Chicago's best kept secret finally has hit the big time. For the past decade, Wilco has been building a following worthy of its newfound status as critics' darlings. Now, with both the critical and commercial attention of the music world, they aren't about to quiet down any time soon.
Selecting the best performances from a four-night stand at the Vic Theatre in their hometown, Kicking Television captures the band at the peak of their prowess. While opening with "Misunderstood" from 1996's Being There, the majority of Television's selections are tellingly from Wilco's two most recent and subsequently popular albums, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born.
Through their sonic journey from alt-country to genre-defying, bassist Jon Stirratt and front man Jeff Tweedy have been the only constant members. Wilco's inadvertent revolving door policy for members makes this bias toward new material seem a practical, if not artistic, decision. The lineup featured in Kicking Television is so new, in fact, that this release marks the debut of two new members, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone and guitarist extraordinaire Nels Cline.
Of particular interest is Cline, who has worked with members of Sonic Youth, Jane's Addiction and Minutemen. Cline, who has a reputation as a rambling musician, plays for keeps as he confidently blazes through the Wilco songbook. His ethereal guitar solo at the end of "Ashes of American Flags" brings out the best in the other band members, highlighting percussionist Glenn Kotche's restraint and Mikael Jorgensen's colorful keyboard fills.
Much like Cline's welcome addition to the band, the performances found on Television offer all of the welcome changes and nuances one expects from an engaging live album. From a guitar line here and an extra drum beat there, the stylistic inflections are most satisfying on two songs culled from Wilco's Mermaid Avenue project, in which the band put music to newly found Woody Guthrie lyrics. "One by One" and "Airline to Heaven" both feature prominent pedal steel guitar from Cline. The latter, which was sorely lacking in the studio, has been rendered a transcendent hymnal, finally worthy of Guthrie's name.
These folk numbers, however, remain a rarity when juxtaposed with the plethora of material from Wilco's recent albums. Simultaneously experimental and pop-ready, songs like "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" and "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" retain their luster separated from the studio trickery from which they originated.
Even so, Wilco attains a domineering live presence not by crowding the musical palate, but by keeping things relatively sparse. While the current lineup of six members might not imply intimacy, the beautiful strains of "Jesus, Etc." allow for the focus to shift subtly from the flighty keyboards to the whining pedal steel to the hushed harmonies, all without aural confusion.
Wilco offers a truly evocative encore with "Comment (If All Men Are Truly Brothers)," a timely cover from R&B artist Charles Wright. Jeff Tweedy's soulful vocals perfectly accompany the band's newfound live swagger: "If all men are truly brothers/Why then can't we love one another/Love and peace from ocean to ocean/Somebody please second my emotion." I'll second that, Jeff. Wilco is coming in loud and clear.
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