When you live on the east coast of Canada, with a combined population that is less than most large cities in the rest of this big world, it is very rare that you get to see a world class rock band in its prime. Sure, we get lots of great Canadian bands that blow through the region on their yearly "College and University" tours. We also get bands that are a little bit [or way past] their prime, doing their "buy our greatest hits" album. Mostly though, we miss the really great bands. Well, the really great bands that I want to see.
But..
Every once in a blue moon, all the stars align, and the Gods of Rock smile upon us as some local promoter makes a phone call at the right time, and we end up with one of those world class bands playing in one or two of our little maritime provinces.
On the Landing in the Summer
Posted by on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 in - 1 comment
Last Wednesday was one of those days as Wilco performed at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth Nova Scotia.
Fellow Chicagoans The M's opened the show with a 40 minute set of some very mellow, very melodic, 3 lead singer, harmony drenched-mid tempo rock. They were quite good, though probably better suited for a smaller, more intimate stage. As they finished up their set, one of the members said " You might want to stick around for the next band. They're not bad."
Just as the sun was setting over Halifax harbour, Wilco took to the stage, with no introduction given or needed.
Obviously wanting to ease us into the evening, they started off with the stellar "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart", and Jeff Tweedy gave us all a big wave as he sang "What was I thinking when we said hello." The crowd loved it.
The rest of the set included a little bit of everything, with songs from each Wilco album [all but their first album, AM], a couple of new tracks, and even some songs from the Mermaid Ave. records they recorded with Billy Bragg. The band was bang on, and the sound was amazing, especially considering it was an outdoor venue. There were a few technical glitches with Tweedys guitar setup, but those issues were solved and the band got back to rocking out. At one point, just after breaking a string during a crazy freaked out solo at the end of "I'm the Man Who Loves You", Tweedy asked if there were any guitar players in the audience, then said "You're seeing a showcase tonight!".
And that we were.
That dude can play the guitar, and Nels Cline was unbelievable to watch play. He looked like he might actually explode into a million pieces during each solo. The rest of the band was incredibly tight. Glenn Kotche is an amazing drummer, it sounded like he was playing with baseball bats and i am pretty sure his drum kit moved about 15 feet across the stage during the course of the show.
Too many highlights for me to mention. I have wanted to see this band live for a long time, and they could have played the crappiest concert of their lives, and i'm sure i would have loved it. Lucky for me, that was not the case. Every song sounded great, and they played pretty much every song i would have liked to hear. Except for Heavy Metal Drummer, which would have been perfect for the venue, as we were "on the landing, in the summer"!
So.
My one word review = Amazing.
Best live show i have seen.
I hope they come back. The band seemed to really like the venue, and Tweedy made numerous comments about how great the maritimes were, and actually said the words "Atlantic Canada Rocks!". Maybe that will be enough to make us a regular stopping place on their next tours.
There are few pics of the show up in my gallery.
Here is the complete set list:
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
War on War
Impossible Germany [New Song]
Handshake Drugs
A Shot in the Arm
Via Chicago
What Light [New Song]
The Late Greats
At Least That's What You Said
Jesus, Etc.
Walken [Talking to Myself About You]
Theologians
I'm the Man Who Loves You
Misunderstood
Hummingbird
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Airline to Heaven
Hesitating Beauty
Kingpin
California Stars
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Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Comments
Rod - September 17, 2006 3:42 am
Man, thanks VERY much for your review. As a long time fan of Wilco I was utterly dismayed, surprised, but delighted to see that they were going to play in my hometown. Dismayed because I had JUST moved to Calgary and thought I had missed my chance to see them live. Luckily for me they ended up playing at the University of Calgary a week or two before they played in Dartmouth, so I caught them there. And wow what a show. They did play Heavy Metal Drummer at that show, so sorry they didn't play it in Dartmouth. I was curious to see how well my hometown treated them, so it sounds like they were received very well. Again, thanks for the detailed and very well written review. I very much enjoyed it.
Cheers!
Homesick in Calgary