Wilco in Boston Point / Counterpoint

After a major overload of Bonnaroo > Telluride Bluegrass> Boston Pops > Ryan Adams> I could not make the Wilco show in Boston last week.  However I sent another member of the Sweet Talk Staff, Nick Albury, to the show in my stead.  Before Nick found his way back to the office the next morning to submit his review, I received this unsolicited rant from Augustus Dakota Lookner on my blackberry.

Perhaps feeling a bit betrayed due to my urging that he go see the show and my recent glowing review of Wilco's Bonnaroo set, here is what he wrote:

Dear Jay,

Please don't take offense at this candid review.  I consider you to be the most authoritative voice on music, of anybody I know. But, Wilco sucks. 

The show at Bank of America Pavillion last Thursday night ranks in the top three worst concerts I've been to of all time.  To be honest, I'm not sure if it might have been the worst.  I will lay blame primarily to the venue.  But the crowd sucked, as did the event staff. For example, Like our dates got strangle held by some pissed off hippie that was upset about the dancing in the seats. I've never been more sober (that could have been the problem), and gotten more guff from security.

Oh, Willie Nelson last summer at the Augusta Civic Center ranks up there.  But he's 80, I love most of his tunes, and I had been on a three day bender at that point.

#3, Spin Doctors, circa '92.  Stowe Vt.  Bad Trip.

Half way through the Wilco show, one of my fellow concert goers, remarked that he wished the members of Black Sabath would repel down from the scafolding with machine guns, kill Wilco, and all the audience, but us, so we could watch them jam.  That was the highlight of the show for me.

So, I probably missed something, and that's a bummer, although I did stick around for all 7 yes SEVEN!! encores, that's a little conceited, I don't care who you are.

And I am looking forward to coming down to see the Police rock Fenway, and hopefully not wish for Sabath to close for them.

Best,

-Augustus

Now, this is the sort of review that is poignant because it is immediate, raw, and impassioned.  When Nick walked in the door for work I read him Mr. Lookner's take on the evening and this was his response.

First, I agree with you Gus, the venue and crowd were horrible. Simply horrible. The scene at the pavilion resembled more of a dinner party of frozen nachos and $8 dollar flat beer served piss warm in a bomb shelter than a rock show. This could be due to the concrete stalactites overhead, or a crowd who in general could work their stock portfolios and prescription pads better than their music collections.

Secondly, I must admit that seeing Tommy Iommi repel from the ceiling with a machine gun in one hand and a guitar in the other would certainly get the adrenaline pumping, Wilco provided more than enough pure Rock n Roll moments to keep my heart racing through out the night.

As to the 7 song encore I agree that it was over the top, but the band was merely following the unfortunate trend of turning what was once known as a "set break" into a lavish if somewhat vain ruse to milk more adulation from a cattle call crowd. Can you really blame them though? Nels Cline, as fiery of a guitarist as they come, is now in his fifties, give the guy a chance to take a piss and grab a cold one if it means he?ll play 24 songs laced with some of the best live solos I've heard since Glen Tipton.

After the first few minutes of the opener: "A Shot in The Arm", Wilco proved that they could slide their perfectly yet precariously crafted songs from studio to stage. Moving between bombastic riffs and subtle strumming Wilco shape-shifted into a six-headed Jimmy Page (on an off night of course)

Last night saw Wilco rise above an environment more sterile than wads of gauze pads, and squeeze every ounce of energy possible into the most important part of any concert: the music.

Sorry Gus if you had a bad night, but Wilco in my opinion proved that they were playing for the sake of the music and not for the nachos in their VIP boxes.

-Nick Albury

Let the Debate Rage on....

Comments

[Amy Leydon]

Dear Jay and Nick,

I am the somewhat unfortunate soul who had the great honor of introducing Mr. Lookner to his first live Wilco show. His gruff exterior may lead others to believe a fine band like Wilco would be lost to his world of cyncism, but I know he is a poet at heart and believed he would see the magic in the music.

Gus was correct in his analysis of the scene at the venue formerly known as Harbor Lights. I witnessed many an atrocity, from the volatile hippie who skull gripped me to the twenty something boys downing XL Bud Lights with their shirts off to the slightly overweight security guard still trying to make retribution for her unpopular years in high school. It dawned on me that the scene was very reminiscent of the Dave Matthews concert I attended in the Meadowlands in 1999. It’s tough to watch one of your favorite bands rocket from relative obscurity to mainstream popularity but if any band deserves the honor, it is Wilco.

What Augustus failed to notice in his sober stupor, is that the band still rocked. I don’t fancy myself a music connoisseur. I don’t get off on guitar riffs or notice the subtle stylings of a well-crafted song. Sometimes I’m not even sure who is playing guitar and who is playing bass. What I do know is if a band can make me dance and smile despite its depressing surroundings, then they are worth their weight in gold.

I told Gus you can’t judge a band by its venue. And after discovering he is friends with the editor of Paste magazine, coupled with the fact he has tickets to see the Police at Fenway, I might consider bringing Augustus back to Wilco next year. It may be Wishful Thinking but I think if he sees the band in my hippie homeland of Western, MA, he just might change his tune.

Sincerely,
Amy Leydon