Concert Review and Photos: Wilco in Rochester

Friday night, buffaBLOG took a short trip to our WNY neighbor, Rochester to see Wilco, a group which, we can safely say, has been one of the most industrious and influential indie-rock bands of the last decade. Having played hundreds of shows across the span of their stunning career, the Chicago sextet has yet again caught the tour bug, and have booked a slew of North America and Europe dates, including two upstate gigs in Rochester and Cooperstown. It was an absolute privilege to be able to catch these guys live for my first time ever, and a little over-due, taking into account that I missed their two previous Buffalo visits back in 2005 at the Albright-Knox, and 2007 at Artpark. It seems that the group has made it a note to maintain a presence in WNY during each tour whether that be Buffalo or Rochester, which is awesome.

Having never been to Highland Bowl before Friday, I must say, I was not only impressed by the accessibility and aesthetic of the venue, but also the remarkable sonic experience I had there. It had to be the best single outdoor show I've been to in recent years. The stage at Highland Park sits at the bottom of a basin, giving the audience plenty of room to sprawl out with a blanket or chair on the gentle hills, and enough room for a few hundred people to stand at the very front.

Wilco opened with “Art of Almost” the ebullient, sporadic opening track off their latest album The Whole Love, released last September. With it’s groovy, coagulated drum beat, no other song would have been more perfect of a start to the night. Next, Wilco played another cut off their latest LP with “I Might”, which walks a similar, buoyant line with Jeff Tweedy strumming deep, bass-ridden Gibson, against thick organ riffs. By their third track, “War on War” from 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco was already setting pace for a superb outdoor show.

Staying in the grain of their greatest record to date (not to mention one of the best rock albums in the past decade), they played the opening track off Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with “I am trying to Break Your Heart” and another with “Radio Cure”, aguably two of their most profound and experimental tracks. What I find incredible about their live performances, in particular, is each musician's ability to bring the same sonic elements from the studio records into their live sets and then quadruple the intensity of each. For example, when they played “I’m the Man Who Loves You” (another off YHF), Wilco’s guitarist Nels Cline refused to skip a beat with the opening, chaotic riff, an overdriven, and seemingly difficult effect that gives the songs its distinct character. Cline, who joined the group in 2004, is considered one of top 100 guitarists ever by Rolling Stone, and doesn't disappoint, displaying this ferocious ability to crank his guitar every which way as vibrant melodies are expelled from it. On “Jesus Etc.” Cline exhibited his versatility, stepping in for absent orchestral string arrangements on the studio version via lap guitar.

While they played a lot from their new LP and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, they also managed to fit a few in from their much-loved 1999 album, Summerteeth, with “Shot In The Arm” and “I’m Always In Love”, both certified crowd-pleasers. Another highlight of the night was the awe-inspiring “Misunderstood” during their 8 or 9 song encore, which was essentially just part deux to the show, which teetered past the 2 hour mark. The stadium lights burned for each time Tweedy yelled "Nothing!" at the end of the song, and of course everyone was chanting along. The band insisted on playing all the way up to the noise curfew which was at 10 pm when we all reluctantly filed out.

Another sensational part of the night were the added stage effects including cloud-like cloths dangling from the stage, which lit up in stectacular nuance and reflected a different vignette during every song. This only added to the astute muscicianship of Wilco, and made for a complete concert-in-the-park experience. If you've yet to see this band play live keep your eyes peeled for new tour dates, because chances are they will be coming back to our region soon.