Kurt Groetsch @ OldTasty.com

For whatever reason I developed a facination with Wilco while I was over in China. It may have been the fact that I ordered the “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” DVD not too long after I arrived. It also could have been a reaction to Chinese pop music, which consists mostly of sappy Hong Kong idols and bouncy but lightweight and very manufactured mainland pop stars. Whatever the reason, I started grabbing various Wilco live shows from some show trading sites, and have been hooked since. So tonight was my lucky night, as the band passed through town to play the Fabulous Fox Theatre. Jeff Tweedy seemed pretty humbled to be playing such a large venue in his hometown (enough so that he was having trouble with his “theatre stage banter”), but the band was in great form, even digging into the back catalog for “Kingpin,” “Christ for President,” “New Madrid” and “Casino Queen,” which he dedicated to his dad and his buddy Dennis (I think that’s his name). The stuff from A Ghost Is Born sounds great, and the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot material is as interesting as ever. This was exactly the kind of show I missed while I was in China, a strong (and complete) performance from a band that matters.

Edit: Not only was the show taped, but it’s been released into the wild already and it sounds great.