Wilco: They’re The Band Who Loves You

Wilco is like the Mother Teresa of rock. They give and give and give and keep giving. And then when they’ve given everything they’ve got, they dig down deep and give some more. In return, they ask so little: perhaps that you actually purchase their official CDs and catch a show if you can make it. Feel free to tape it.

Right now Wilco is giving it fans what it loves most: live shows for no reason. They are in the midst of a small tour of old-school theatres that started in Canada and has made it to the northeast US. Next Saturday I will be seeing them at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. To celebrate the run-up to the Philly show, Rock Turtleneck has declared this Week o' Wilco.

While in Canada, they filmed a performance of "Country Disappeared" from their latest album for La Blogoteque's great online series The Takeaway Shows, which captures artists doing their things with as few frills as possible. Here they are, looking very much like a band on the road.

Wilco - Country Disappeared - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

This tour consists of 3-hour shows with an acoustic set in the middle. There is no surer sign that you have made it than the mid-show acoustic set, which has been employed in recent years by the Rolling Stones and U2.

With no new album to support (Wilco (the Album) is almost a year old and they toured that extensively last summer) this batch of shows seems like nothing more than an excuse to stay fresh check in with their devoted fans – fans like my buddy Alex Bachrach, who caught them on March 25 down at the Johnny Mercer Theatre in Savannah, GA last weekend. He was kind enough to file this dispatch, which I received this morning via courier pigeon:

"Wilco played for three straight hours before even stopping to take a breath. During the discordant ending to 'Poor Places,' Tiffany Lamps were placed on stage and an acoustic setting was constructed. Everyone, including drummer Glenn Kotche, came down to the intimate space, and they began an acoustic set with 'Spiders (Kidsmoke),' previously one of their most electric songs. ' Laminated Cat,' a song from the Jeff Tweedy side project Loose Fur, was another highlight. After they switched back to electric, Wilco kicked up a notch with the show-enders 'Hoodoo Voodoo' and 'I'm A Wheel,' coming out to end the show with an Alex Chilton/Big Star song, 'Thank You Friends.' 'Twas a fitting end to an evening among friends and fans."

Rock Turtleneck's Week o' Wilco has some exciting things in store so make sure you check back often. If you're not too familiar with Wilco's remarkable oeuvre, Charles Osgood is here to put things in context.