Steve Wildsmith

It was a full nine songs before Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy said hello.

No doubt, some in Saturday night’s audience at The Tennessee Theatre zeroed in on that as further proof that Tweedy, to be quite vulgar, is a dick.

After all, the bumps in Wilco’s career have included some disagreements between Tweedy and various members (ex-drummer Ken Coomer and multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett) that ended in the latter’s ouster. The documentary “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” captured some of that tension, and Tweedy’s well-documented battle with pain pill addiction and split with former Uncle Tupelo bandmate Jay Farrar have cultivated an image of a guy who, when viewed the wrong way, comes across sometimes as petulant or self-centered or, on the far end of that spectrum, an egomaniac.

I contend that he’s none of the above. To be sure, a certain amount of dickishness is a factor in what he does. But it’s not because he’s a jerk, per se. I think it’s because he believes he follows a higher calling, and that friendships, business arrangements, what-have-you … they all come second to the music.

Granted, I have no personal insight into what transpired between Tweedy and Coomer or Tweedy and Bennett. Maybe he woke up one day and decided he’d rather not share his toys anymore. But I think it had more to do with how Jeff Tweedy feels about the music — how he, to be a little cliche about it, is one of the few genuine tortured artists who toil in the public eye; or at least has a high enough profile that his struggles are documented on a national level.

I say that because there was a moment at Saturday night’s concert when I noticed Tweedy standing in the center of the sonic maelstrom of a particular song — “At Least That’s What You Said,” the opening track from “A Ghost Is Born.” It’s a lovely song, one that simmers to a boil before exploding, blowing the lid off the pot as everyone in the band froths and foams and churns into a crescendo.

As the heat began to rise, Tweedy stepped back, and guitarist Nels Cline started to do his thing. Cline, known in jazz circles for some phenomenal guitar work, was on fire all night, rolling with whatever changes were thrown at him and anchoring the Wilco machine with some dazzling fret work. As he bent and swayed into the song’s guitar cascade, Tweedy was staring toward the back of the room.

His fingers did their thing; no telling how many times he’s played this particular song, so he might have been on autopilot. But the look on his face … I interpreted it as satisfaction. In that moment — like so many others that probably occur to him with this particular lineup of the band — everything felt right. Everyone was in place. All present for one purpose — to play the songs Tweedy hears in his head; playing them the way they’re supposed to be played, the way they demand to be played. He may never be 100 percent satisfied with what he hears in the studio or on stage in comparison to how it sounds in his head, but in that moment, it was as good as it gets.

It was one of several moments in a show that ran for more than two hours and featured two encores. No new material was played, despite the fact the band has a new album coming out in June on Nonesuch Records; instead, Tweedy and co. seemed determined to give the old songs the full treatment before the new one drops and they have a whole other addition to their canon that they must promote. During the second encore, when they morphed from the gentled “Red Eyed and Blue” to “End of the Century” (both off of “Being There”), the crowd — which had been on its feet all night — was goo in Tweedy’s hand. They swayed and clapped and shouted and screamed as the jubilant chords bounced off the theater’s pristine decor, and with Cline to his right and bassist John Stirratt and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone to his left, Tweedy smiled. Behind him, drummer Glenn Kotche and keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen plowed through the slurry of feedback, Americana grit and anthemic melodies that anchor the song.

In that moment, whatever demons might still plague him seem banished. He looked like he was having fun, and even if it didn’t sound like what he hears in his head, it didn’t seem to matter. Because the rest of us heard it, and more than that, we felt it — and that’s all a good musician can ask for.

SETLIST

1) “Outta Mind (Outta Sight)” (from “Being There,” disc 2)
2) “Misunderstood” (“Being There,” disc 1)
3) “Hummingbird” (“A Ghost Is Born”)
4) “You Are My Face” (“Sky Blue Sky”)
5) “Company In My Back” (“A Ghost Is Born”)
6) “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” (“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)
7) “Kamera” (“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)
8 ) “At Least That’s What You Said” (“A Ghost Is Born”)
9) “Ashes of American Flags” (“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)
10) “Shouldn’t Be Ashamed” (“A.M.”)
11) “Jesus, Etc.” (“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)
12) “Impossible Germany” (“Sky Blue Sky”)
13) “Forget the Flowers” (“Being There,” disc 1)
14) “Box Full of Letters” (“A.M.”)
15) “Heavy Metal Drummer” (“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)
16) “A Shot in the Arm” (“Summerteeth”)

ENCORE 1
17) “The Late Greats” (“A Ghost Is Born”)
18) “Hate It Here” (“Sky Blue Sky”)
19) “Walken” (“Sky Blue Sky”)
20) “I’m the Man Who Loves You” (“Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)

ENCORE 2

21) “California Stars” (“Mermaid Ave., vol. 1″)
22) “Red Eyed and Blue” (“Being There,” disc 1)
23) “I Got You (End of the Century)” (“Being There,” disc 1)
24) “Casino Queen” (“A.M.”)
25) “Outtasite (Outta Mind)” (“Being There,” disc 1)
26) “Hoodoo Voodoo” (“Mermaid Ave., vol. 1″)

Wilco online

YouTube: Wilco performs “Misunderstood” in Texas, May 2008

EDIT: Somebody taped the show! You can download it as a torrent by going here.