The first U.S. show that the mighty Wilco played since the release of its newest album, Sky Blue Sky, fanned a slugout in the crowd last Wednesday night. Everything in Davenport, Iowa’s newly remodeled Adler Theatre – the site of actor Cary Grant’s untimely death and the city, the birthplace of “chiropractory” as lead singer Jeff Tweedy expertly acknowledged – came to a stand-still as all eyes from the stage flew to the left corner in front of the speakers, where a man stood on the corner of the stage to watch the tiny melee. Following the song, lanky and head-banging Nels Cline walked over to the vicinity where the punches were thrown. Before too long, the entire band had slowly wandered over and was watching. Tweedy returned to the microphone and asked for security – which consisted of senior citizen-aged grayhairs. When the situation was addressed, Tweedy remarked, “We’re not going to let the bastards win.” Bassist John Stirratt mentioned backstage afterwards that it was the first time he’d ever seen the entire band “saunter like that.” It was the most bizarre moment of the two-hour show, but it wasn’t the most explosive. For all of the critical whining that the band has gone wimpy and “dad-rock” on the new record, spliced into the live setting, the new songs are the perfect accent marks for all of the more chipper, dare we say more experimental old material. They lend spotlights and big, pointy fingers – the foamy kind that could say “Go Wolverines!” or the like on them – to all of the eccentric nodes in the band’s impeccable repertoire. They’re the bows on the top of the package and they made this set – heavy on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot material, with sprinkles of A Ghost Is Born and a few Summerteeth tracks – spectacular. The old stuff was refined and the tracks from Sky Blue Sky all have their speckles, their tails of firecracker wick that, worked to their bridges, fly off the handles and flare up to that white light that they sing about. A lovely portion of the set came when “Sky Blue Sky” preceded “War On War,” offering a banquet of complementary lyrics that helped build the chapters. “With the sky blue sky/This rotten time/Wouldn’t seem so bad to me now/Oh, if I didn’t die/I should be satisfied I survived/It’s good enough for now” wades into up-tempo “You’re gonna lose/You have to learn how to die/If you wanna wanna be alive” on the next song from Yankee, building a brief piece of time when the lights come on, the light bulb scorches its outline and there’s a realization that all that Tweedy writes is bonded together. It’s a good lesson to learn, especially in light of the radical difference in the new album from those before it. It’s not a departure or a detour, it’s progress and it’s where the trail must lead.

Tweedy asked for help mid-way through the show. The band had a lone macramé owl hanging by a string from a piano stand. He put a call out for macramé of all shapes and sizes, of any breed. He was looking for macramé gorillas, anything to help fill up their stage with the handicraftery. “And yes, it will still be funny tomorrow,” Tweedy said. We’d love to hear from those of you seeing them play this week, what their total currently is? Duluth, Minnesota’s Low opened the show with a thrilling 45 minutes. It was sinister and beautiful as Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker and Matt Livingston played with the darkness.

(Please enjoy the illustration of Zombie Tweedy by Joshua Johnson)

Wilco Official Site