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Concert reviews Music

Wilco will rock

WILCO with NICK LOWE at Massey Hall, Saturday, September 17. Rating: NNNN


Touring before the release of ninth album, The Whole Love, Wilco kicked out the new jam Art of Almost early in the set.

The ferocity of the song surprising their devoted fans, who are used to hearing Wilco rock but never that hard.

Singer Jeff Tweedy, dressed in a rumpled plaid sport coat, capitalized on the crowd’s loyalty, getting them to sing Jesus, Etc. while he stood back, smiled and strummed guitar.

The band has the locked-in vibe that comes with time, but they sounded fresh and revitalized, with some of the night’s most exciting moments coming from Nels Cline’s jaw-dropping guitar playing.

Opener Nick Lowe played an all-too-brief solo set that mixed new songs with classics like Cruel To Be Kind. Fighting with a throat infection that kept him from hitting the high notes, Lowe was still chatty and charming. A class act.

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