In(The)Flesh: Wilco, Greek Theater, Los Angeles 08/29/07

Wilco are, without a doubt, one of the greatest American bands of our generation. Rising from the ashes of alt-country heroes, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco have spent the past twelve years releasing one excellent album after the other; constantly reinventing their sound: beginning with the country-rock flavor of A.M., Being There and Summer Teeth, before delving into noise experiments with 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Kraut-rock voyages on 2004's A Ghost Is Born, right through to the sublimely brilliant Sky Blue Sky, which was released earlier this year.
The beauty of Sky Blue Sky comes from repeated listens. On the first few listens it sounds like a more stripped-back version of Wilco than we have been exposed to in recent years, however, upon further listens, the complexity of the musicianship, particularly that of guitarist, Nels Cline, comes to the fore.
In Jeff Tweedy, Wilco have a singer-songwriter who is capable of composing tunes that stay with you long after the final note has been played; and with guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Glenn Kotchke, long-time bassist John Stirratt and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansome, Tweedy is backed a formidable group of musicians capable of sending songs off into the stratosphere, with sounds that other bands can only dream of creating.
The setting tonight was perfect, Tweedy was in an upbeat frame of mind and the band were in top form, as they tore through tracks from their entire back catalogue. Stand-out tracks - from the twenty-two song set - included I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, A Shot In The Arm, Impossible Germany, and the touching On And On And On, the closing track on Sky Blue Sky. The California crowd cheered loudly for Woody Guthrie-penned California Stars, while the closing encore set of Heavy Metal Drummer and Spiders(Kidsmoke) had everyone on their feet, clapping and shouting for more, as the houselights came on and Wilco left the stage triumphant.