It’s been remarkable to watch Jeff Tweedy evolve from wired young country-punk to industrious, avuncular indie-rock vet, performing “Freedom Highway” with Mavis Staples on national television during the Democratic Convention in his Chicago hometown, or presiding over Solid Sound, Wilco’s biennial festival in the Berkshire Mountains.
It’s been remarkable to watch Jeff Tweedy evolve from wired young country-punk to industrious, avuncular indie-rock vet, performing “Freedom Highway” with Mavis Staples on national television during the Democratic Convention in his Chicago hometown, or presiding over Solid Sound, Wilco’s biennial festival in the Berkshire Mountains.
So it’s fitting to see him perform at the Bearsville Theater, on the edges of Woodstock – stomping ground of Dylan and Todd Rundgren, minutes from The Band’s old Big Pink house, in the same room where Rick Danko’s memorial service was held. It’s sacred ground for elder statesmen of song, which is exactly what Tweedy has become.
Those who follow his Starship Casual Substack, full of spare solo versions of all manner of songs (recent covers include Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place” and Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name”) know how affecting a busker-style storyteller he can be. Those skills are on full display tonight, the finale of a three-night solo run featuring just Tweedy and a few acoustic guitars (a series of US solo dates continues through to the end of the month).
After a compelling set by fellow Chicago singer-songwriter Elizabeth Moen (which includes a handsomely hushed version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness On The Edge Of Town”), Tweedy ambles onstage, looking woodsy and comfortable in a denim barn jacket, beard and hair evidently untended. Over 90 minutes or so, he works through roughly 20 songs, with no repeats from the previous two nights, surely pleasing those fans – there were more than a few – who’d attended all three.
Tweedy wonders aloud who’ll be truckin’ up to Buffalo with him, about five hours northwest, for the following night’s gig. The Deadhead-ish dedication of Wilco fans becomes an affectionate running joke between songs.
A lovely and wide-eyed version of Cruel Country’s “The Universe” gets things started. There are a handful of new songs, including one about the heart’s appetite (working title “Enough,” according to the Via Chicago fansite) which notes “It’s hard to stay in love with everyone.”
There’s a generous mix of deep cuts and hits. We get “Company In My Back,” from A Ghost Is Born, alongside a beautiful if begrudged “Handshake Drugs.” After refusing a shouted request for the song, with an extended explanation of why its cyclical construction doesn’t work well without electric guitars, Tweedy eventually caves, with exasperated affability, playing it “just to prove a point.” Of course, halfway in, some wag shouts out, “It’s a little repetitive!” (“See?” Tweedy responds, vindicated.)
He leans into Summerteeth with aching versions of the title track and “How To Fight Loneliness”, the latter with flamenco guitar flourishes and an impressive audience singalong. Before “Empty Corner”, from 2019’s Ode To Joy, we get a detailed unpacking of the true crime story behind the “Eight tiny lines of cocaine/ Left on a copy machine” lines, which involve a sketchy job Tweedy had at a South Illinois liquor store, a handgun, and suspected arson.
Despite tales of criminality, there’s no explicit reference to the elephant in the room – the looming US presidential election – beyond an elliptical aside about how things we take for granted can easily go away. We hear “Should’ve Been In Love”, a song nearly 30 years old; an absolutely gorgeous “Jesus Etc.”; and the timely “Falling Apart (Right Now)”.
Tweedy flubs the words to “Some Birds”, thanking the “human teleprompter” up front for a shouted assist. “Play the 12-string!” someone barks. “You could ask nicely,” Tweedy scolds, yet he still obliges, playing “A Bowl And A Pudding”, the Nick Drake-conjuring song from last year’s excellent Cousin LP, the instrument’s steely overtones suggesting a Portuguese guittara backdropping a shaggy Midwestern fado. And finally, with “Let’s Go Rain” and “A Shot In The Arm,” the assembled were sent out into the drizzle, hopefully fortified for what lies ahead.
SETLIST
The Universe
Love Is For Love
Cry Baby Cry
Summerteeth
How to Fight Loneliness
Guaranteed
Enough
Handshake Drugs
Tired of Taking it Out On You
An Empty Corner
Company In My Back
Should’ve Been In Love
Jesus, Etc.
What Light
Some Birds
Falling Apart (Right Now)
I Got You (at the End of the Century)
A Bowl And A Pudding
Meant To Be
Let’s Go Rain
A Shot in the Arm
