More about: Wilco

“We’ve had some pretty bad gigs in London before,” Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy told the crowd, after praising them for being the best London audience they’ve ever played to. The Wilco frontman was not wrong – the band’s performance was unfaultable.

To open the night’s proceedings, Tweedy casually strolled on stage with his partner in crime, Nels Cline. The pair gently floated into two acoustic numbers from their latest album – ‘Normal American Kids’ and ‘If I Ever Was A Child’ – delightful reminders that beneath the intricate layers of sound that fuse together so unpredictably but yet somehow organically on their more definitive works, Wilco’s strongest driving force is still Tweedy’s singer/songwriter guitar/vocals combination.

The rest of the band joined the duo for a fuller sounding ‘Cry All Day’, before launching into one of Wilco’s most iconic numbers, ‘I Am Trying To Break Your Heart’. Not only is this song one of my favourite Wilco tracks but this it is also undoubtedly one of my favourite songs of all time. The song also serves as the opener to their best album (and one of the best albums of all time), Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which the band produced themselves. For me, the beauty of this song comes from Wilco’s creative layering of complex sounds that somehow naturally compliment the song’s elegant melody and heart-breaking lyrics. I’d always thought that the magic of the track could only be achieved through the band’s artistic production. However, seeing the boys perform it live sent shivers down my spine. Somehow, the offbeat drums, piano pleasantries, emotive vocals and militant guitar strums all amalgamated into the crashing climax that was captured so perfectly on the record. Yes, the song dates back over 14 years so the band would’ve had ample time to perfect it, but that should not detract from the sheer excellence and precision of the band’s performance.

Bringing complex Wilco classics to life became a further theme of the night. ‘Misunderstood’ is another of my favourite Wilco classics, which Tweedy played beautifully – just like the record, his voice sounded vulnerable, delicate and heart-breaking. And just like the record, the rest of the band pulled together for the song’s chaotic and almost anarchic climax. Whilst the track dates back to 1996, Tweedy’s voice hasn’t tired in the slightest and Wilco fans will certainly cherish it.

The rest of the band were also on full form too. Cline’s virtuous signature guitar solo on ‘Impossible Germany’ was simply insane - why he isn’t widely recognised as one of the world’s best living guitarists is beyond me. After watching endless clips of Cline unleashing his guitar solos during the band’s numerous performances of the track, I thought I was prepared for Cline’s brilliance. How wrong I was. I’m not sure what was more impressive - his guitar solo or how it was so effortlessly delivered – either way, I was in awe.

Whilst ‘Art Of Almost’ is by no means my favourite Wilco track, the band’s delivery of it was nothing short of incredible. To introduce each verse, a booming bass thump shook the entire Academy and probably the entirety of Brixton, forming a menacing and intimidating rendition of the very busy and experimental track.

Although engaging throughout, the adventure Tweedy and the boys took us on last night was thankfully not relentlessly serious and heavy. The throwback to their debut’s ‘Box Full Of Letters’ was a refreshing reminder that Wilco are a very capable rock and roll band and that their roots in Americana shouldn’t be forgotten. The crowd’s excitable cheer after Tweedy announced the band will be playing a song from their debut, which is recognised as one of the band’s weaker albums, was met with surprise from the Wilco frontman who responded “hmm interesting…”. Indeed, Compared to their other works, A.M. seems too simple and generic to sport the Wilco name. Nonetheless, it was a nostalgic throwback for us diehard Wilco fans.

Of course, Wilco wouldn’t have left Brixton alive without playing ‘California Stars’ and ‘Jesus Etc’, which they left until the two encores. ‘Jesus Etc’ was presented in a warm and mellow fashion, contrasting with the somewhat turbulent ‘Random Name Generator’ that preceded it. ‘California Stars’ was, as expected, one for the crowd to sing along to. Again, the band didn’t fail to deliver on either Wilco classic.

‘Spiders (Kidsmoke)’, that closed the first encore, also surprisingly had a sing-a-long element to it as Tweedy encouraged a “bap bap bap” from the audience to accompany the closing riff.

The band closed their extraordinary set with the Summerteeth classic ‘Shot In The Arm’, leaving the audience to go home singing the contagiously catchy but equally disturbing lyric “something in my veins, bloodier than blood”. Disturbing, catchy, dark and quintessentially Wilco.

Wilco certainly delivered an outstanding gig last night. Whilst my favourite track, ‘Ashes Of American Flags’ was omitted from the setlist, I walked away not feeling disappointed at all. As a diehard Wilco fan, this gig will be forever engrained in my memory. As Tweedy once sang, “everlasting everything”, is exactly how I’d describe how I’ll remember last night’s gig.

More about: Wilco