Had the fortune of seeing Wilco last night at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. It had been raining off and on all day, so I was prepared (complete with my mum's raincoat - you'd think I'd have my own by now....), but the rain gods must be music fans because the weather was great. It was a sea of vancouver alt-hip casual in front of the stage - colours muted, gortex out, trendy (but subdued) poor boy hats, sneakers and wellies. Ahh, the west coast.
My brother and I had originally staked out a space on the slight hill at one side of the field but it quickly became apparent that for some reason the muddy path directly in front of us was calling to the few in the audience that wanted to stand and talk. So, we made our way down into the crowd in front of the stage, an amazingly had a great view, fantastic, clear sound, and were surrounded by (generally) equally entranced audience members who actually seemed to be there to watch the band and not talk/sing to each other/interpretive dance/off-beat clap or the many other unfortunate things people find to do at these events. Bliss.
And the band was fantastic. The set was a great, all encompassing mix of old stuff and new played with was seemed to be genuine enthusiasm. I've been a bit entranced by drummer Glen Kotche since seeing him perform solo last year (he opened up for Jeff Tweedy's solo tour), and it was great to see him perform with the rest of the band. The stuff I love about Wilco - the sweet melodies that suddenly morph into startling discord, Jeff Tweedy's genuine, engaging but imperfect voice - was there in spades. It was great. Really great.
(And this picture of Ed the Sock is for my brother. For comparative purposes... ;-)
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