November 2002, Carefree Theatre, West Palm Beach, Fla.
“Just so you know, this is not the movie,” Jeff Tweedy said to the seated audience before him. “You can stand if you want. In fact, we wish you would.”
The day before the documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart was playing at this same place, which served as a movie theater when not hosting live shows. The documentary details the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco’s stunning 2002 album, but on this night, standing in the place of the screen, was the actual band. And Tweedy wanted the audience to acknowledge it.
Which they did, but not before sitting mesmerized by the song “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” which Wilco played to a tee with all its assorted bells and whistles. When the show was done — all 25 songs of it — I was hooked. I came into this show as a casual fan and left a full-on convert.
I found Wilco because of Billy Bragg and the Mermaid Avenue album collaborations, but for some reason the band itself didn’t impress me at first. Odd to think about it now — Summerteeth, Being There and A.M. being such strong albums — but it took Yankee Hotel Foxtrot to pull me in, which I imagine it did for plenty of people. It’s clearly one of the finest albums of the 2000s.
On this night Wilco played a good chunk of it (nine songs), sprinkling in seven songs from Being There, three from Mermaid Avenue and Summerteeth and one from A.M. Amid the mix were the quiet gems (“How to Fight Loneliness,” one of the greatest quiet songs ever), the sing-alongs (“Heavy Metal Drummer”), the rollicking crowd pleaser (“California Stars”) and the one for the long-time fans (“Casino Queen”).
I remember watching the band roll through “California Stars” admiring how tight and well-connected they were. A week later I would see the documentary, which painted a different picture, but time moved on since the filming and everyone just moved on. Tweedy, who has reached somewhat of a cult status at this point, wasn’t a domineering front man, but you could sense he was in charge.
It was another one of those times I caught a band at its creative apex — touring on what would be its best album with the confidence that embodies. How great is it for an established band to come into a show having people wanting to hear the new songs (though I’m sure someone in the audience wanted to hear nothing but songs from Summerteeth). Ultimately Wilco would make everyone happy on this night.
