Wilco
Enmore Theatre,
21.4.2007

In the writer's quest to find the Best! Descriptor! Ever! several previously perfectly good words are now meaningless. Chiefly, to refer to something as "gold" or "genius" now means pretty much nothing thanks to heinous overuse. However, dear reader, I mean it when I say (with as little hubris as I can muster) that Wilco's searing show at the Enmore was pretty much the awesomest thing ever. There, I said it – EVER. Or in the immortal words of the lone punter who screamed in the awed hush at the end of 'I Am Trying To break Your Heart', "this RULES!"

Where to begin to tell you why this show - by turns heart-meltingly gorgeous/pin-drop quiet, and hold-you-to-the-wall-by-the-throat rock and roll – was so perfect? Perhaps it was Wilco's clear appreciation of their audience, which they showed through a set that hit on nearly two and half hours, with a first encore of four and a second of five songs? Was it the pristine sound of the Enmore Theatre, never too loud to make your ears bleed, but loud enough to feel the kickdrum through the floor? Was it the supremely gifted playing of all the band members, free-jazz guitarist Nels Cline nearly stealing the show with his incredible solos - throwing his guitar around, feedbacking the headstock against the top of his amp, or twiddling the pedals he had at hip height spread before him?

Wilco may be virtuosos all, but their playing never overshadows the songs – able as they are to transport you to the very instant when your heart was last broken. The band premiered new material live for the first time, from forth coming longplayer Sky Blue Sky, which went down great. The set covered everything you'd want from Wilco (except 'Heavy Metal Drummer', I know), including 'California Stars' which was gorgeous beyond compare. The show was webcast live to the world, and Sydney did a near descent "Yyyeee-aaaaaaaar!!" in response to Jeff Tweedy's query as to if or not we were settled by pirates.

Ah, Jeff Tweedy – he looked so happy up there with the band. He said it best, when revving the audience into a scream-off call and response, "rock'n'roll is about fun sometimes, isn't it? And when you've stopped having fun, it's time to give up. You come to rock'n'roll shows to be part of something bigger than yourself."

And that one night with Wilco, everybody in the place did just that.