Wilco

By VARIETY STAFF

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Perfect (The Troubadour; 350 capacity; $ 12 top) Presented inhouse.
 
Band: (Wilco) Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Jay Bennett, Bob Egan, Ken Coomber; (Perfect) Tommy Stinson, Mark Solomon, Robert Cooper, Gersh.
 

Reviewed Nov. 12, 1996. Wilco's ability to start a show with 20 minutes of conviction-driven dirges shows exactly how far this band has come in the 18 months since it arose from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo. With an artfully constructed set that bunched Wilco's key styles ragged country, early '70s British rock, American roots leader Jeff Tweedy displayed his band as an act of major importance, something the new hit-and-miss disc "Being There" only occasionally conveys. "Being There's" difficulties lie in tunes sounding tossed off, a much-imitated style that has its roots in the Rolling Stones' classic "Exile on Main Street." Yet in concert the songs take on a lived-in, homey quality; when the band strings together three honky-tonk weepers, for example, it's easier to get caught up in the overall mourn before changing the mood with a revved-up anthem such as "Monday." Highlights included the current radio release "Say You Miss Me," a simple and direct countrified pop ditty; a sprawling version of "Misunderstood"; and the legendary Doug Sahm's "Give Back the Key to My Heart," a song covered by Uncle Tupelo that might well be the blueprint for all the textures and flourishes that have funneled into Wilco. Opening act Perfect, led by former Replacements guitarist Tommy Stinson, has been knocking around L.A. clubs since the late-summer release of their Restless debut EP, "When Squirrels Play Chicken." Like Wilco, Perfect has seen remarkable development, tightening what was already a crisp punk sound. Stinson, too, is shouldering the burden of his last band's legacy, but he handles it by veering into rough and potent territory.