Concert Review/Photos: Tweedy @ the Merriam
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Jeff Tweedy is a songwriting titan.
Jeff Tweedy is a songwriting titan.
He should be counted among the greats of not just modern times but of all time. The evidence is vast, from his days with Uncle Tupelo, his work in Loose Fur and Golden Smog and, most importantly, as the frontman of Wilco. And to hear his sometimes quiet, sometimes crackly voice open the door to the many new worlds of Sukirae, the record made under the Tweedy moniker, on Sunday night at the Merriam was one of the most satisfying musical revelations in some time. Not since Wilco’s 2002 masterful Yankee Hotel Foxtrot has Tweedy’s lyrical prowess so completely taken us into his world of loss, hope and visions of the mundane transformed into magical realizations.
Tweedy — the band that includes Jeff’s teenage son Spencer — opened the show with 13 songs that very few people in the audience could truly know, since they hail from a record that wasn’t released until Tuesday and had only streamed online for a short time before that. It’s a risky move, since the room was filled with people only familiar with the frontman’s previous work, but it’s ingenious, too. Tweedy knows how great these songs are. The applause seemed to increase with each one.
Opening with my favorite of the new tracks and one of the finest in Tweedy’s long career, “Nobody Dies Anymore,” was quite a statement: With its stark strumming and Spencer Tweedy’s very distinct drumming, this is Jeff Tweedy at (and the band) in top form. The story of the record is as much about the son as it is about his father. Quite an impressive drummer for being only 18, Spencer held his own on the Sukierae tracks. And he showed versatility when playing on two Mavis Staple covers (well, to be exact, Jeff Tweedy had written the songs for Staples and Spencer did play drums on them during the recording process), a striking cover of the late singer-songwriter Diane Izzo (“Love Like a Wire”) and the inevitable, but always profound, conclusion of “California Stars.”
What Tweedy experience would be complete without a song six minutes or longer? “Diamond Light Pt. 1” was the example here, and it got the most rousing response of any of the new material. With speedy, heartbeat-like drumming and evocative guitar work (a moment of Tweedy breaking out into jam mode is always welcome), this was awesome to behold. And the boldness continued when he asked us to sing along to another newcomer, “Slow Love.” The packed theater responded with the rousing refrain: “Slow love is the only love.”
For the second set, Jeff Tweedy stood alone on stage with a spotlight from the floor beaming in his face and leaving a faint shadow behind him. His acoustic takes on “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” “Passenger Side,” “Laminated Cat” and “Jesus, Etc.” were stunning, as were his other choices. The audience grew lively at this point, throwing requests and love his way. He has always been a playful solo performer, and this side came out when he transformed a perhaps misheard request into the ringing riff of Television’s “Marquee Moon” before acknowledging there’s not much more he could do with the song on acoustic guitar. And after an odd tale of witnessing a beetle move around a piece of human excrement and some more great solo pieces, the band rejoined him.
In all, Tweedy the man and Tweedy the band played 28 songs in just under two hours — economy at its finest. Jeff Tweedy proved (and he of course did not have to) that no musical feat is outside of his grasp.
New York band Hospitality opened.
SETLIST
FIRST SET
- Nobody Dies Anymore
- Flowering
- Summer Noon
- World Away
- New Moon
- Honey Combed
- Desert Bell
- Slow Love
- Fake Fur Coat
- Diamond Light Pt. 1
- Wait For Love
- High As Hello
- Low Key
JEFF TWEEDY SOLO SET
- I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (Wilco)
- New Madrid (Uncle Tupelo)
- Hummingbird (Wilco)
- You and I (Wilco)
- Jesus, Etc. (Wilco)
- Passenger Side (Wilco)
- We’ve Been Had (Uncle Tupelo)
- Marquee Moon (instrumental only) (Television cover)
- Laminated Cat (Loose Fur cover)
- A Shot in the Arm (Wilco)
- I’m the Man Who Loves You (Wilco)
ENCORE
- Love Like a Wire (Diane Izzo cover)
- You Are Not Alone (Mavis Staples cover)
- Only the Lord Knows (Mavis Staples cover)
- California Stars (Woody Guthrie cover)
