When Wilco played a three-night marathon at St. Paul's Palace Theatre to wrap up nearly two years of steady touring in November 2017, it played with a loose and relaxed spirit like a person unwinding on the couch after a long day of work. Which was a warm and wonderful experience for the Chicago band's nutty Twin Cities fans.
For their first of three nights at the Palace in November 2019 after taking a year and a half off, the experimental Americana rockers sounded way more tightly wound and purposeful, like someone heading into work. Which was maybe even better.
Everything the sextet did in Friday's 2¼-hour set seemed to have a little extra impact and higher level of drama to it.
The quieter songs such as "Reservations" and several off the band's new album, "Ode to Joy," sounded more hollow and still. The freakier and more manic rockers such as "Bull Black Nova" and the best new tune of the night, "We Were Lucky," sounded extra frayed and fiery. The epic guitar jam "Impossible Germany" seemed more graceful yet roller-coastery.
Arriving mid-show, "Impossible" finally brought third guitarist Pat Sansone out from behind the keyboards, where he spent the largely mellower first hour of the show. That left Nels Cline to add all sorts of subtle guitar fills and moody atmospherics to the more unadorned songs such as show-opener "Bright Leaves" and the other new tunes "One and a Half Stars" and "White Wooden Cross." Cline's fine finesse wasn't enough to keep those latter two from mostly fizzling on stage, though.
As for older fan faves, "Via Chicago" and "Misunderstood" both sounded more desperate and drowned in sound, the latter a perfect pre-encore climax. Conversely, "Box Full of Letters" — the only song off the group's 1995 debut album, "A.M." — was a little more playful and nostalgic as frontman Jeff Tweedy noted that this week marked the 25th anniversary of Wilco's local debut at 7th St. Entry (also the band's first road show).
Donning a thick black knit cap that proved he knew what to expect in Minnesota in November, Tweedy was actually less chatty and catty between songs; perhaps another indicator he and the band were a little more serious this time around. He did still drop in a few sly and deprecating lines in the second half of the show, though.
"How many of you are coming back for the next nights?" he asked, to a pretty solid wall of applause. "Well, I hope you like this set, 'cuz it's what we're playing."
