Article and Photos By Michael Swanger

Lest there be any doubt regarding Wilco’s status as one of the most important bands of its genre and era, witness its sold-out, tour-ending March 9 show at the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines.

With Jeff Tweedy nursing a sore throat, Wilco’s founder/lead singer/guitarist used some newly acquired vocal grit to his advantage [contrary to his numerous apologies to the fans] by leading the sextet through a string of raspy, melancholy ballads and mid-tempo rockers before leaving his tonsils on stage with a roaring finale that reinforced Wilco’s versatility and durability.

Delivering the smartest rock show of the year, thus far, Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt, drummer Glenn Kotche, pianist Mikael Jorgensen, guitarist Nels Cline and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone captured and held the attention of the 2,000 appreciative local and out-of-state fans at the Val Air during its 140-minute show thanks to an impressive, tight ensemble approach in which no one player outshined the songs. The band opened with mesmerizing ballads like “Ashes of American Flags,” “Mountain Bed,” “You Are My Face” and “She’s A Jar,” followed by languid rockers like “Shot In the Arm” [complete with audience participation], “Side With the Seeds” [featuring Cline’s Duane Allman inspired fret work] and the transcendental “Impossible Germany” and “California Star.” Later, the band sped up on the Beatle-like “Summer Teeth” [which Tweedy dedicated to the show’s opener, John “Fucking” Doe, who wowed the crowd earlier with a rowdy version of the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”], the New Wave-esque “Magazine Called Sunset” and the Big Easy funk of “Walken,” of the better numbers from the latest “Sky Blue Sky” album.

The first encore, however, was a microcosm of the night, as Tweedy delivered a heartfelt version of one of Wilco’s truest ballads, and perhaps the best song John Lennon never got the chance to write, “Hate It Here.” Moments later, Tweedy encouraged the crowd to put away their televisions and computers and to stand in a crowd of people and “act like an ass” before singing “Kingpin.” It was the perfect segue for the band’s big rock finish which included a song about drunk driving, “Passenger Side,” the smug hilarity of “Heavy Metal Drummer,” the alcohol-induced “Red-Eyed and Blue” and The Who-like “I Got You” and “Monday” [second encore] complete with Sansone’s Peter Townsend windmill guitar riffs.

That kind of enthusiasm — partially fueled by the band’s enjoyment of returning to the historic Val Air Ballroom, as Tweedy confessed earlier during the show — was a fitting ending to an evening of reverence for both the artists and the fans. On a night when it might have been tempting for this rock juggernaut to phone in a performance due to Tweedy’s sickness and rush back home to Chicago, Wilco dug in, then took flight… leaving fans with the feeling there’s no stopping in sight.

Set list 1) Ahes of American Flags 2) Mountain Bed 3) You Are My Face 4) Muzzle of Bees 5) Handshake Drugs 6) Cars Can’t Escape 7) Pot Kettle Black 8) Shot In the Arm 9) Side With the Seeds 10) She’s A Jar 11) Impossible Germany 12) California Stars 13) Summer Teeth 14) Magazine Called Sunset 15) Via Chicago 16) Either Way 17) Jesus, Etc. 18) Walken 19) I’m the Man Who Loves You Encore 1 20) Hate It Here 21) Kingpin 22) Passenger Side 23) Heavy Metal Drummer 24) Red-Eyed and Blue 25) I Got You Encore 2 25) Monday

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