{"id":3044,"date":"2025-06-23T11:40:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T11:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wilco-royal-albert-hall-london-june-22-150244\/"},"modified":"2025-06-23T11:40:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T11:40:38","slug":"wilco-royal-albert-hall-london-june-22-150244","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wilco-royal-albert-hall-london-june-22-150244\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilco \u2013 Royal Albert Hall, London, June 22"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On a night that Jeff Tweedy<\/strong> proclaims to be one of the best of his life, Wilco<\/strong> deliver a triumphant one-night stand at the Royal Albert Hall that confirms they are one of the most versatile and exhilarating bands around. The 23-song set, plucked imaginatively and democratically from across the band\u2019s deep catalogue, ends with the crowd on their feet while Tweedy, flanked by guitarists Nels Cline<\/strong> and Patrick Sansone<\/strong>, laps up the crowd\u2019s acclaim.<\/p>\n

THE NEW ISSUE OF UNCUT STARS BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, SLY STONE, SCOTT WALKER, NEIL YOUNG, WET LEG, BLONDIE, BOOKER T, SADE AND MUCH MORE \u2013 CLICK HERE TO HAVE IT DELIVERED<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The band\u2019s mastery of the occasion is confirmed with a thunderous \u201cQuiet Amplifier\u201d from Ode To Joy<\/strong> that comes just a couple of songs after the intimate \u201cIf I Ever Was A Child\u201d. That contrast between two different flavours of intense has always been one of the most exciting things about Wilco<\/strong>, and it\u2019s amplified in the live arena as they switch from quiet to deranged within the course of a few bars of the same song \u2013 \u201cHandshake Drugs\u201d and \u201cBird Without A Tail\/Base Of My Skull\u201d being prime examples. On \u201cVia Chicago\u201d they show they can even do both at the same time as Cline, keyboard player Mikael Jorgensen<\/strong> and drummer Glenn Kotche<\/strong> thrash wildly at their instruments while the other half of the band continue strumming placidly as if they are playing two completely different tunes.<\/p>\n

Wilco<\/strong> don\u2019t just offer a noise-melody dynamic, of course. On \u201cFalling Apart (Right Now)\u201d they deliver exuberant country, while \u201cMuzzle Of Bees\u201d introduces Floydian scale. \u201cHummingbird\u201d brings a touch of the lounge music that was being piped round the auditorium before the show. But the band are at their most memorable when they escape into unsettling freak-outs. Cline particularly seems to relish these moments, when the undercurrent of anxiety in Tweedy\u2019s lyrics is allowed to rise to the surface and dominate. <\/p>\n

On \u201cImpossible Germany\u201d, the guitarist delivers an extraordinary performance of dazzling, aggressive technique that continues for several minutes while the rest of the group pretty much stop playing to watch him shred in awe. Impressive as it is, this is also the only moment when the musicianship is in service to the individual rather than the whole, something emphasised when the rest of the group join in to provide some shape and bring the song home.<\/p>\n

Like many musicians before him, Tweedy<\/strong> initially seems a little disconcerted by the rococo interior of the Royal Albert Hall, a venue whose gaudy grandeur can overwhelm first-timers. Wilco ease themselves into the evening with regular opening numbers \u201cCompany In My Back\u201d and \u201cEvicted\u201d, building momentum through \u201cHandshake Drugs\u201d and \u201cI Am Trying To Break Your Heart\u201d. It\u2019s around then that Tweedy admits he\u2019s a little distracted by an empty seat in the front row, a situation that provides him with something of a running gag for the evening.<\/p>\n

As the set continues, Tweedy<\/strong> gets more talkative. A euphoric \u201cMeant To Be\u201d is followed by the crowd-pleasing \u201cJesus, Etc\u201d, when his voice seems to shed 25 years of experience, regaining some of the vulnerability of youth. That introduces an almost riotous home stretch, with Tweedy delivering perfectly timed set-ups and punchlines before every song, the best of which comes ahead of \u201cBox Full Of Letters\u201d when he surveys the crowd of grey-haired peers and deadpans: \u201cThis is a song off our first album. Looking around, I think you might remember it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show ends with an ecstatic four-song encore, culminating in the greasy rock rave-up \u201cI Got You (At The End Of The Century)\u201d, although the absolute highlight of the set is the jubilant pre-encore singalong to \u201cSpiders (Kidsmoke)\u201d. This is one of the few Wilco<\/strong> songs to obey typical rock conventions with a gargantuan groove, elephantine riff and singable refrain, so Tweedy insists that the audience join in. \u201cParticipate!\u201d he urges. \u201cDo not postpone joy\u201d. The Royal Albert Hall responds; joy is embraced and the smile on Jeff Tweedy<\/strong>\u2019s face is bigger than the moon.<\/p>\n

SETLIST<\/strong>
Company In My Back
Evicted
Handshake Drugs
Muzzle Of Bees
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
One Wing
Via Chicago
If I Ever Was A Child
Bird Without A Tail \/ Base Of My Skull
Hummingbird
Quiet Amplifier
Either Way
Impossible Germany
Meant To Be
Jesus, Etc
Box Full Of Letters
Annihilation
Less Than You Think
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
ENCORE<\/strong>
Falling Apart (Right Now)
California Stars
Walken
I Got You (At The End Of The Century)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Wilco \u2013 Royal Albert Hall, London, June 22<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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