbell players (MMJ drummer Patrick Hallahan, bassist Two-Tone Tommy and sound technician Dave Kissner) and MMJ’s Bo Koster sitting in at Pat Sansone’s keyboards, plus two extra guitarists (MMJ’s Carl Broemel and a bewigged Jim James) the crowd response was equal parts ecstatic and laughter-filled.

It must be added that Wilco has good taste in opening acts, with the Jacket filling a slot most recently occupied by The Roots. Wilco is adventurous to the core, as leader ?uestlove recently told Paste senior contributing editor Jay Sweet, and up for nearly anything.

“This was probably our most effective fish-out-of-water experience with a band that wasn't in ‘our demographic’ since we replaced Wu-Tang on the Rage Against The Machine tour of 1997,” he said. “Walking through the crowd, I realized that most of Wilco's audience is vicariously living through the little-train-that-could part of Wilco, whereas everyone seemed to be musically inclined, which translates well to where we are coming from. What's cool is that it all came about through one little quote I gave in the Paste interview [in Issue #12].”

Filing downstairs to their dressing room, family members and friends in tow, My Morning Jacket discovered five signed copies of “The Wilco Book” and a chilled bottle of Moët left for them by the appreciative headlining band, with a note saying they hoped to hook up together again soon “on the open road.”

Hooking up with Wilco on the road isn’t bad advice for anyone. This fall, make sure to mark your calendars.

For tour dates and info click here.