Jeff Tweedy, Atlanta 1/29
Last night’s show at the Tabernacle featured an enigmatic and very much in character Jeff Tweedy berating an adoring sold-out crowd. Having ditched his band for a tour in favor of the very direct and effective intimacy of a solo acoustic set, the show was able to wander between his campfire vibe alt-country (for the record, i hate saying that) tunes and Tweedy’s confrontational and insecurity-prone banter as freely and unprofessionally as he saw fit. Halting in the middle of the first verse of “Via Chicago”, Tweedy asked the audience to help him out — he had forgotten the lyrics. Adopting the persona of a trapped hero, his surly treatment of the audience brought to mind conventional images of the behavior of other iconic frontmen crowd-bashers (Waters? Corgan?…..Bixler?). Although cautiously, he performed in a way that was ultimately confident in his spell over the audience, who fed off of the tension created by Tweedy’s act. I would go as far to say that his use of stage banter holds more merit as a dualistic tool of dynamics; his songs are so delicate and revealing, that by the end, his natural reaction is simply that he must take back what he has given away. ‘No, Atlanta, you do not know me as you think you might’. His compensation for what he gives away in song is the rejection of the crowd on a personal level. This tension sets the audience up for the shift in mood back to Tweedy’s often melancholy tone within a song. In a strange reversal of roles; for some songs excitement was almost exclusively built in the margins between songs, and torn down during the course of the next song.
As for the actual performance (when Tweedy remembered the words), it was, of course, flawless. His vocals and guitar arrangements were surprisingly complete in covering some of the more instrument-heavy Wilco songs. He was ‘prepared’ for this set; it’s cleanliness once he was in song only supports any argument affirming his stage persona’s at least partial superficiality. He played a good spread across his career; heavy on some more recent Wilco hits. Some personal highlights: Heavy metal drummer (in an acoustic set, an obvious extension on the song’s irony), The Lonely 1 (as the only man on a stage filled with nothing but 6 guitars, some harmonicas and a rug), and Passenger Side (Chris Carraba don’t know shit about sing alongs).
On a side note, the Minus 5 opened as a three piece, apparently with only one member of the original band. They sucked, especially the only dude that was actually in the band.
I would have a hard time considering any other solo acoustic show from any other frontman/artist as engaging. Jeff Tweedy is at the special point in his career where he has the history and catalog to truly develop his character onstage, which he effectively used last night to drag the audience closer by pushing them away………… for 30$ a seat.
1. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Encore 1:
Encore 2:
2. new song (Be Patient With Me)
3. Remember The Mountain Bed
4. Cars Can’t Escape
5. Promising
6. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
7. Muzzle Of Bees
8. new song (What Light)
9. The Ruling Class
10. New Madrid
11. Via Chicago
12. Hesitating Beauty
13. Heavy Metal Drummer
14. Gun
15. A Shot In The Arm ]
16. Someone Else’s Song (without PA)
17. Theologians
18. Jesus, Etc.
19. The Lonely 1
20. I’m The Man Who Loves You
21. Passenger Side
22. Dreamer In My Dreams (without PA)
23. Acuff-Rose (without PA)
- Posted by Eric Guenther on January 31, 2007 at 2:02 am
