Monday, June 25, 2007
Posted at
07:33
by
Carly Carioli
Wilco
June 24 at Pines Theatre in Florence,
MA
All photos by Caitlin E.
Curran
And we thought the MFA’s Calderwood
Courtyard was a sublime spot to see a rock show.
We made our first trip to the Pines Theatre at Look
Park in the Florence
section of Northampton
to see Wilco last night and wowza. First of all, the place is cozy (2000 capacity),
especially compared to the Bank of America Pavilion, where the band is playing
this Thursday. The sound was near-perfect, loud enough, every note crystal
clear — no small feat given the band’s size (six pieces). And to say the
setting was idyllic would be an understatement — the theater is smack in the
middle of a beautiful 150-acre park and surrounded by impossibly tall pine trees,
which were lit from underneath, creating a surreal backdrop as the sun set over
the course of the show. It was general admission (no seats, just grass) and we
had enough room to spread out a blanket and get comfy. And perhaps inspired by
the scene (or maybe the MTV and VH1 cameras that were present), the band were
on their A-game for the duration of their two-hour set, which drew mostly from
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost Is Born, and the breezy new Sky Blue Sky. Big
dynamic changes, like the abrupt noise bits in “Via Chicago,” were expertly
executed. Jeff Tweedy’s voice was golden, and sounded even sweeter when bassist
John Stirratt sang under it. Nels Cline (whose work on the new album we actually
find a bit irritating at times) was a guitar god, whammying and widdly-wooing
like his life depended on it. They closed the show with a rowdy rendition of
“I’m a Wheel,” with multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone doing the Pete Townshend
windmill, Cline pogoing around stage right, and Tweedy screaming bloody murder
at the pines.
—Will Spitz
